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Issues in Multicultural Education: Pre‐Service TeacherEducationLois Foster aa La Trobe UniversityPublished online: 02 Jun 2006.

To cite this article: Lois Foster (1987) Issues in Multicultural Education: Pre‐Service Teacher Education, South Pacific Journal ofTeacher Education, 15:1, 11-28, DOI: 10.1080/0311213870150103

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Issues in Multicultural Education:Pre-Service Teacher EducationLOIS FOSTER, La Trobe University

The notion of Australia as a multicultural society is very much a concept of the'seventies' and 'eighties'. While its use is becoming more common, the meaningattached to the term as well as the nature of its reality remain very much a matterof interpretation and debate. For one influential educationist (Falk, 1973, p. 13)there is a basic question to be posed: 'Is the concept of a multi-cultural Australiaa paradox or a contradiction?', while a former federal Minister of Immigrationand one-time Commissioner for Community Relations (Grassby, 1973, p. 5) hasasserted that Australia's pluralistic society can be conceptualized as 'the familyof nations' in which'. . . the overall attachment to the common good need notimpose a sameness on the outlook or activity of each member . . . ' .

What is not open to question is the presence of large numbers of people in oursociety who live in more than one world organized and presented through thematrix of their 'ethnic'1 language and culture, and yet who are catered for by aneducation system which has been largely mono-lingual/cultural. It is only since1970 that there have been 'system' policies and practices which have recognizedthe linguistic heterogeneity of the school population, particularly in the capitalcities of eastern Australia which have absorbed the bulk of the influx of peoplefrom large-scale sponsored immigration since World War II. The question oflanguage has been 'centre-stage' during this period. The difficulties in the acqui-sition of English experienced by children of non-English-speaking backgroundwas the justification for the Child Migrant Education Programme establishedby the Commonwealth government in 1970 and continued (even expanded) nowunder the auspices of the Schools Commission2, to the present day. Much laterhas come some emphasis on languages other than English as a result of con-ferences and reports but there has been no extensive educational policy on thisissue comparable to CMEP3, until the 1980s, with statements on communitylanguage provision in schools, for example in Victoria, becoming a priorityissue4.

These developments raise issues for those organizations concerned withteacher education. What programs are most appropriate for potential teacherswhose careers could extend into the next century? If there is to be substantialrecognition of ethnic heterogeneity in our society, one aspect of which is lan-guage diversity and another cultural (and structural?) pluralism, what prep-aration can or should be made available in universities or colleges of advancededucation?

The South Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 15, No. 1, April 1987

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Teacher educators require a great deal of information in order to make thedecisions which questions of this type imply. There is one source of such infor-mation which is largely untapped. Data might be derived from empirical evi-dence of language practices and attitudes of student populations in colleges anduniversities because language attitudes, indicators of internalized group valuestowards the posited multicultural reality of Australian society, may predictteacher behaviour in multicultural classrooms (adapted from Cooper and Fish-man, 1974, pp. 5-19). It may be, however, that decision-making has been or ispotentially influenced (and constrained) more by directives/recommendationsappearing in official reports on teacher education. Whatever the appropriatesource of knowledge, there is little hard evidence to suggest that teacher educa-tion has experienced significant change in structure, content or ideology as aresponse or an initiative to support multiculturalism in Australia.

This paper is concerned to identify some of the issues in the lag in the develop-ment of 'multicultural' teacher education. The argument is based quite overtlyon the desirability of such a changed orientation. The field of pre-serviceteacher education is the focus here; this is not to deny that in-service teachereducation should come under similar scrutiny. The argument on the slow de-velopment of 'multicultural' teacher education will be developed by examiningperspectives from the system (for example, in the form of official reports onteacher education5), from teacher educators (for example, conceptualisations ofneeded changes in teacher education) and from teacher trainees themselves (forexample, results obtained from studies conducted with Diploma in Educationstudents at La Trobe University). These data will be analysed against a back-ground of the present state of teacher education, on the one hand, and, on theother, developments in multicultural education at the school level. Specific ex-amples to illustrate these matters will be drawn more frequently from theVictorian scene.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF 'MULTICULTURAL* TEACHER EDUCATIONSYSTEM PERSPECTIVES

By system is meant statements appearing under the auspices of official bodiessuch as the Schools Commission or from inquiries established by Governmentor organs of government such as public service departments. Such statementsmay be used to shape policy and hence have a peculiar legitimacy (whatever theirvalidity or consistency) and are subject to rapid and wide dissemination.

The Galbally Report (1978) highlighted the function of education in en-couraging a multicultural attitude in Australia by facilitating the retention ofcultural heritage and the evolution of intercultural understanding among differ-ent ethnic groups:

We feel that the schools are the key element in delivering such a goodand we have proposed an allocation of $5m over the next three years todevelop multicultural education programs, and, a co-ordination ofeffort by the Commonwealth. For students training in professions we

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also recommend components of courses on cultural backgrounds of theethnic groups, (p. 12)

Just how the teachers might be prepared for such a role was less clearly stated.The only recommendations which might have had direct relevance to teachereducation were the following:

The Government should refer the need for appropriate pre-service edu-cation of all adult migrant teachers to the Inquiry into Teacher Edu-cation . . . (p. 16).A small committee of educators experienced in areas of cultural andracial differences should be appointed to consult with State, Common-wealth and non-government authorities and to draw up within threemonths proposals as to how the recommended S5m for multiculturaleducation can be used most effectively . . . (p. 26).The Tertiary Education Commission should approach all tertiary insti-tutions with a view to having components in the cultural background ofthe ethnic groups included in appropriate professional courses . . .(P-26).

