Teachers ‘looking into a mirror’ - a journey through exposure to diverse perspectives

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examined the impact of a workshop for teachers entitled ‘Things are Not Always What They Seem’. The workshop’s aim was to raise awareness of teachers’ roles in heterogenic classrooms. The study’s primary assumption was the importance of increasing teachers’ awareness of their biases and the need to foster intercultural sensitivity. To do so, the workshop exposed 35 teachers to the perspectives of ‘other’ teachers and students including those deriving from the following defined categories: middle-class, advantaged, white teachers (MAW), and low social economic status, disadvantaged, and black (LDB) students. The research method was qualitative interpretive, based on the analysis of texts from the teachers’ workshop. The workshop included exposure to the MAW statements towards their students and LDB statements about their personal experience with racism. The teachers from the workshop read the quotes, searched for connections between them, and reflected about the texts. Findings indicate that the teachers’ responses to the offered quotes demonstrate intercultural sensitivity, as manifested through understanding their students’ points of view.