Reimagining curricula: effects of cultural (in)sensitivity of curricula on racially minoritised students’ engagement

Figures & data

Table 1. Description of study participants.

Ethnicity	Gender
BAME	Female	109
	Male	48
White	Female	76
	Male	24
	Not known	1
Unknown	Female	4
	Male	1

Table 2. Culturally Sensitive Curricula Scales (CSCS): constructs and items.

Scale	Original item	Constructs	Description
Diversity Represented	1	DR1 The curriculum features people from diverse backgrounds.	focuses on how people from diverse backgrounds are referenced within the curriculum.
	2	DR2 The curriculum references different ethnic and cultural traditions, languages, religions and/or clothing.
	3	DR3 Diverse ethnicities and nationalities are portrayed
	4	DR4 Diverse family structures (i.e. single parents, adopted or fostered children, same-sex parents, other relatives living with family, etc.) are portrayed.
	5	DR5 Differently-abled people are represented.
	6	DR6 People of diverse ethnicities are represented as researchers or professionals, not just as participants in research, clients, consumers, customers, etc.
	16	DR7 The curriculum respects that different cultures may have different understandings, skills and/or philosophies.
	18	DR8 The curriculum addresses problems that are of concern to marginalized people/communities.
Positive Portrayals	7	PP1 When social problems (e.g. crime, violence) are presented, people of colour are usually considered the problem. (R)	focuses on redressing the assumptions, perceptions and considerations of people from diverse backgrounds that may distort how they are considered by society
	8	PP2 When interpersonal conflicts are presented, people of colour are usually considered the problem. (R)
	10	PP3 When people of colour have problems, white people are usually presented as being able to solve those problems. (R)
Challenge Power	22	CP1 The curriculum raises critical questions about power and/or privilege that are usually taken for granted.	focus on the curriculum’s ability to provoke critical thought and challenge dominant ideologies
	23	CP2 The curriculum encourages students to challenge existing power structures in society.
	24	CP3 The curriculum encourages students to critique unearned privilege.
	25	CP4 The curriculum encourages students to connect learning to social, political or environmental concerns.
	26	CP5 The curriculum encourages students to take actions that fight inequity or promote equity.
Inclusive Classroom Interactions	28	ICI1 My instructors make an effort to pronounce everyone’s name correctly.	focuses on the development of a learning environment accepting of cultural differences and respectful of different perspectives
	29	ICI2 My instructors encourage students to be mindful of other students’ perspectives.
	30	ICI3 My instructors encourage students to respect other students’ perspectives.

Table 3. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with principal axis factoring on selected 19 items.

Pattern coefficients
Original item	1	2	3	4
3	.752	.027	.001	-.071
6	.657	.139	-.039	.059
5	.651	-.010	.043	.018
2	.642	-.032	-.123	-.132
1	.636	.043	-.262	.065
4	.550	-.036	.006	-.139
16	.357	.066	-.009	-.324
29	-.053	.903	.055	-.023
30	-.029	.805	-.004	-.125
28	.067	.640	-.092	.072
8*	-.010	-.076	.826	.040
7*	.063	.001	.743	.123
10*	-.235	-.028	.474	-.043
24	.010	-.022	.000	-.816
25	.004	-.036	-.076	-.774
23	.029	.135	-.041	-.719
22	-.045	.102	-.112	-.703
18	.312	.038	-.043	-.489
26	.314	.165	.152	-.450

*Item reversed.

Table 4. Independent samples T-test for CSCS – ethnicity (BAME vs White Students).

Sub scale	BAME Mean	White Mean	BAME SD	White SD	MD	t	Cohen’s d
Diversity Represented (DR)	2.661	3.106	.745	.530	-.445	−5.580***	.664
Positive Portrayals (PP)	2.200	2.964	.735	.662	-.764	−8.293***	1.080
Challenge Power (CP)	2.740	3.278	.878	.638	-.538	−5.294***	.678
Inclusive Classroom Interactions (ICI)	3.018	3.683	.786	.486	-.665	−8.380***	.970
Academic Interaction with Teachers (AIT)	2.957	3.250	.638	.652	-.293	−3.559***	.455
Interest	3.592	3.935	.599	.500	-.343	−4.766***	.610

***p < .001; **p < .01 (2-tailed); *p < .05.

MD = differences in means between BAME and White students.

Table 5. Pearson product-moment correlations for the study variables.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Ethnicity	1
2. Gender	-.075	1
3. DR	.306*	.175	1
4. Positive Portrayals	.446**	-.044	.459**	1
5. Challenging Power	.306**	-.050	.574**	.417**	1
6. Inclusive Classroom Interaction	.381**	-.065	.372**	.332**	.450**	1
7. Academic Interaction with Teachers	.217**	.133*	.187**	.217**	.228**	.248**	1
8. Interest	.305**	-.079	.214**	.223**	.226**	.207**	.330**	1

** p < .01 (2-tailed) Female = 1, Male = 2; BAME = 1; White = 2.

Table 6. Effects of ethnicity on academic interaction with teachers (AIT): mediation by cultural sensitivity of curriculum.