The National Inquiry into Teacher Education (1980) favoured the embeddingof teacher education in the contemporary social context. To facilitate this, theCommittee recommended that:

R6.3 Pre-service teacher education courses should be structured andtaught so that students develop the appropriate skills and atti-tudes to be effective teachers in a multicultural society, (p. xxviii)

R8.9 Specialist teachers for ESL, CL and BE programs should betrained in sufficient numbers to meet the needs of pupils inschools. Appropriate teacher education programs, where they donot exist, ought to be fully operative by the end of the 1980s,(p. xxx)

and that all pre-service students undertake a set of studies in Australian societyand culture. The suggestion made was that such a core study should enableteachers to be aware of and have some understanding of: Australia as a multicul-tural as well as a multi-ethnic society; the diversity of the socio-economic andcultural backgrounds from which children come; the basic social structures andvalues of our society; the rights, needs and responsibilities of minority groups;Australia's place and role in regional and international affairs; the forces andfactors making for stability and change in society, including technology, em-ployment patterns, demographic factors, economic development, and themedia; individual and social ways of adapting to change; and the interrelation-ship of education with the family and with other social agencies and processes.(P. 121)

The Inquiry has moved beyond general normative directives. The incursioninto curriculum planning has, at least, the virtue of specificity.

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The Victorian Inquiry into Teacher Education (1980) identified three mainareas of concern and made recommendations on each. The first area was teacherselection.

R15.2 . . . demonstrated experience in ethnic or Aboriginal affairs,knowledge of other languages and personal qualities relevant tomulticultural education should be considered in the selection ofstudent teachers . . . (p. 267)

The second was course content.R15.3 . . . all teacher education courses, including those for pre-school

and special education, should include compulsory culturalawareness courses as well as courses in the investigation of thelanguage difficulties of non-native speakers of English, andlanguage-learning strategies, and give some experience with com-munity languages other than English . . . (p. 268)

R15.4 . . . there should be consultation programmes in the teaching ofcommunity languages to avoid duplication of expertise,materials and other resources, (p. 269)

R15.5 . . . the initial employment of teachers to teach English as asecond language should be contingent upon the possession offormal qualifications in Teaching English as a Second Language(TESL) . . . )p. 270)

And the third, course organization.R15.6 . . . exchange and secondment arrangements be organized be-

tween teacher education institutions and schools systems in orderto use to advantage recent school-based experience, both inteaching English as a second language and community languagesteaching, (p. 271)

This Inquiry, while sharing a common approach to multicultural teacher edu-cation, outstrips its stance with the National Inquiry. The recommendations onthree particular foci enable considerable direction to be given to the suggestedpreferred changes sought in modes of teacher education for a multiculturalsociety.

The Commonwealth Schools Commission (CSC), whilst having only an in-direct influence on pre-service teacher education has openly declared itsposition on multiculturalism and multicultural education. For example, in itsReport of 1981:

5.117 The Commission is unreserved in its support for multiculturalpolicy within Australia and for a vigorous program of implemen-tation (p. 115)

The Commission has suggested the practical steps to be taken in giving ex-pression to its support. The pragmatic orientation is evident in the action identi-fied as a precursor to the realisation of a multicultural policy.

5.127 In pursuit of the policy of multiculturalism the Commission will:

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(a) foster a general program of multiculturalism in all primaryand secondary schools;

(b) promote a wide range of activities designed to assist in thedetermination of priorities and options;

(c) give backing to an 'as-of-right' policy of language main-tenance for children whose home language is not English;

(d) encourage community language teaching in all schools;(e) more accurately assess the number of students in and the

demand for ethnic schools and classes; and(0 establish a support program for part-time ethnic schools.

5.128 The Commission recommends:(a) that funds be made available for a multicultural program in

education . . . ;(b) that this program encompass the teaching of Aboriginal lan-

guages and cultures; and(c) that the Commonwealth mount a general inquiry into present

and desirable language teaching policy in Australia, as amatter of national concern, (p. 119)

Although the consequences of such Commission action for teachers are con-siderable, they are left implicit in these statements and, apart from concernsnoted about the supply of qualified teachers, no further attention is given toteacher education.

The Schools Commission (1985), however, has signalled more recent interestin teacher education. The following appeared in a recent Commission Report.

1.12 Professional Development: . . . A recent study carried out for theCommission draws attention to current and widely held expecta-tions that teachers should have the broad knowledge and diverseskills to teach groups of students drawn from many cultural andlanguage backgrounds; to teach English as a second language; toteach children with a range of disabilities; to participate in school-based curriculum development; and to use and teach about newtechnologies, particularly computers in education.... (p. 3)

That is, the Commission's interest in teacher education has been mediatedthrough the specific Purpose Program Division — Professional DevelopmentProgram. This activity of the Commission, however, has been focussed on in-service education of teachers. The pre-service education of teachers is notapparently a high priority with the Commission in that no direction for develop-ment is given for that sector.

