Towards diversity in teacher education: teacher preparation of immigrant teachers

Professional Integration of Immigrant Teachers in the School System: A literature review

“…The teachers also brought to light problems related to student assessment. Similar findings were also reported in other studies: Myles, Cheng and Wang (2006) in Ontario, Cruickshank (2004) in Australia, Elbaz-Luwisch (2004) in Israel and Gordon (1996) in the US. The immigrant teachers who participated in these studies felt they had to change their beliefs and teaching practices, in order to adapt to the new teaching system.…”

“…These teachers followed part-time courses during three semesters in a program spanning two years to allow them to continue working and to support their families. Similar programs exist in Australia (Cruickshank, 2004) where immigrant teachers follow a two-year course aimed at gaining the necessary competencies to qualify them to teach in Australian schools. In Israel, the new immigrant teachers' training lasts 10 months.…”

“…Problems of access to employment could also be attributed to linguistic and cultural barriers (Beynon, Ilieva, & Dichoupa, 2004;Cruickshank, 2004;Elbaz-Luwisch, 2004;Maureen, 1992;Gordon, 1996;Hutchison, 2005;Myles, Cheng, & Wang, 2006;Phillion, 2003;Reid, 2005;Remennick, 2002;Schmidt, 2010). Not mastering the language and the culture of the country could hamper access to employment (Dakin, 1971).…”

“…The first problem is related to teaching practices. Because teaching philosophies can vary from one country to another, immigrant teachers often face problems adapting to the teaching model that is applied in their host country (Cruickshank, 2004;Dakin, 1971;Gordon, 1996;Hutchison, 2005;Myles, Cheng, & Wang, 2006;Wang, 2003;Seah, 2005). For example, Wang (2003) notes that immigrant teachers of Chinese origin in Toronto felt disoriented after observing the differences in teaching approaches in Toronto schools.…”

“…Furthermore, certain immigrant teachers found that they were not guaranteed a teaching position even when they had obtained proper certification (Maureen, 1992). Going back to school could appear discouraging for certain immigrant teachers who doubted their own ability to successfully complete their studies (Cruickshank, 2004;Gordon, 1996). This concludes the analysis of the first type of problem, the different obstacles faced by immigrant teachers while attempting to obtain employment and integration into the profession.…”