Educating new teachers for culturally complex classrooms

Abstract

New Zealand schools are rapidly gaining complexity as cultural and linguistic difference accelerates.

Disparities in learning outcomes for students are often sharply defined, at least in part, in terms of ethnicity. This is unacceptable.

Recent research focusing on what actually happens in classrooms, particularly in respect of Maori students, is helping to clarify both the causes of these inequities and the remedies for them.

This research indicates clearly that the teacher, pedagogy, and the quality of relationships are key factors.

A major challenge facing teacher educators is how to prepare new teachers for this reality.

This paper explores that challenge in the context of pre-service teacher education.