The funding of pre-service teacher education is the province of the TertiaryEducation Commission (TEC). The TEC, of course, can influence teachereducation directly because of its control over resources which affect capital andrecurrent expenditure and, thus, constrain provisions such as buildings andstaffing for teacher education organizations. The TEC has not yet moved intothe business of recommending or prescribing on matters such as teacherselection, course content and organization, although recent moves in England

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might herald a future scenario in which the Government could mandate, for ex-ample, what teacher trainees should be taught in their courses.6 That such ascenario may not be mere speculation may be gleaned from the aims of the TECand CSC review of teacher education (requested in 1983 by the federal Ministerfor Education). The fourth category of aims emphasised teacher developmentneeds as they relate to the Government's educational priority areas, for example,participation and equity in education (Ingvarson and Coulter, 1985).

In sum, the system supports multicultural education given its compliancewith a generally accepted policy of multiculturalism at the government level.Some governmental agencies are able to identify what might be meant by multi-cultural teacher education at pre-service or in-service levels. The practicalaspects of the implementation of such changes appear, however, to receive scantattention.

TEACHER EDUCATOR PERSPECTIVES

The perspectives in this section have been selected because of the range theyrepresent. Views come from individuals and groups. Some comments refer tothe broad field of multicultural teacher education, others have emerged fromempirical study. There is reference to actual practice in teacher education as wellas to ideas.

Simkin (1983) has developed an analysis of the implications of multiculturaleducation for teacher education. He does this, firstly, by identifying three majorcriticisms of the failure of teacher educators to come to grips with education fora multicultural society. These are that teacher education has not respondedprofessionally because new teachers are not prepared adequately for the realitiesof the multilingual/multicultural classroom, that teacher education has notmade courses in multicultural education compulsory for all trainees and thatteacher education has not prepared sufficient numbers of multicultural teachersfor all educational levels in the systems. Each of these deficiencies is addressedin terms of the present social and political context and economic climate inwhich teacher education operates.

In the second part of the analysis, Simkin suggests that there are certaintrends in teacher education which work either for or against the development of'multicultural' teacher education. These are the continuing isolation of teachereducation organizations from the schooling systems, especially with respect tointeraction among and interchange of teacher educators and teachers. Systemlevel examples (for example, in devolution of accountability from state toregional and individual school levels) of change in the multicultural area areneither easy to pinpoint nor to evaluate. On the other hand, there is an increas-ingly informed and committed clientele for pre-service multicultural teachereducation (for example, the sons and daughters of NES immigrants), in-servicecourses in multicultural education are proliferating and inventive strategies formulticultural education are being adopted by some teacher educators.

Simkin concludes:

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The problems faced by teacher educators are similar to those faced byanyone who confronts the reality of our multicultural society. Theissues revolve around attitudes, the interplay of political pressuregroups with unequal commitment of educators, inventiveness andvisions of the future. To isolate teacher education, or any single sectionof education, is to shift the blame from the whole chain to one link.This is short-sighted and counter-productive, (pp. 114-115)

This teacher educator has signalled his support for the introduction of multi-cultural teacher education. He suggests, however, that it is simplistic to ignoreexperience and harsh political and economic realities. As well, he insists thatmulticultural education is the province of a whole range of organizations andgroups and is to be accomplished in phases and at different stages in teachercareers. Hence, professional teacher education is to be seen as a continuum. Pre-service education is but one small component.

Two national conferences on TESOL Teacher Education, were held in 1983and 1984. These were prompted by the Department of Education and YouthAffairs because of the need to consider the range of issues pertinent to thesupply of well-trained teachers of English to speakers of other languages. Therecommendations of interest here are summarized below (Education News,1985, pp. i-iv):

Recommendation 1That all teachers be required to have a knowledge and understandingof:* Language and language learning;* How to identify student characteristics, needs and aspirations, both

in terms of language and in the wider socio-cultural context;* The processes that affect learning in the classroom (language and

concept formation, cognitive styles, language use);* Classroom practice appropriate to students from different linguistic

and cultural backgrounds; and* Effective classroom management procedures . . .

TRAININGRecommendation 2That in addition to the content specified in Recommendation 1, allspecialist teachers of English to speakers of other languages be requiredto have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of:* English in particular and language in general;* Socio-cultural studies; and* the development, implementation and evaluation of curricula that

assist speakers of languages other than English.

PRESERVICERecommendation 3That all teachers receive training in preservice education in thoseaspects covered in Recommendation 1 . . . .

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Recommendation 4That for intending specialists in teaching English to speakers of otherlanguages (TESOL) there be included in preservice teacher educationprograms a discrete TESOL method course... .Recommendation 5That in addition to the content specified in Recommendations 1 and 2,there be provision in preservice teacher training courses for electives invarious perspectives of education service delivery, such as Aboriginaleducation, child or adult migrant education, transition/TAFE, andteaching English as a foreign language.

These recommendations derive from a special interest group whose primefocus is on the teaching of English to those whose mother tongue is not English.We must remember that the teaching of English was the first concession madeby the Australian education systems to migrants of NES background, the firststep towards migrant education for children. For many, this is still the prime ele-ment in 'multicultural' education. It is significant that the recommendationsproposed by these teachers and teacher educators specify with great claritymatters of teacher selection, course content and course organisation.

A study conducted at La Trobe University (Foster and Rado, 1984) has beenused to develop a set of recommendations aimed at bringing about changes inthe Diploma in Education program at that university. The recommendationswere developed in a realistic way taking into account the limitations of the par-ticular context, the requirements of the schools in which the graduates mightfind employment and the attributes of the student clientele.

