An exploratory study of instructors' perceptions on inclusion of culturally responsive pedagogy in online education

Abstract

The rapid growth of diverse learners in online learning has made it imperative for online instructors to incorporate multicultural resource curricula and instructional activities. This research aimed to explore online instructors' perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy in online education; examine how instructors integrate culturally responsive pedagogy strategies in the online learning environment; and explore the challenges in facilitating cross-cultural collaborative learning for students from different cultural backgrounds. Data were collected following a qualitative multi-site case study method with five academic disciplines (Education, Social Sciences, Engineering, Physical Sciences and Health Sciences) in 12 colleges and universities in the United States of America. In all, 60 in-depth and semi-structured interviews with instructors (26 females and 34 males) were obtained and analysed following a constant comparative analysis approach. Results reflected that the instructors used cross-cultural interactions to facilitate students' engagement and incorporated culturally responsive teaching. Besides, the findings revealed that most of the instructors integrated diverse and internationalized learning content to support diverse students and addressed the impact of multicultural education in online learning. It was, however, noted, that instructors in the physical science disciplines struggled to incorporate culturally diverse contents in their online classes. The findings of this study foster discourse on how best instructors could be aided to engage diverse students online more meaningfully.