Germany is currently changing its self-perception as it shifts from a culturally homogenous nation to a more pluralistic society shaped by immigration. Education is thus evolving to be more inclusive although heterogeneity is still considered a challenge with which to cope rather than a potential strength. This approach can be compared with countries that have longer histories of immigration, such as Canada, having moved from merely “dealing with heterogeneity” to embracing diversity as a resource for education. Teacher education plays a key role in this transition, and there are many approaches it can use to facilitate this shift. These approaches range from increasing the intake of teacher trainees with diverse backgrounds, to applying didactic approaches that will encourage communication about their different identities, to exploring basic philosophical concepts such as diversity, identity and controversy.

The school and teacher education systems in Spain have traditionally considered students who were "different" as a problem to be addressed rather than as an opportunity to learn. Recent educational reforms have required not only that diversity be accepted as a reality but have also emphasised it as an asset. These reforms have also stated that teacher education must be redesigned for this to be formally reflected. However, moving from theory to practice is not always easy and changing minds and culture takes time and resources. For a first impression of this process, this chapter looks at the status and role of diversity issues in the curricula of four Spanish universities offering new degrees in teacher education (academic year 2009.10). Initial observations indicate that the system has not yet been reformed successfully and that it could be a result of simply changing discourse instead of practices.

This chapter critically examines a variety of approaches to diversity in integrated schools (i.e. mixed Catholic and Protestant) in Northern Ireland and considers their implications in the context of the wider debate around multiculturalism. It presents a study of integrated school principals and their responses to diversity in their schools. It furthermore provides a summary of the characteristics of different approaches to integration and how they can be viewed with respect to teacher education. Given the range of possible educational responses to cultural diversity, it is important to determine which are the most contextually relevant in order to encourage their adoption throughout initial and ongoing teacher education. This chapter argues that multiculturalism and multicultural education can provide a valuable frame for analysis of integrated education policy and practice.

It is difficult to identify classroom practices for teaching cultural diversity that could be applicable across national and cultural contexts. So much weight in research on ethnic and cultural diversity is given to the environmental, sociological and historical influences which mitigate learning that “universal” strategies are almost unthinkable. The author proposes that teacher education programmes focus on principles to guide classroom practices rather than specific practices themselves. Prospective teachers can be taught how to translate these principles into effective strategies for their particular classroom settings. Four principles are discussed: (i) how beliefs about diversity shape instructional behaviours; (ii) using multiple perspectives in learning about diversity; (iii) multiple techniques to achieve common learning outcomes; and (iv) developing skills to cross borders between different cultural systems. Specific examples are provided to illustrate what these principles look like in actual instructional practice, but the emphasis is on encouraging teachers to develop their own.