One of the most important compulsory components of the La Trobe Dip.Ed.course is method studies. Secondary students undertake two such studies whilethe requirement for primary students is four. Multicultural education en-compasses a range of language and non-language subjects. To teach any of thesenecessitates competence in content and methodology.

Recommendation:Students should have the opportunity to take an additional method ifthey wish. The extra method could be chosen from the following:TESL, Community Language, English, bilingual Education andEthnic/Multicultural Education. Arrangements for additional relevantteaching practice would have to be made. (p. 105)

There are few schools in Victoria which do not reflect the ethnic heterogeneityof the state's population. For example, in certain country areas, pupils may comefrom NES backgrounds where they are of the third or fourth generation while inurban areas, newly arrived migrant and refugee children sit in classrooms withchildren from as many as twenty different language and cultural backgrounds.Schools in areas such as the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, which, in the past,have been predominantly Anglo-Australian, have experienced ethnic diversifica-tion as 'migrant' groups express their relative affluence by moving to the 'better'suburbs. The social and educational consequences of ethnic diversification havebeen accommodated by multicultural education policies. The students

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consulted considered that all prospective teachers should have some understand-ing of these matters in order to more adequately reflect on their professionalpractice.

Recommendation:Students should be required to attend a series of lectures to encompassthe nature and consequences of multiculturalism and multiculturaleducation in Australia. Further exploration of these issues could thenbe undertaken via the programs in the courses, secondary or primary.(p. 106)Recommendation:Students should be introduced (in a systematic fashion) to the range ofaccommodations schools make to ethnic diversity. This can be effectedin two ways.(a) Courses can incorporate into their programs visits to particular

schools at primary and secondary level which have implementedsuccessful facets of multicultural education . . .

(b) Via the teaching rounds, students should be placed for one round ina school of high'migrant'density . . . (p. 104)

Recommendation;A specific sub-course within the Dip.Ed. courses should be encouragedto specialise in preparing students for multicultural/multilingual edu-cation, (p. 108)

The Dip.Ed. attracts students with significant language resources, Englishand languages other than English. The surveys showed that some students areinterested in pursuing further language studies in their Dip.Ed. although notnecessarily at the method level. Some students expressed frustration thatalthough they would like to participate in multicultural education once theywere teaching, they did not possess the skills to be identified with these areas.Students should be given the opportunity to gain an introduction to some ofthese skills, to provide a basis for more systematic in-service education later.

Recommendation:Students with developed skills in languages (English and LOTES)be encouraged to offer electives for their peers. These electiveswould provide practice for the tutors in teaching strategies andtransmission of content. For those receiving the tutoring, somewould be sensitised to the experience of learning another lan-guage, others would have the opportunity to receive languageskills and all would develop their language skills (whether Englishor LOTE) to a greater extent in what one would assume would bea non-threatening atmosphere and with native speakers, (p. 106)

These recommendations require minimal changes to the existing curriculumand at little cost. Most of the resources are available already in the School, butmay be supplemented by others, for example, the La Trobe Language Centre andconsultant services available through the Victorian Education Department andthe Catholic Education Office.

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TEACHER TRAINEE PERSPECTIVES

These views have been derived from studies conducted at La Trobe University(Foster, 1979; Foster and Radio, 1985); (a) the first in 1978 and (b) the second,noted above, in 1984.(a) Students who undertook an elective entitled Bilingual Education as part oftheir Diploma in Education course in 1978 were invited to take part in an ex-ploratory, descriptive study concerned with their language use and attitudes.The study, involving completion of a questionnaire and administration of andparticipation in a structured interview which was presented as a component ofthe course to enable students to find out something of the language backgroundof their class peers and, therefore, of bilinguals. The questionnaire gathered in-formation on age, first language, other languages, education, languages spokenin the home, whether languages other than English had been studied formally,parents' languages — their educational level and period of residence in Australiaand whether the student had any particular interest in teaching 'migrant' chil-dren. The interview situations were organized so that students worked in pairs, ifpossible, a monolingual with a bilingual. Each interviewed the other using theappropriate interview schedules. The interview included questions covering atti-tudes on the availability of Ethnic languages to Anglo-Australian students;knowledge of or maintenance of Ethnic languages in future generations, lack ofmaintenance of Ethnic languages among those with 'ethnic' background,desired multilingual and interpreter services in the Australian community, per-sonal language competence, provisions for 'migrant' children and desired lan-guage learning in Australian schools, and teacher education for a 'multicultural'society. The sample consisted of 61 students (26 males and 35 females) com-prising three groups: Australian born monolingual (15M : 10F) (41%); Aus-tralian born bilingual (7M : 11F) (29.5%), and; Overseas born bilingual(4M : 14F) (29.5%).(b) By means of survey research supplemented by in-depth interviews withselected mono and bilingual students, issues including the nature of appropriatetraining, the selection of suitable trainees and the characteristics which potentiallanguage teachers should possess were explored. The contention was that oneway of examining the language issue in a rational and systematic way was toassess the language resources of a group with the potential to be involved inactivities in schools arising out of innovations in multicultural education. Thestudy was carried out in two successive phases. In the first phase, a survey wasconducted of the 1984 Dip.Ed. cohort by means of a Language Research Ques-tionnaire. Once the results of this survey were obtained, a sample of twentystudents exhibiting selected features based on Dip.Ed. course, sex, mono orbilinguality was drawn. The members of this sample were then interviewed in alengthy interview of one and a half hours using the Language Research Inter-view Schedule. Preliminary data on the following questions were sought: Whatis the extent of monolingualism/bilingualism within the cohort?; What is theorigin of the bilingualism present in the cohort?; What is the level of ethno-linguistic consciousness within the cohort?; What characteristics can be identi-fied which suggest the potential within the cohort for training an ESL and

