Teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students for the first time: a phenomenological inquiry into in-service teachers’ perceptions, lived experiences, and pedagogies

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to explore the perceptions, lived experiences, and pedagogies of in-service teachers who are teaching culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students for the first time through interpretive phenomenological analysis. Based on qualitative data, the findings revealed that teachers demonstrated no discrimination or stigmatisation against CLD students. They tended to hold imagined distress against teaching them, which was rooted in their concern about the language barrier, low-preparedness level, and being uninformed of their presence. Teachers’ initial negative perception evolved into positive following a fruitful teaching experience. Their pedagogies were informed by snap decisions instead of informed decisions. Instances of the limited conception of caring and culturally incongruent pedagogies were identified. Findings provided an initial knowledge base on some fundamental issues to be addressed in the journey of preparing culturally and linguistically responsive teachers in Türkiye.KEYWORDS: Culturally responsive teachingteacher educationculturally and linguistically diverse studentsmulticultural educationinterpretive phenomenological analysis Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.Additional informationNotes on contributorsSemih KaygısızSemih Kaygısız is a doctoral student at the Department of Educational Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye. His research focuses on multiculturalism, culturally responsive teaching, and teacher education. He is also an instructor of English language in Turkish Military Academy, National Defence University, Ankara, Türkiye.