Communication and interaction in multicultural schools: A case study

The aim of this study is to determine the aspects of communication and interaction in multicultural schools and the ways they differ from other schools. In this study, how communication and interaction between stakeholders occur in a culturally diverse environment and the positive and negative effects of multiculturalism on communication and interaction in the school have been investigated. The effects of students being in a multicultural environment on their growth as world citizens and their ability to contribute to the world peace in the futureare also explored. In addition to these, this study also aims to determine the effects of the multicultural school environment on the teachers' professional and personal development. In the study, a single holistic case study; a qualitative research method was used and deviant case sampling was carried out. The study involved 12 Turkish teachers, 7 foreign teachers, 6 parents and 5 other personnel who work in a private primary school in the Döşemealtı District of Antalya whose education staff, parents and students come from various different cultural backgrounds and from different countries. The school in which this study took place is a Turkish school that implements both the Ministry of Education's National Curriculum and the Cambridge International Programme. During the data collection phase, semi-structured questions were prepared in advance and their meaining were then checked for the purpose of ensuring clarity. The prepared questions were turned into interview form. The questions were then asked during individual face-to-face interviews. Turkish and Foreign National teachers were asked 9 semi-structured questions which were the same. The parents and the other personel were asked 6 questions which were also the same. The analyses of the data obtained during the interviews were made by using content and descriptive analysis methods. Based on the answers received from all the participants, the communication and interaction that occured in the private primary school that this study was carried out due to multicultural and cultural diverse school setting generally affected the participants positively, that those interviewed made an effort to learn English and Turkish which are the two mother tongues of the school, İf they did not know them, the diversity in the environment was respected as it contributed to the development of universal values such as tolerance and understanding amongst the participants, teachers, students and school administration at school worked together with cooperation and understanding. It has been determined that with the coexistence of those involved from different cultures that cultural diversity raises awareness about different religions, languages, customs and traditions, and with the combination of all these, students can contribute to world peace by being good citizens of the world with their positive human characteristics and their experiences. It was concluded that the teachers were also happy because they were able to develop themselves even if they had difficulties both personally and professionally due to the cultural diversity in the environment. In order to increase the positive effects of cultural diversity on the school community, more social and cultural activities can be organised so that parents, teachers and students can effectively learn about each other's cultures, language courses can be opened at school in order to contribute to the foreign language development of both Turkish and foreign teachers and personnel. It was also concluded that teamwork activities should be given more priority in order to make it easier for teachers to work together. There should be personnel in place to ensure communication and interaction in different languages can flow smoothly in the official meetings held at the school, training on what non-verbal communication means in different languages and cultures should be given. In order to increase the positive effects of cultural diversity in the school on all concerned; education and training activities that improve peace education in the school guaidance service programme and supporting it with activities to be carried out regularyly across the whole school, Studies on peace education should be placed in education and training programmes with a multi-disciplinary approach, organising informative meetings with the students, teachers, parents and other personnel in order to develop skills needed to cope with differences. World Peace Day, also known as United Nations Day, which is celebrated every year on September 21, should be regularly celebrated at school creating concious awareness in students It is recommended that the subject of how to be a good global citizen should be included in education and training activities prepared for students at all levels. Keywords: Cultural Diversity, organisational communication, multicultural school, world citizenship, world peace.