Exploring the Components of Multicultural Competence among Pre-Service Teacher Students in Thailand: An Approach Utilizing Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Research Procedure
- 1.
- Literature Review and Survey
- 1.1
- We engaged in an exhaustive review of literature, encompassing documents, research articles, and related studies both domestically and internationally.
- 1.2
- We administered surveys to pre-service teacher students to understand their perspectives on multicultural competence. The survey took approximately 30–40 min to complete. The purpose of sending questionnaires to pre-service teachers in the early phases of the investigation was to gather preliminary data that would inform the development of our multicultural competence model. This initial data collection was essential for understanding the baseline levels of multicultural competence among pre-service teachers and identifying any immediate gaps or needs in their training.
- 2.
- Component and Indicator Determination
- 2.1
- We identified the components and indicators derived from the aforementioned study.
- 2.2
- We initially assessed the appropriateness of the number of indicators.
- 2.3
- We utilized this foundational information to conduct in-depth interviews concerning multicultural competence for pre-service teacher students with recognized experts in the field.
- Our approach was grounded in several well-established theoretical frameworks on multicultural competence. We drew on the works of scholars such as Banks [3], who emphasizes the importance of cultural awareness and knowledge in education, and Sue and Sue [4], who highlight the significance of personal skills in multicultural interactions. These frameworks provided a robust foundation for selecting the indicators of multicultural competence.
- 3.
- In-Depth Expert Interviews
- 3.1
- We conducted comprehensive interviews concerning the components of multicultural competence for pre-service teacher students with a panel of qualified experts comprising 5 experts from the faculty or lecturers of the Faculty of Education, 5 experts specializing in cultural psychology, and 5 experts proficient in measurements and research pertaining to the components and observed variables of multicultural competence in pre-service teachers. These experts were selected based on their extensive experience and contributions to the field. The interviews were conducted over several sessions, each lasting approximately one hour. The experts were asked to provide their insights on the essential components of multicultural competence and to review our preliminary indicators. The data collected from these interviews were analyzed thematically, and the findings were used to validate and refine our model. The expert input ensured that our indicators were both theoretically sound and practically relevant.
- 4.
- Tool Development and Validation
- 4.1
- We developed and validate research instruments based on insights garnered from literature reviews, surveys, and expert interviews. It comprised 104 items, with each item answered on a 5-point rating scale to assess multicultural competence in pre-service teachers, with scores ranging from ‘strongly agree’ (5) to ‘strongly disagree’ (1), following the approach outlined in [28]. The mean scores were divided into five levels: lowest (1.00–1.50), low (1.51–2.50), moderate (2.51–3.50), high (3.51–4.50), and highest (3.51–5.00) [29]. The content validity was appraised by a panel of 5 experts, ensuring a content validity index (CVI) of no less than 0.8 [30], as well as evaluating language suitability. Each item achieved a CVI score of 1.00 for this study.
- 5.
- Pilot Testing
- 5.1
- We executed a pilot study to evaluate the efficacy and reliability of the developed research instruments. The multicultural competence test for pre-service teachers underwent validation, achieving a Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient (α) of 0.972 in this examination.
- 6.
- Confirmatory Factor Analysis
- 6.1
- We performed confirmatory factor analysis on the data obtained from the pilot study to validate the research instruments.
- 7.
- Administration of Multicultural Competence Test for Pre-service Teachers
- 7.1
- We administered the multicultural competence test to a subset of pre-service teachers who had passed the quality assurance checks.
- 7.2
- We implemented this assessment with a larger sample, as outlined (n = 600), to ensure the statistical significance and reliability of the findings.
- Following the data collection from the questionnaires and expert interviews, we applied CFA to validate the proposed model. This statistical method allowed us to test the fit of our model and ensure that the selected indicators reliably measured the components of multicultural competence.