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community language teachers?; What types of training programs might be re-quired to take advantage of the bilingual characteristics within the cohort and inthe light of the range of language teaching situations now present in Victorianprimary and post-primary schools?, and; What sorts of factors might inhibit thepotential for the development of language aware and language skilled teachers,eg. ethnocentric attitudes? The sample consisted of volunteers. A total of 174out of a possible 226 (77 per cent of the 1984 cohort) completed the initial surveyquestionnaire. Of these, 83 per cent were enrolled in the secondary Dip.Ed. and17 per cent in the primary course. Males comprised 30 per cent of the totalsample and females 70 per cent. This is the pattern for the total cohort (in theprimary course, females predominate even more). The majority of the studentswere Australian born. Approximately 46 per cent of the secondary sample and 7per cent of the primary sample were potential bilinguals, either because theywere born overseas in a non-English speaking country or born in Australia ofparents of non-English speaking background.

Only results pertinent to teacher education will be reported. As these resultswere reasonably common to the two studies, they have been combined. It is im-portant to note, however, that in the first study the students by their choice ofelective were predisposed to favour multicultural education and teacher prep-aration for that task and 1978 was a period of upsurge of interest in multi-culturalism. In the 1984 study, the respondents were those willing to participatein the study and, given that they comprised a high proportion of the totalcohort, were not a priori proponents of multiculturalism. By 1984, the advent ofthe Hawke Labor government with its slogan of 'consensus' had led to a ratherlow profile on 'ethnic/multicultural' matters which may or may not have had aneffect on the attitudes of these students.

The survey results showed that the Dip.Ed. program at La Trobe attracts aDip.Ed. clientele in which potential bilingualism is of a high order. The studentscome from educational contexts, the state and Catholic systems, which gain thehighest 'ethnic' enrolments among the school age populations. There is a reser-voir of positive attitudes towards accommodating language and cultural diver-sity in school and teacher education curricula. Many students themselves hadbeen exposed to language learning (English and LOTE) in formal education andinformally at home. On the other hand, there are hints of resistance to the recog-nition of 'multicultural' Australia, definitions were simplistic confused andsometimes incorrect (e.g. referring to assimilation). It is clear that the primaryDip.Ed. program attracts fewer potential bilinguals especially among males whoare already greatly underrepresented in the primary group. This situation raisesissues of considerable significance in the selection of primary trainees.

Preferred teaching contextStudents were asked which teaching situation they would prefer, a school of

mainly Anglo-students, one with a majority of 'migrant' students or one with ahigh proportion of refugee students. It was clear that professional competencewas an overriding consideration for pre-service trainees and it is recognised as a

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multi-faceted concept. The many facets include objective aspects (eg. training inspecialities such as TESL method, the content of one's initial degree subjects)and subjective aspects (e.g. attitudes towards one's own identity, what it is to bean 'Australian', one's perceptions of minority/majority language and culture).Latent or overt ethnocentrism or racism played a minor role.

Primary and secondary students gave similar responses to many questions.There were, however, some interesting differences. The reasons primary studentsgave for not wishing to teach in schools with high refugee enrolments were thesame as those provided by secondary students. It was significant, however, thatthey did not provide any reasons at all in favour of teaching in such a situationwhereas secondary students had quite a number of positive reasons. Whilst bothsecondary and primary students were positively disposed towards the teachingof languages other than English (LOTES) in Australian schools and had ideason those they considered appropriate, primary students gave fewer and hence amore restricted range of reasons to support their view. Their perceptions of lan-guage learning and maintenance were less sophisticated than those of the secon-dary students. Primary students were quite ambivalent about teachingcommunity languages and introducing bilingual education in primary schools.They seemed to favour a much greater emphasis on English. They were con-cerned that other languages may actively inhibit adequate English languagelearning. It is evident that there are contradictions within their thinking. On theone hand, they favour multicultural education including LOTE learning andmaintenance, but when asked directly about these issues in schools, theirsupport seems to be less whole hearted.

Students are not well informed on presently accepted definitions of multi-culturalism and multicultural education. It was noticeable, however, that secon-dary students had a sense of satisfaction that Australian society has undergonechanges due to increasing ethnic pluralism. They used emotive words like 'it'sfun and thrilling', 'I find a multicultural society really acceptable and exciting','multicultural education is a must', to express their attitudes to diversity. Theprimary'students were much more restrained and critical of the idea that there iswidespread acceptance of the concept (e.g. 'academics just talk about it and"real" people don't know about it").

Mono-/bi-lingualismIdentification of bilingualism/biculturalism on 'objective' grounds is of in-

terest. Female potential bilinguals had actively maintained their language byformal educational study to a greater degree than males. They were more likelyto have taken a positive decision to teach and were more positively disposed tocoping with the challenges of the multilingual/multicultural classroom. On amore 'subjective' level, they seemed to value their bilingualism/biculturalismmore openly. Females also expressed more idealistic views on the value of amulticultural Australia. They were more strongly of the opinion that their(future) children would be bilingual. Monolingual females were also keen tohave their (future) children experience an expanded linguistic and cultural

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environment. Whilst there was a general acceptance of multiculturalism amongmales in the sample, bi- and monolingual, there were indications of ambivalenceand resistance; attitudes which are unlikely to be altered readily by a changedcurriculum in the pre-service year.

