Bu araştırmanın amacı çokkültürlü toplumsal yapıya dayalı yerleşim merkezinde yaşayan lise öğrencilerinin eğitim ortamlarını çokkültürlü eğitim açısından nasıl algıladıklarını belirlemektir. Araştırma, nitel araştırma yönteminin kullanıldığı betimsel bir alan araştırmasıdır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu 2016-2017 öğretim yılında ülkemizin güney bölgesinde yer alan bir ilimizdeki liselerde öğrenim gören 16 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada, yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formları aracılığıyla görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Araştırmada, öğrenme öğretme ortamlarına ilişkin olarak, konular ve ders kitaplarında çokkültürlülüğe ilişkin öğelerin nispeten bulunduğu, öğrenme öğretme ortamlarında uygun materyallerin yeterince bulunmadığı ortaya çıkmıştır. Rol oynama, benzetim gibi tekniklerin kullanılmadığı, farklı öğrenme özelliklerine sahip öğrencilerin bu durumlarının dikkate alınmadığı, öğrencilerin kültürel farklılıklarının öğrenme öğretme süreci, değerlendirme ödevler, görevler ve diğer çalışmalarda dikkate alınmadığı sonuçları elde edilmiştir. Okul ortamına ilişkin olarak ise, öğrencilerin, çokkültürlü algı oluşturmalarında okulun olumlu katkısı olduğu, sınıflarının dışında diğer öğrencilerle iyi düzeyde iletişim ve etkileşim halinde oldukları, öğretmenler, yöneticiler, müfettişler ve diğer çalışanların çokkültürlülüğü destekleyici tutuma sahip oldukları sonuçları elde edilmiştir

Multicultural education is a philosophy, a goal, and a process. It is a philosophy based on fundamental belief that all people must be accorded respect, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, religion, and physical ability, or mental ability. The fundamental belief is that all people have unique values. Therefore, multicultural education aims to approve diversity and individual differences between people, by eliminating stereotypes, prejudices, and subjectivity. When the education is multicultural, it should spread around all aspects of that school; it should be comprehensive, effective and integrated, rather than restricting or assimilating(Ford and Harris,1999;25). Integration of the education system with multicultural education has several dimensions. Among these dimensions, compliance of learning and teaching process with multicultural educations has an important function. Qualifications of teachers, who are one of the most important components of the process, are of great importance for the efficiency of the learning and teaching processes. Therefore, teachers’ qualifications are also emphasized in multicultural learning and teaching processes. The qualifications that should be possessed by people who are involved in services based on multiculturalism are generally grouped under three dimensions: a) beliefs and attitudes, b) knowledge, and c) skills(Sue, Arredondo and McDavis,1992). Various strategies are recommended for the multicultural education, which aims to increase students’ academic success, and by supporting cultural awareness, decrease prejudice about cultural differences. These are classified as teachers’ professional development, expectations, curriculum, and instruction. In the instruction dimension, it is emphasized that various strategies could be applied with a view to improving multiculturalism in learning and teaching environments. Particularly, activity-based process in which students use various learning strategies through group works are emphasized. Similarly, the views about the nature of learning and teaching processes are based on the assumptions that communication and interaction should be reciprocal, multidimensional, based on cultural sensitivity, respect, and culturally sensitive curriculum and methods; cultural characteristics of students should be included in the instruction; all dimensions of learning and teaching should be integrated; and the teacher and the student should learn from each other.No studies at national level have attempted to identify students’ perceptions about multiculturalism. This study aims to identify perceptions of high school students about their own culture as well as other cultures. No studies have aimed to identify the state of multiculturalism in learning and teaching processes. Hence, the present study aims to fill this gap in the literature. Based on these views, the study aims to identify perceptions of students who live in places that have multicultural nature about their learning environments. In line with this aim, the study was guided by the following questions; 1. What are the views of high school students about multicultural education in learning and teaching environments at school? 2.What are the views of high school students about multicultural education in the school environment? This study, which aims to identify high school students’ perceptions about multicultural instruction, used descriptive survey model. Descriptive survey model is a research approach that aims to describe an existing situation as it is. The study adopted qualitative data analysis methods and techniques. Interviews were conducted with students who were enrolled in high schools in a city located in the southern part of Turkey in the 2016-2017 education year. The students were selected using maximum variation sampling method, which is one of the purposeful sampling methods. In order to provide maximum diversity, special attention was given to provide diversity in terms of such factors as gender, socioeconomic level, high school, ethnic structure, and mother tongue. Students’ views were identified through semi-structured interviews, one of the qualitative research methods. The semi-structured interview form was prepared by the researcher in line with the related literature. Interviews were conducted by visiting the students in their schools and recording their responses during the interviews. Analysis of the data collected through semi-structured interviews was performed using descriptive analysis, which is a qualitative data analysis method. Results showed that multicultural components existed slightly in the learning and teaching environments; and appropriate materials were not available sufficiently. It was also found that techniques such as role playing and metaphors are not used, and students’ individual and cultural differences are not taken into consideration in assessments, assignments, tasks, and other activities. As for the school environment, it was found that the school contributed students to form a multicultural view; the participants had good communication and interaction with other students in their classroom; and teachers, administrators, inspectors, and other workers had attitudes that supported multiculturalism.