The roles of the teacher in culturally responsive education

With the globalization process and migration movements, increasing cultural differences make culture-based educational approaches an important phenomenon worldwide; the reflection of these differences in the classroom environment places the fundamental responsibility of creating effective and healthy learning experiences on teachers and brings the role of teachers in this process to the forefront. Aim of this study, it has been aimed to reveal the role of teachers, who design and manage instructional processes, in carrying out education in a manner that is responsive to cultural values. In the study, a parallel mixed-methods design was employed, in which quantitative and qualitative data were evaluated concurrently. Quantitative data were collected from 328 teachers working in public schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in 16 provinces selected by stratified sampling method from 12 regions determined according to the Statistical Regional Units classification of Türkiye, by using the Scale of Teachers' Roles in Education Based on Cultural Values, and CHAID analysis was conducted by using the SPSS package program. The relationships between teachers' demographic, professional, and personal characteristics and their roles in culturally responsive education were examined through CHAID analysis. The findings of the CHAID analysis showed that the factor most strongly affecting teachers' culturally responsive roles was branch. This was followed by school type, professional seniority, place of birth, and overseas experience. However, gender, educational background, region of employment, and the presence of immigrant students in the classroom did not affect teachers' culturally responsive roles. Qualitative data, on the other hand, were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 participants selected using non-random purposive sampling methods, specifically convenience sampling, and were analyzed through content analysis. In teachers' views, seven main themes were most emphasized: cultural awareness, human values, educational role and responsibility, justice and equality, personal self-evaluation, positive teacher behaviors, and negative teacher behaviors. This finding reveals that teachers do not perceive culturally responsive roles as limited only to classroom practices, but also as a broader responsibility related to students' social development and values education. In conclusion, this study contributes to the literature by holistically revealing both the order of influence of the variables in determining the role of teachers in culturally responsive education and teachers' perceptions on this issue.