Teachers’ lived experiences of culturally responsive teaching in multicultural classrooms: A hermeneutic phenomenological study

Abstract

The study examines the three Indonesian educators’ interpretation of culturally responsive teaching (CRT) in dealing with migrant-background students in non-formal Sanggar Bimbingan learning centers in Malaysia. The study was informed by hermeneutic phenomenology, and used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of semi-structured, asynchronous, text-based interviews via WhatsApp across multiple days. The interview subjects were guided by Gay’s (2018) five dimensions of Critical Race Theory that offered a sensitizing framework rather than conclusive analytical results. The educators’ narratives were analyzed across five domains: understanding students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds; contextualizing curricular content; adapting pedagogical practices; balancing care and discipline; and mediating across languages and expectations. The stories were different. One teacher spoke about cultural awareness, another about the expectations of the institution and parents, and a third about changing her own pedagogical beliefs. These results help us understand the participants’ understanding of responsive teaching but are not sufficient on their own to demonstrate improvements in student outcomes or family engagement. Conclusions are limited by the purposeful small sample, the use of self-reported data, the non-concurrent interview design, and the lack of systematic observational notes. The study offers a locally relevant lens on how teachers construct meaning and highlights the need for reflective, linguistically sensitive preparation in conjunction with institutional support.