Origin of bilingualism

The majority of potential bilinguals were social bilinguals. That is to say,most were born in Australia into families in which a language other than Englishwas regularly used. There were, as well, bilinguals who had been born in a non-English speaking country and had experienced, perhaps, some or all or theireducation in their ethnic mother tongue. For both these groups, their initial lan-guage environment was one other than English. English was their secondlanguage.

One educational consequence was the greater likelihood that potential bi-linguals would have experienced schools of high migrant density within which,because of their time of attendance, little accommodation was made for theirlinguistic skills in the ethnic language, on the one hand, and, on the other, limi-tations in English. As a result, many of these bilinguals, while valuing theirgrasp of a language other than English, did not feel competent in the four lan-guage skills. Though they were now English dominant, some of them had somereservations about their oral and written fluency. Obviously, the reverse situ-ation operated for some of the overseas born bilinguals. They were ethnic lan-guage dominant and felt less competent in the four language skills in English.

It is perhaps due to some of the factors above that not all (potential) bi-linguals were enthusiastic and knowledgeable about multiculturalism andmulticultural education. The fact of bilingualism in Australia should not betaken at face value. This has been partially the reason for lag in the implementa-tion of new initiatives. Perhaps, more importantly, the recognition of the natureof social bilingualism in Australia has influenced our views on how far modi-fications should be made in educational curricula and who should be exposed towhat changes.

Level ofethnolinguistic consciousnessGiven the family and educational background of the samples, we suggest that

a greater than 50 per cent proportion of the secondary group have personal ex-perience of a language environment in which LOTES are regularly used. Theyhave come from homes in which LOTE is in daily use. They interact with otherrelatives and family friends, at times, communicating in LOTES. Many havecome in contact with LOTES as school subjects, official communications, e.g.notices in LOTES, as modes of communication in classroom and playgroundbetween LOTE speakers, whether with students, ethnic aides or other schoolpersonnel. In contrast, the experience of primary students was highly Englishlanguage oriented.

Knowledge of languages and use of LOTES were other indicators of ethno-linguistic consciousness. At least fifteen languages were included in the total

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range of languages mentioned. These included languages spoken in Europe,Asia and South America. Students gained their knowledge of languages fromsocialization in the home or formal education in schools and universities. It wasclear that females more than males were likely to engage positively in languagelearning, that is, to undertake language learning in formal education settings.With respect to English, a sizeable group had continued their study into thetertiary level. It was noted that fewer potential bilinguals had some advancedstudy in English. As with study of LOTES, more females than males continuedwith advanced study of English.

Another indicator was knowledge of and acceptance of the concept ofmulticulturalism and multicultural education. Expressions of knowledgeand/or acceptance were found in the desire to do a third method in the multi-cultural area, had this been allowed. There was substantial support amongsecondary and primary students and the favoured methods were English andTESL. It was interesting that monolinguals responded more positively here thanpotential bilinguals, even when we include the third choice offered, that of aLOTE. Perhaps an awareness of the limitations of monolingualism was adeciding factor. Frequently suggested reasons given for making these choicessuggest that students were aware of the dominance of English in Australiansociety, difficulties experienced by many students ('ethnic' and 'Australian*) inthe English language, and the 'marketability' of TESL as a subject and of TESLteachers.

In another question, expressions of ethnolinguistic consciousness wereprobed by finding out preferences for studying aspects of multicultural edu-cation if they were available as electives in the Dip.Ed. program. The favouredelectives for both secondary and primary students were ethnic studies and com-munity languages. The least favoured option was bilingual education. Femalesgave more weight to the language options. Additionally, potential bilingualsfavoured bilingual education over the other two choices.

Another measure was the response to questions exploring attitudes to com-munity languages. Highly positive responses were given to the inclusion of com-munity languages in the curriculum of schools, but there was less support forcommunity languages in primary schools. Mainstream schooling rather thanethnic schools was seen as the locus for community language teaching. Sub-stantial support was given to the universal learning of a second language, butamong school students not for teachers or teacher trainees. These pre-servicetrainees looked for changes initiated with the next generation rather thanattempting to alter the present situation, or did not want to be burdened withlanguage learning at this stage.

Factors for potential development of language aware and skilled teachersStudents' responses were frank and extremely useful with regard to this issue.

Monolingual students were aware of the limitations on their language skills bothwith respect to languages other than English and with their mother tongue,English. For example, even those students who had formal training in LOTE at

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school and/or tertiary level, were dissatisfied with the nature of their skills ('Idon't know the language just words'). Students recognised that even if Englishwere their mother tongue, further study was needed if they were to teach Englishor English as a Second Language and we noted that many students wereattracted to the option of a third method — TESL ('it helps to deepen one'sunderstanding of one's own language'). These students pointed to the necessityfor modifications in curricula both at school and at the tertiary level. They didnot see changes occurring to produce more skilled teachers unless both of theselevels played a part. Poor teaching, in addition, was seen as an active inhibitor ofsuccessful outcomes of language programs.

