The lives of teachers in diverse classrooms

Recent migration patterns have brought major change to the experience of schooling for students, parents and teachers. This paper focuses on teachers, and explores their roles, functions and challenges in classrooms with diverse student populations. It examines initial and in-service teacher education and professional development programmes and approaches that can foster the teacher competencies called for in school settings characterised by migration-induced diversity, and offers policy pointers. The paper argues that in order to fulfil the growing expectations teachers face, they need to be equipped with relevant knowledge, capabilities, dispositions, values and skills, such as knowledge and understanding of diversity issues, reflectivity about identities, perspectives and practices, teacher agency and autonomy, empathy, and pedagogical judgement and tact. The paper suggests that responsive teacher education should integrate diversity into the curriculum, approach diversity as an asset, link theory and practice, create spaces for action, reflection, study and anticipation in handling diversity, and incorporate relevant technologies for innovative teaching.

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