2.2. Data Analyses
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Demographic Characteristics | Number (Person) | Percentage (%) |
---|---|---|
Gender | ||
Male | 167 | 27.80 |
Female | 378 | 63.00 |
Alternative Gender | 55 | 9.20 |
Age | ||
19 years | 94 | 15.70 |
20 years | 183 | 30.50 |
21 years | 202 | 33.70 |
22 years | 101 | 16.80 |
23 years | 20 | 3.30 |
Religion | ||
Buddhism | 521 | 86.80 |
Christianity | 12 | 2.00 |
Islam | 67 | 11.20 |
Field of Study | ||
Thai Language/Teaching Thai | 91 | 15.20 |
English Language/Teaching English | 86 | 14.30 |
Chinese Language | 10 | 1.70 |
Mathematics/Teaching Mathematics | 71 | 11.80 |
Science/Teaching Science | 76 | 12.70 |
Early Childhood Education | 27 | 4.50 |
Year of Study (year) | ||
2nd | 200 | 33.30 |
3rd | 196 | 32.70 |
4th | 204 | 34.00 |
Region of Institution | ||
North | 150 | 25.00 |
Central | 150 | 25.00 |
Northeast | 150 | 25.00 |
South | 150 | 25.00 |
Experience Traveling Abroad | ||
Yes | 172 | 28.70 |
No | 428 | 71.30 |
Component | Mean (M) | Standard Deviation (SD) |
---|---|---|
Cultural Awareness (CA) | 4.26 | 0.50 |
1. Cultural sensitivity | 4.21 | 0.54 |
2. Valuing culture | 4.22 | 0.53 |
3. Reducing cultural bias | 4.35 | 0.56 |
Cultural Knowledge (CK) | 4.09 | 0.55 |
1. Specific cultural knowledge | 4.14 | 0.56 |
2. Diverse cultural knowledge | 4.08 | 0.59 |
3. Applying cultural knowledge | 4.04 | 0.66 |
Personal Skills (PS) | 3.92 | 0.61 |
1. Open-mindedness | 3.87 | 0.72 |
2. Communication ability | 3.91 | 0.66 |
3. Building interpersonal relationships | 3.75 | 0.75 |
4. Flexibility | 3.87 | 0.72 |
5. Self-regulation | 3.90 | 0.70 |
6. Adaptability | 4.23 | 0.61 |
Components | Components of Multicultural Competence for Pre-Service Teacher Students | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cultural Awareness (CA) | Cultural Knowledge (CK) | Personal Skills (PS) | |||||||||||
CSE | CAP | CBI | CKS | CKV | CKA | POM | PCA | PIR | PFL | PSR | PAD | ||
Cultural awareness (CA) | CSE | 1 | |||||||||||
CAP | 0.798 ** | 1 | |||||||||||
CBI | 0.711 ** | 0.775 ** | 1 | ||||||||||
Cultural knowledge (CK) | CKS | 0.706 ** | 0.730 ** | 0.736 ** | 1 | ||||||||
CKV | 0.705 ** | 0.728 ** | 0.660 ** | 0.755 ** | 1 | ||||||||
CKA | 0.633 ** | 0.624 ** | 0.569 ** | 0.670 ** | 0.764 ** | 1 | |||||||
Personal skills (PS) | POM | 0.624 ** | 0.607 ** | 0.543 ** | 0.678 ** | 0.764 ** | 0.746 ** | 1 | |||||
PCA | 0.625 ** | 0.660 ** | 0.562 ** | 0.688 ** | 0.745 ** | 0.703 ** | 0.727 ** | 1 | |||||
PIR | 0.560 ** | 0.563 ** | 0.474 ** | 0.625 ** | 0.680 ** | 0.669 ** | 0.756 ** | 0.788 ** | 1 | ||||
PFL | 0.597 ** | 0.604 ** | 0.539 ** | 0.643 ** | 0.731 ** | 0.690 ** | 0.708 ** | 0.706 ** | 0.792 ** | 1 | |||
PSR | 0.562 ** | 0.612 ** | 0.528 ** | 0.648 ** | 0.734 ** | 0.671 ** | 0.766 ** | 0.711 ** | 0.731 ** | 0.772 ** | 1 | ||
PAD | 0.660 ** | 0.691 ** | 0.643 ** | 0.642 ** | 0.705 ** | 0.617 ** | 0.598 ** | 0.642 ** | 0.565 ** | 0.653 ** | 0.675 ** | 1 |
