Teacher Education for Diversity

"Teacher education programmes throughout the world are grappling with one of the most expansive transformations in teacher preparation in a century: updating archaic programmes to address the ever-increasing diversity in our 21-century schools. Parents, accrediting bodies, policy-makers, and students themselves, are demanding that teachers be inclusive, culturally-competent educators. Walton and Osman’s book takes on this challenge in conceptual, empirical and practical ways. With an international focus and a cadre of scholars, each chapter demonstrates how to transform teacher education into an enterprise that truly prepares teachers for the vibrant, diverse world that is at the doorstep of schoolhouses throughout the world. This is a book that universities and teacher education programmes need now—in fact, it is overdue."

Professor Ronnie Casella, State University of New York--Cortland, USA.

"The global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) place equitable, inclusive and quality lifelong learning at the heart of its education vision. Achieving this requires motivated and dedicated teachers who are committed to the learning of all, particularly the marginalized. Yet this global framework pays scant attention to those who produce the next generation of teachers, the teacher educators, and the extent to which future teachers are learning to work with diversity within and outside the classroom. Ignoring diversity imperils the extent to which we can create just, peaceful and inclusive societies.

This book edited by Walton and Osman brings together a collection of teacher education research which collectively speaks to the need for (re)thinking what we value and what counts in producing the kinds of teachers required for the world we want. It is a must-read for everyone committed to invigorating a vision for social justice and quality education, which has at its core a critical and reflexive account of, and approach to, diversity in and through education. I commend the editors and authors for providing a timely and much needed resource for teacher education in these troubling and uncertain times."

Professor Yusuf Sayed, University of Sussex, UK.

"This book attends to debates that link teacher education and the recognition of, and working pedagogically with, complex human diversities in institutions such as schools and university faculties of education. The authors, drawn from different contexts, variously argue that teacher education must involve engaging with diversity in an inclusive and responsive manner, including how students learn under conditions of exclusion related to class, race, geography, gender, sexuality and disability. The book presents a cogent set of arguments, informed by rigorous empirical research and theoretical application, about the way in which inclusion and recognition work are able to proceed in educational sites, where normative assumptions are challenged, and rigorous dialogue enacted in pursuit of our common humanity. This book is a much needed addition to the study of teacher education in complex times."

Professor Aslam Fataar, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.