Teachers’ understandings of inclusion with regards to migrant children in the primary classroom

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a rapid increase of migrant students attending state primary schools. Perceived homogenous primary classrooms transformed themselves into multicultural ones. This has had various repercussions on the education sector, with a significant impact on teachers and their practices. This research study explores what are the teachers’ understanding of inclusion with regard to migrant children in the primary classroom. It also explores how teachers provide inclusive classroom experiences. This research adopts a qualitative approach . Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 state primary school teachers. This study found that teaching a multicultural classroom may pose a number of challenges especially where language and diverse cultures are concerned. It also showed the need for frequent and compulsory, continuous professional development to enhance all staff members’ cultural competencies towards a multicultural school community. This study also accentuated that multicultural education in schools should not simply be included through tokenist events but should be part and parcel of everyday educational experiences.