@article{article_1573655, title={Looking at Multicultural Education from the "Wild West"}, journal={Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Educational Sciences (JFES)}, volume={58}, pages={337–380}, year={2025}, DOI={10.30964/auebfd.1573655}, author={Tezgiden Cakcak, Sebahat Yasemin}, keywords={Multicultural education, Multicultural teacher education, culturally responsive pedagogy, Critical multicultural education, Critical education}, abstract={This case study sought to find out the perceptions of eight educators living in Arizona, USA, which is known as “the wild West” in popular culture, regarding multicultural education. The study used eight-month-long classroom observations, document analysis and semi-structured interviews with eight educators. In this study, educators’ stories were described and situated in their historical, social, economic and cultural context. The findings of the study reveal the lifeworlds of multicultural students in Arizona, US as well as the basic principles of multicultural (teacher) education from the lens of participant educators. Multicultural students in the region were reported to be disadvantaged suffering from poverty, hunger, deprivation and domestic violence. Data analysis revealed the key principles of multicultural education as having dialogic relationships, being respectful of language and culture, community building, advocacy, moving beyond rage, and sharing power. Besides, this study demonstrated multicultural teacher education should be interdisciplinary and experiential benefiting from narratives of diverse populations. For the participant educators, teacher candidates should face the harsh realities of their students’ daily lives and teach them how to defend their rights. In doing so, teachers should also pay attention to self-care to protect their well-being.}, number={1}, publisher={Ankara University}, organization={Middle East Technical University-Scientific Research Project (BAP)}