"I treat everyone equally!": Perceptions, practices, and challenges of Health and Physical Education teachers when teaching ethnically diverse students

Teachers' beliefs influence their practices in classrooms, which in turn has an effect on student outcomes. This case study research explored the perceptions, practices and challenges of five health and physical education (HPE) teachers who taught ethnically diverse students, in two South East Queensland schools between Septemebr 2018 and March 2019. I analysed data from interviews and observations using the lenses of critical race theory (CRT) and cultural relevance and conducted document analysis of the HPE curriculum. While some Australian studies in Education have incorporated CRT and focused on cultural relevance, very little research has been undertaken in the area of HPE, and there is even less on teachers' perceptions, practices and challenges when teaching ethnically diverse students. The increase in ethnically diverse students in the majority of schools in Australia, especially in some regional areas, presents a need for teachers to incorporate culturally relevant teaching and to have an awareness of socially just practices. Teachers who use socially just practices in their classrooms provide caring environments, where ethnically diverse students may contribute to classroom activities without fear of being ridiculed for their culture. Therefore, culturally relevant education helps to promote the confidence and participation of ethnically diverse students where they feel included and aim for excellence in their behaviour and academic outcomes. I chose the curriculum area of HPE as it has a strong focus for students to understand their personal, social and community health, strengthen their sense of self and maintain meaningful relationships. Findings show instances of bias, colour-blindness and stereotypical notions in some of the HPE teachers which may affect teacher practices. Moreover, interest convergence, where the interest of one group determines their actions, appeared to be driving the selection of the dominant sports and physical activities of the two schools in this study. My document analysis revealed there was culturally relevant content in the HPE curriculum. The study has implications for teacher education and professional development. More importantly for personal transformation to occur, teachers may need to gain cultural knowledge, critically reflect and develop cultural awareness. Investments in teacher education in culturally relevant education are important for ethnically diverse learners, some of whom may be struggling at school due to the dominant, ethnocentric processes currently in place in several educational institutions. Ethnically diverse students need to feel accepted, cared for and recognised in our schools through recognition of the culture they come from. This study contributes to research on the importance of culturally relevant practices and cultural competence of teachers.

教师的教学信念会对其课堂教学实践产生影响，而这又会进一步作用于学生的学习成果。本案例研究于2018年9月至2019年3月期间，针对昆士兰州东南部两所学校的五名健康与体育教育（Health and Physical Education, HPE）教师展开，探究了其在教授种族多元学生时的教学认知、实践行为与面临的挑战。本研究采用批判种族理论（Critical Race Theory, CRT）与文化适配性视角，对访谈与观察所得数据进行分析，并对HPE课程开展了文本分析。尽管澳大利亚部分教育领域研究已融入批判种族理论并聚焦文化适配性，但健康与体育教育领域相关研究仍较为匮乏，针对教授种族多元学生时教师的教学认知、实践行为与挑战的研究更是少之又少。澳大利亚多数学校，尤其是部分偏远地区学校，种族多元学生人数持续增长，这要求教师需采用文化适配性教学，并具备社会公正教学实践的意识。在课堂中践行社会公正教学实践的教师，能够营造包容关怀的课堂氛围，让种族多元学生无需因自身文化而遭受嘲讽，可安心参与课堂活动。因此，文化适配性教育有助于提升种族多元学生的自信心与参与度，使他们获得归属感，并在行为表现与学业成果上追求卓越。本研究选取健康与体育教育作为研究领域，原因在于该课程高度重视帮助学生理解个人、社会与社区健康，强化自我认同感，并建立有意义的人际关系。研究结果显示，部分HPE教师存在偏见、无视种族心态与刻板印象，这些因素可能对其教学实践产生负面影响。此外，利益趋同（interest convergence）——即某一群体的利益决定其行为选择——似乎主导了本研究中两所学校主流体育项目与身体活动的选取。本次文本分析结果表明，HPE课程中包含文化适配性相关内容。本研究对教师教育与职业发展具有重要启示意义。更重要的是，若要实现教师的个人转变，他们需习得文化知识、开展批判性反思并提升文化认知能力。针对文化适配性教育的教师教育投入，对种族多元学习者而言至关重要——部分种族多元学生因当前部分教育机构盛行的主流族群中心主义流程，在校园中可能处境艰难。种族多元学生需要在校园中通过对其原生文化的认可，感受到被接纳、被关怀与被认同。本研究为探究文化适配性教学实践与教师文化胜任力的重要性相关研究提供了新的补充。