EXAMINING COGNITIVE STRUCTURES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS REGARDING CONCEPTS RELATED TO MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

The aim of this study was to investigate the cognitive structures of secondary school students regarding concepts related to multicultural education. The study was conducted through a survey design. The study group consisted of 189 eighth-grade students studying in secondary school. Out of the 189 participants, 97 were female and 92 were male. The criterion sampling method, one of the purposeful sampling methods, was used in the selection of the study group. Word Association Test was used as a data collection tool for the research. According to results of the study, it was determined that secondary school students associated the most words with the concept of culture and the fewest words with the concept of respect. In addition, it has been determined that there is a misconception in the cognitive structures of the students regarding the perceptions of justice and equality. The research results has also shown that the students only weakly correlated concepts related to multicultural education.