Attitudes were revealed as another significant factor which might have in-hibiting or facilitative effects. We noted firstly a gender related attitude towardslanguage learning and hence more generally towards multicultural education.The view that girls are better than boys at languages may hold some truth, but itmay result in attitudes which narrow the options for males and females withrespect to educational choices. This could, in turn, result in negative attitudestowards educational change and innovation of which multicultural education isa relatively recent example.

What these perspectives have told us is that information dissemination anddebate are proliferating on the issue of 'multicultural' teacher education. Thereappears to be strong support for the concept. In spite of this, changes in teachereducation to accommodate multiculturalism/multilingualism are slow, ad hocand uncoordinated across organizations, subject to contradictory priorities,progress is difficult to quantify and is under-resourced. In contrast, a recentnational review7 has noted considerable development of multicultural educationat the schooling level. Some of the achievements include an established fundingbase, implementation in many schools Australia-wide, the involvement ofminority ethnic group leaders in decision-making, a cooperative effort betweenthe government and non-government school sectors, many programs in LOTESat primary school level, and large-scale curriculum and materials development.There is no comparable expansion at the teacher education level. There, in fact,seems to be something of a disjunction between the developments at each level.The final section of the paper will review briefly some of the explanations givenfor this situation.

'MULTICULTURAL'TEACHER EDUCATION - AN UNDERDEVELOPED CONCEPT

Ingvarson and Coulter (1985) have offered some commentary on the presentstate of teacher education. They refer firstly to the spate of inquiries into teachereducation and the lack of action resulting from them.

There was a high degree of unanimity in the recommendation of theInquiries. . . . The reports also stressed the need for higher quality pre-service programs and amost recommended that four years be the mini-mum period of initial training... . Little [has] happened, however, thatwas a direct result of the National and State Inquiries, (p. 12)

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In their view, neither the Commonwealth nor the individual State governmentshave taken responsibility for implementing the recommendations. The inquiriesdid not address themselves to this issue nor to the question of federal-state co-ordination in teacher education. More serious than this, however, has been thedeliberate policy of the Federal Government.

A significant factor influencing the lack of implementation was thebelief that more than sufficient resources had been directed to pre-service teacher education, as witnessed by the oversupply of teachers atthat time. A major thrust of the Commonwealth Tertiary EducationCommission's (CTEC) policy for the 1982-84 Triennium was thatteacher education enrolments would be restricted to approximatepredicted teacher need, and that the funds so released would be used tomaintain enrolments in higher education at their existing levels. Theexpansion of new programs in technology, science, and business studieswas to be facilitated by a reduction in the level of teacher education.This policy was in conflict with many of the National Inquiry intoTeacher Education (NITE) Report's recommendations. Given this shiftin higher education policy, it is understandable that the TEC did notgive strong support for, or assume direct responsibility for, implement-ing the major recommendations of the Report of the NITE. (p. 13)

That is, teacher education has been given a low priority in terms of governmentconcern and funding. In such a contracted situation, innovations such asmulticultural education requiring resources for staffing and other aspects, areunlikely to flourish or even commence.

A second factor can be derived from the TESOL Educators Conferencesreferred to earlier in the paper. Problems in the training of teachers to work withpeople from non-English speaking backgrounds were identified. Some of themost important were expressed as follows (Botsman, 1984, p. 2).

• (i) a shortage of teachers with the specialist knowledge, skills andqualifications appropriate to teach English (a) as a second lan-guage to Aborigines, migrants and their children, and (b) as aforeign language particularly in the Asian and Pacific region;

(ii) inadequate knowledge and skills among all teachers who workacross all subject areas with Aborigines, migrants and their chil-dren (including an inadequate appreciation of the role of themother tongue);

(iii) inadequate higher degree opportunities to support those engagedin curriculum and policy development, administration, teachereducation, and research in the teaching of English to speakers ofother languages and related matters, such that most people bothhere and in the Asian-Pacific region go to the UK or USA;

(iv) few incentives of any kind for teachers to seek qualifications in thearea, few requirements that those teaching in the area have suchqualifications (and frequent employment of those without such

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qualifications), widespread disincentives in the form of exclusionof teachers in the area from permanency and promotion;

(v) no agreement on the standards and content of qualifications in thearea, no mechanism for setting such standards, and widespreaddisparity in qualifications and courses regarded as adequatetraining;

(vi) TESOL teacher education programs almost uniformly under-staffed and not uncommonly run by underqualified personnel.

This interest group is referring specifically to the teaching of English. I wouldsuggest, however, that in most of the problems cited, one could substitute'multicultural' education for references to teaching English. The long history ofAnglo-centric bias in teacher education has left a legacy not only of underquali-fied teachers in the schools but among teacher educators as well. This may wellbe exemplified by the public comment of a senior teacher educator in Victoriawho asked 'Are multicultural policies a form of assimilation, and does thismatter anyway?'

Although provision for language (English and LOTE) education are high-lighted in statements on multicultural education, Australia does not as yet have anational language policy. This might be seen as a third constraining factor.

A final factor is the whole issue of identification in polyethnic situations.Responses from teacher trainees have indicated that there is an element of volun-tarism in personal and national identification. Perhaps such voluntarism is in-herent in the type of multicultural/multilingual society evolving in Australia.This suggests that ambivalence over multicultural education is to be expectedand that a continued questioning of compulsion in multicultural teacher edu-cation is a healthy sign. Resistances, even contradictions, while retarding the im-plementation of multicultural teacher education, may facilitate exploration ofthe role of (teacher) education as an agent of reproduction and/or as an agent ofchange in Australian society.

