This arts based research consists of a creative product – the film Classroom Conversations around Culture, and an accompanying exegesis – Cultural Perspectives in School Communities: An Exploration and Representation of Cultural Identity in Pre-Service Teachers.
Both the film and the exegesis explore the experiences and insights of seven pre-service teachers in their final year of a teaching degree as they undertake their practicum in primary schools in Melbourne’s western suburbs. The research uses portraiture and narrative inquiry methodology to examine a range of issues around pre-service teachers’ knowledge and understanding of cultural identity, racism, diversity and the implications of these understandings on their teaching practice.
A re-emerging theme is the manner in which white hegemonic mainstream culture tacitly and overtly excludes people based on their cultural identity and skin colour, and the marginalising effect this has on them. While pre-service teachers are well placed to redress this systemic inequity within the communities they teach by integrating cultural diversity into their teaching and learning, the reflections of the research participants raise a number of associated dilemmas and challenges.