Cultural Competence Components | Component Weight Matrix | Factor Score | R2 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
β | SE | t | |||
Component 1 | |||||
Cultural Awareness (CA) | |||||
1. Cultural sensitivity (CSE) | 0.871 | 0.014 | 61.617 ** | 0.241 | 0.759 |
2. Appreciation of cultural values (CAP) | 0.914 | 0.012 | 74.866 ** | 0.164 | 0.836 |
3. Reduction in cultural bias (CBI) | 0.805 | 0.023 | 35.348 ** | 0.352 | 0.648 |
Cultural Knowledge (CK) | |||||
1. Specific cultural understanding (CKS) | 0.842 | 0.014 | 61.829 ** | 0.292 | 0.708 |
2. Diverse cultural understanding (CKV) | 0.891 | 0.012 | 77.399 ** | 0.205 | 0.795 |
3. Application of cultural knowledge (CKA) | 0.813 | 0.016 | 49.906 ** | 0.338 | 0.662 |
Personal Skills (PS) | |||||
1. Open-mindedness (POM) | 0.901 | 0.012 | 72.466 ** | 0.189 | 0.811 |
2. Communication ability (PCA) | 0.911 | 0.015 | 60.262 ** | 0.169 | 0.831 |
3. Interpersonal relationship building (PIR) | 0.834 | 0.017 | 49.696 ** | 0.304 | 0.696 |
4. Flexibility (PFL) | 0.892 | 0.014 | 64.399 ** | 0.204 | 0.796 |
5. Self-regulation (PSR) | 0.881 | 0.017 | 52.558 ** | 0.223 | 0.777 |
6. Adaptability (PAD) | 0.835 | 0.025 | 33.945 ** | 0.303 | 0.697 |
Component 2 | |||||
1. Cultural awareness (CA) | 0.924 | 0.015 | 61.280 ** | 0.854 | |
2. Cultural knowledge (CK) | 0.998 | 0.000 | 91.106 ** | 0.996 | |
3. Personal skills (PS) | 0.831 | 0.020 | 40.609 ** | 0.690 |
Criterion | Criteria for Evaluation | |
---|---|---|
Chi-square (χ2) | 30.902 | Not statistically significant |
p-value | 0.0753 | <0.05 |
Degrees of Freedom (df) | 21 | - |
Relative Chi-square (χ2/df) | 1.472 | <2.0 |
Comparative fit index (CFI) | 0.999 | Value approaching 1.0 |
Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) | 0.996 | Value approaching 1.0 |
Standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) | 0.013 | Value approaching 0.0 |
Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) | 0.028 | Value approaching 0.0 |
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Choompunuch, B.; Kamdee, K.; Taksino, P. Exploring the Components of Multicultural Competence among Pre-Service Teacher Students in Thailand: An Approach Utilizing Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2024, 14, 2476-2490. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe14090164
Choompunuch B, Kamdee K, Taksino P. Exploring the Components of Multicultural Competence among Pre-Service Teacher Students in Thailand: An Approach Utilizing Confirmatory Factor Analysis. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education. 2024; 14(9):2476-2490. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe14090164
Chicago/Turabian StyleChoompunuch, Bovornpot, Khanika Kamdee, and Prakittiya Taksino. 2024. "Exploring the Components of Multicultural Competence among Pre-Service Teacher Students in Thailand: An Approach Utilizing Confirmatory Factor Analysis" European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education 14, no. 9: 2476-2490. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe14090164