NOTES1. The term 'ethnic' is used advisedly. In this context, it may be used simplistically to differentiate

between Anglo-Australians and Australians with other cultural, perhaps racial, backgrounds(that is, synonymous with first or second generation immigrants of non-English-speakingorigin) who speak English and/or languages other than English. In fact, of course, all Aus-tralians are 'ethnics'. As Smolicz indicates 'Ethnicity may be adequately represented by four in-dicators — language, heritage (other than language), social structure and ideology . . . ' J. J.Smolicz, Ethnic Cultures in Australian Society: A Question of Cultural Interaction, pp. 41-74. InS. Murray-Smith, (ed.), Melbourne Studies in Education. The general use of the term 'ethnic' torefer to people living in Australia of non-English speaking background has become more com-mon since the official multiculturalism policy emerging from the Galbally Report and espousedby the Fraser government was enunciated. For a discussion on the politicization of the term'ethnic', see L. Foster and D. Stockley, Multiculturalism The Changing Australian Paradigm.Multilingual Matters Ltd., 1985.

2. See, for details, official reports for various years — Australia, Department of Immigration,Migrant Education Programme, and; Schools Commission, Report for the Triennium 1976-1978, Canberra: A.G.P.S., 1975.

3. See, National Seminar for Teacher Educators, The Multi-Cultural Society. Macquarie Univer-sity, N.S.W., 28-31 August 1974; Report of the Committee on The Teaching of Migrant

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Languages in Schools, Canberra: A.G.P.S., 1976; Fourth Language Teaching Conference onMultilingual Education held at La Trobe University, 1975-76; There's No Demand for BilingualTeachers', Helen Moore, School of Education, La Trobe University, 1978; National Multi-cultural Conference, 'Australian Society in the Multicultural 1980s', Australian National Univer-sity, Canberra, July 1980.

4. The following documents highlight the priority being given to community language policy forboth primary and post-primary schools. See, Minister of Education, Curriculum Developmentand Planning in Victoria, Ministerial Paper Number 6, Melbourne, 1984, and; State Board ofEducation and Ministerial Advisory Committee on Multicultural and Migrant Education, ThePlace of Community Languages in Victorian Schools, Melbourne, 1984.

5. It is important to note that the past decade has seen teacher education inquiries at the federallevel and in most states. At present, both the Schools Commission and the Commonwealth Ter-tiary Education Commission have reports emerging from sponsored inquiries into teacher edu-cation in Australia. The coincidence of this flurry of activity with constricted economiccircumstances, a declining school age population, and a heightened critical attitude towards edu-cation generally, and more specifically teachers, in Australia should not be overlooked.

6. Professor Paul Hirst from the University of Cambridge in a recent seminar at La Irobe Univer-sity described the new constraints on course content, staffing and relationships between teachertraining organisations and the state school system in Britain which effectively curb the academicfreedom of teacher education authorities, universities and polytechnics alike.

7. The main findings of the Review were discussed at a seminar at Monash University, 15 July, 1985by Mr D. Cahill, one of the researchers.

REFERENCES

Asche, Mr Justice A. (Chairman). Teacher Education in Victoria Interim Report of the Committeeof the Victorian Enquiry into Teacher Education. Melbourne: Government Printer, 1980.

Auchmuty, Professor J. (Chairman). Report of the National Inquiry into Teacher Education.Canberra: A.G.P.S., 1980.

Botsman, P. (Chairman). Report of the National Follow-up Conference on TESOL Teacher Edu-cation in Australia — Executive Summary. Canberra: Department of Education, 1984.

Commonwealth Schools Commission. Report for the Triennium 1982-84. Canberra: C.S.C., 1981.Commonwealth Schools Commission. Annual Report for 1984. Canberra: C.S.C., 1985.Cooper, B. and Fishman, F. The Study of Language Attitudes. International Journal of the Sociol-

ogy of Language, 1974, 3(1), pp. 5-19.Falk, B. Personal Identity in a Multi-Cultural Australia. Hawthorn, Victoria: A.C.E.R., 1978.Foster, L. Language Use and Attitudes among Pre-Service Teacher Trainees, Bundoora: La Trobe

University, 1979, mimeo.Foster, L. and Rado, M. Language Resources Among 1984 Diploma in Education Students.

Bundoora: La Trobe University, 1985, mimeo.Galbally, F. (Chairman). Migrant Services and Programs. Report of the Review of Post-Arrival Pro-

grams and Services for Migrants. Canberra: A.G.P.S., 1978.Grassby, A. L. A Multi-Cultural Society for the Future. Canberra: Australian Department of Im-

migration, 1973.Ingvarson, L. and Coulter, F. Policies for Professional Development: The 1984 National Review of

Teacher Education. Clayton: Monash University, 1985, mimeo.More Music for TESOL. Education News, 1985, 19(3), p. i-iv.Simkin, K. Implications of Multicultural Education for Teacher Education. In: E Falk and J. Harris

(Eds). Unity in Diversity Multicultural Education in Australia. Carlton: Australian College ofEducation, 1983.

Dr Lois Foster,School of Education,La Trobe University,Bundoora 3083,Australia.

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