Investigation of the relationships between preschool teachers' multicultural self-efficacy perception, and their attitudes towards refugee children and their competence towards cultural diversity in the classroom

This study aimed to examine the relationships between preschool teachers' multicultural self-efficacy perception, and teacher attitudes towards refugee children and their competence towards cultural diversity in the classroom. Accordingly, the study was conducted in the causal-relational research model, one of the quantitative research methods. The sample of the research consisted of a total of 245 participants selected by criterion sampling method among preschool teachers in Adana, Malatya and Osmaniye. In the study, primary data was collected using a survey form prepared online, including a demographic information form, the Self-Efficacy Perception Scale for Multicultural Education, the Refugee Student Attitude Scale and the Teacher Efficacy Scale for In-Class Cultural Diversity. SPSS v26 software was used to analyze the data obtained in the study. As a result of the t-test and one way ANOVA analyzes conducted in the research, it was determined that preschool teachers' self-efficacy perceptions towards multicultural education, their attitudes towards refugee students and their competence levels for in-class cultural diversity did not differ significantly according to their gender and professional seniority, but they significantly differed according to the number of refugee children in the classroom. Additionally, it was determined that preschool teachers' self-efficacy perceptions towards multicultural education positively and significantly predicted their attitudes towards refugee students and teacher efficacy for cultural diversity in the classroom. Keywords: Multicultural education, self-efficacy, refugee students, perception of competence, preschool teacher.