Intercultural Practices as a Pathway to Support Teachers and Cultural Diversity. Working paper

This paper reviews literature on the issue of teachers and their relationship with cultural diversity. In the first part of the text, we highlight the importance of cultural and ethnic diversity within the teaching force. The second part of the paper focuses on models used to describe, explain and predict how to change teachers' thinking and actions in and about the diverse contexts. Then, we present and synthesize selected research on teachers' cultural sensitivity and preparedness to teach in multicultural classrooms drawing from studies that have used quantitative and/or qualitative data. Finally, we draw conclusions about how integrating research and theory in teachers' education can move us closer towards our goal of developing and sustaining a multicultural teaching force