Migration in the Classroom to the light of Multicultural Beliefs and Constructivist Teaching Practices

Abstract

The significant increase in immigration in Chile poses great challenges in schools that receive new students. However, there is not enough information on how schools and teachers embrace this new diversity. In this context, this article analyses multicultural beliefs and constructivist teaching practices in Chilean schools. Although this study tries to describe teaching beliefs and practices, it also explores, through a multivariate analysis, the explanatory factors of teachers' constructivist and multicultural tendencies. A questionnaire was applied to teachers and students to analyse and compare their perceptions and practices. The results suggest clues about the relevance of "individual educational" personal variables informing inclusive and culturally sensitive education. The "systemic level" variables, the institutional ones, do not show the same incidence in terms of multicultural beliefs and constructivist teaching practices. This statistical study opens future possibilities for complementary qualitative studies and comparative exercises.