Assimilation attitudes predict lower immigration-related self-efficacy among Israeli immigrant teachers

Abstract

This study focuses on self-efficacy among teachers working in culturally diverse educational contexts. We put forward the notion of immigration-related self-efficacy and provide initial support for its relationship with the acculturation attitudes held by immigrant teachers. One hundred thirty-three teachers who immigrated to Israel from the Former Soviet Union participated in this study. We found that teachers tend to report high levels of self-efficacy in all the investigated aspects. According to our predictions, immigrant teachers endorsing more assimilative approaches report lower levels of self-efficacy vis-à-vis their immigrant students. Our results can contribute to a critical discussion on the place and roles of immigrant teachers in schools.Résumé Cette étude se centre sur la capacité d'auto-efficacité chez les enseignants qui travaillent dans divers contextes éducatifs et culturels. Nous mettons en avant la notion d'auto-efficacité en relation avec l'immigration, tout en indiquant les éléments de base qui permettent d'étayer la corrélation entre ce sentiment d'efficacité personnelle et l'attitude d'"acculturation" que manifestent les enseignants venus de l'immigration. Ont participé à cette étude 133 enseignants qui ont immigré en Israël en provenance de l'ex-Union Soviétique. Notre recherche nous a permis de constater que ces enseignants ont tendance à faire état d'un haut niveau d'auto-efficacité dans tous les domaines explorés. Ainsi que nos prévisions l'anticipaient, les enseignants issus de l'immigration qui expriment une tendance assimilatrice, font preuve d'un moindre niveau d'auto-efficacité vis-à-vis de leurs étudiants lorsque ceux-ci sont immigrants. Nos résultats peuvent contribuer à une discussion critique sur la place et les rôles des enseignants immigrants dans le système scolaire.

Teachers’ Approaches Toward Cultural Diversity Predict Diversity-Related Burnout and Self-Efficacy

“…In accordance with previous study (Hachfeld et al, 2015;Tatar et al, 2011) and our hypothesis, immigration-related self-efficacy was predicted by attitudes toward multiculturalism, such that a pluralistic multicultural attitude to school was related to higher immigration-related self-efficacy. Attitudes toward multiculturalism were not a significant predictor of teachers' diversity-related burnout, not in accordance with our hypothesis.…”

“…Immigration-related self-efficacy. This section included nine statements based on the instrument developed by Tatar et al (2011), dealing with the teacher's relationship with immigrant students (e.g., "I believe that I am good at encouraging immigrant students to express their thought and feelings in class"). Respondents were asked to indicate the extent of their agreement with each statement on a 6-point scale ranging from 0 (never) to 5 (always).…”

Stressing similarities or ignoring differences? Shedding light into different forms of color-evasive ideology with pre- and in-service teachers

“…Finally, in Study 2, only the ignoring differences ideology positively predicted cultural diversity-related stress. This finding is in line with other studies suggesting that the ignoring differences ideology is detrimental to psychological adjustment (Celeste et al 2019;Gutentag et al 2018;Tatar et al 2011). The ignoring differences ideology should be considered unrealistic and too cognitively demanding, and not a way to buffer possible concerns for teachers who are called to work with culturally and ethnically diverse students.…”

“…This is because the explicit and implicit devaluation of groups reaffirms the uneven distribution of resources, rights and privileges among the student population (Gomolla and Radtke 2009). Additionally, it has been found that teachers' cultural diversity beliefs in line with the ignoring differences ideology may be associated with higher levels of cultural diversity-related stress (Gutentag et al 2018;Tatar et al 2011). Notably, reporting a high level of cultural diversity-related stress is associated with high rates of leaving the teaching profession (Tatar and Horenczyk 2003).…”

“…Third, to shed further light on the relation between stressing similarities and ignoring differences ideologies, we investigate how the endorsement of these forms of color-evasiveness could predict personal psychological functioning at school. In Study 2, based on previous studies (Gutentag et al 2018;Tatar et al 2011), we expected that both stressing similarities and ignoring differences beliefs would predict higher levels of cultural diversity-related stress while accounting for the endorsement of the other ideologies (i.e., multiculturalism and polyculturalism).…”