The purpose of this study was to examine the responses of teachers to statements concerning gender and ethnic disparity in academic achievement. The major result was that preservice teachers were most likely to attribute gender difference to Society and ethnic difference to the Ethnic-Cultur. Generaly the explanations were simplistic. Finally, the were statistically significant differences between elementary and secondary preservice teachers.

Prospective Teachers' Perceptions of Ethnic and Gender Differences in Academic Achievement

In this article, the authors tease out the constructions of multi/intercultural education in Australia and the Netherlands through a comparative study of the two contexts including the population, scope of diversity, policies of multiculturalism and the policy and practice of multi/intercultural education. The comparison highlights commonalities and context‐bound differences. The article then discusses some dilemmas in the practice of multi/intercultural education based on findings from the authors' recent empirical research in both countries using a critical multiculturalism framework. The dilemmas discussed include the interwoven dimensions of culturalism and individualism and the tendency towards social agnosticism among teachers and teacher education students.

Multi/Intercultural Education in Australia and the Netherlands.

(2003). Educational Administrators' Perceptions of Racism in Diverse School Contexts. Race Ethnicity and Education: Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 145-164.

Educational Administrators' Perceptions of Racism in Diverse School Contexts

‘Black‐Blacks are less capable. . .because they don't have White values! ‐‐ Comment to a Student Teacher from a Resident Teacher ‘After all, how much diversity can young White student teachers stand?’ ‐‐ Teacher Educator, AACTE, 1988

The Teacher Education Challenge in Elite University Settings: Developing Critical Perspectives for Teaching in a Democratic and Multicultural Society

Ideas relating to identity and belonging are central to the public discourse around citizenship that has emerged in Ireland and internationally in recent years. One thread of that discourse relates to the role of national identity in societies that are increasingly diverse and multicultural. In view of the growing importance of citizenship education, understanding children's ideas about national identity is vital if educators are to engage children in the construction of an hospitable, critical and reflective citizenry. This research was undertaken in two phases during 2003 and 2004. Participating in the study were 119 children, drawn from a range of social contexts. Premised on a social constructivist view of children and childhood, the research drew on participative and democratic methodologies. While the study suggests the existence of an essentialist conception of Irish identity, it also demonstrates the capacity and willingness of children to engage in critical reflection on their constructions of Ir...

What does it mean to be Irish? Children's construction of national identity1

Children’s Constructions of Their National Identity: Implications for Critical Multiculturalism

Following an analysis of current responses to the ideologies of multicultural and anti‐racist education, the findings of a survey of student teachers’ perceptions of the role of the school in a multiracial society are presented. The survey suggests that prospective primary teachers may be more amenable towards contemporary policy initiatives in this sphere than their secondary colleagues. To account for this finding, reference is made to differences between the two groups in terms of occupational socialisation, identity and role. The implications of the study for initial teacher training institutions are discussed in the context of recommendations made in the Swann Report (1985).

Geoffrey Short

Papers

Children’s Constructions of Their National Identity: Implications for Critical Multiculturalism

Schooling in a Multiracial Society: contrasting perspectives of primary and secondary teachers in training