	Model 1 (dv: AIT)				Model 2 (dv: CSCS Mediator)				Model 3 (dv: AIT)
	B (SE)	β	t	95% CI for b	B (SE)	β	t	95% CI for b	B (SE)	β	t	95% CI for b
Diversity Represented as a Mediator
Constant	2.691 (.115)		23.472 ***	[2.446;2.917]	2.267 (.118)		19.161***	[2.034;2.500]	2.406 (.177)		13.602***	[2.058;2.755]
Ethnicity	.271 (.076)	.217	3.581 ***	[.122;.420]	.404 (.078)	.306	5.180***	[.251;.558]	.220 (.079)	.176	2.788***	[.065;.376]
Diversity Represented									.126 (.060)	.133	2.105*	[.008;.243]
R^2	.047				.094				.063
Positive Portrayals as a Mediator
Constant	2.691 (.115)		23.472 ***	[2.446;2.917]	1.564 (.129)		12.150***	[1.311;1.818]	2.496 (.147)		16.956***	[2.206;2.785]
Ethnicity	.271 (.076)	.217	3.581 ***	[.122;.420]	.667 (.085)	.446	7.852***	[.500;.834]	.187 (.086)	.150	2.181**	[.018;.357]
Positive Portrayals									.125 (.057)	.150	2.179**	[.012;.238]
R^2	.047				.199				.062
Challenge Power as a Mediator
Constant	2.691 (.115)		23.472 ***	[2.406;2.917]	2.275 (.140)		16.207***	[1.998;2.551]	2.368 (.160)		14.763***	[2.052;2.684]
Ethnicity	.271 (.076)	.217	3.581 ***	[.122;.420]	.479 (.093)	.306	5.177***	[.297;.662]	.203 (.078)	.162	2.587**	[.048;.357]
Challenge Power									.142 (.050)	.178	2.844**	[.044;.241]
R^2	.047				.093				.076
Inclusive Classroom Interactions as a Mediator
Constant	2.691 (.115)		23.472 ***	[3.059;3.450]	2.505 (.124)		20.240***	[2.262;2.749]	2.265 (.181)		12.498***	[1.908;2.622]
Ethnicity	.271 (.076)	.217	3.581 ***	[.210;.468]	.542 (.082)	.381	6.641***	[.382;.703]	.179 (.081)	.143	2.217**	[.020;.337]
Inclusive Classroom Interactions									.170 (.057)	.194	3.008**	[.059;.282]
R^2	.047				.145				.079

Table 7. Effects of ethnicity on interest: mediation by cultural sensitivity of curriculum.

	Model 1 (dv: Interest)				Model 2 (dv: CSCS Mediator)				Model 3 (dv: Interest)
	B (SE)	Β	t	95% CI for b	B (SE)	β	t	95% CI for b	B (SE)	β	t	95% CI for b
Diversity Represented as a Mediator
Constant	3.254 (.099)		32.777 ***	[3.059;3.450]	2.267 (.118)		19.161***	[2.034;2.500]	1.753 (.266)		6.585***	[1.229;2.227]
Ethnicity	.339 (.065)	.305	5.173 ***	[.210;.468]	.404 (.078)	.306	5.180***	[.251;.558]	.351 (.081)	.265	4.309***	[.190;.511]
Diversity Represented									.158 (.073)	.133	2.153*	[.013;.303]
R^2	.093				.094				.109
Positive Portrayals as a Mediator
Constant	3.254 (.099)		32.777 ***	[3.059;3.450]	1.564 (.129)		12.150***	[1.311;1.818]	3.129 (.128)		25.342***	[2.928;3.421]
Ethnicity	.339 (.065)	.305	5.173 ***	[.210;.468]	.667 (.085)	.446	7.852***	[.500;.834]	.285 (.075)	.257	3.618***	[.120;.406]
Positive Portrayals									.080 (.050)	.108	1.685	[-.014;.179]
R^2	.093				.199				.097
Challenge Power as a Mediator
Constant	3.254 (.099)		32.777 ***	[3.059;3.450]	2.275 (.140)		16.207***	[1.998;2.551]	3.019 (.140)		21.637***	[2.744;3.293]
Ethnicity	.339 (.065)	.305	5.173 ***	[.210;.468]	.479 (.093)	.306	5.177***	[.297;.662]	.289 (.068)	.261	4.242***	[.155;.423]
Challenge Power									.103 (.043)	.146	2.379**	[.018;.189]
R^2	.093				.093				.113
Inclusive Classroom Interactions as a Mediator
Constant	3.254 (.099)		32.777 ***	[3.059;3.450]	2.505 (.124)		20.240***	[2.262;2.749]	3.047 (.159)		19.188***	[2.734;3.359]
Ethnicity	.339 (.065)	.305	5.173 ***	[.210;.468]	.542 (.082)	.381	6.641***	[.382;.703]	.294 (.071)	.265	4.164***	[.155;.433]
Inclusive Classroom Interactions									.083 (.050)	.106	1.669	[-.015;.180]
R^2	.093				.145					.103