Report for ACT Education Directorate: Teacher education for culturally responsive teaching: Margie Appel, University of Canberra as part of PhD research project

Culturally responsive teaching has received little attention in Australia with considerable gaps in theory and practice. This research explored the characteristics of culturally responsive teaching in Australia and illuminated associations with international learning during initial teacher education. Results from the three-phase, mixed methods research design indicate that many Australian teachers are not coping with the challenges of culturally diverse classrooms, find initial teacher education inadequate, and require professional learning support. In comparison to the broader Australian teacher population, ACT teachers report more confidence in their teaching in culturally diverse
classrooms. However, despite this increased confidence, ACT teachers report that initial teacher education has inadequately prepared them for their increasingly culturally diverse student populations and would like the support of professional learning for culturally responsive teaching. ACT teachers demonstrated that carefully scaffolded international learning during initial teacher education had a positive association with teacher confidence in culturally diverse classrooms.