Cultivating multicultural competence: pre-service teachers’ descriptions and responses to cultural diversity in Hong Kong

Research has shown that a positive attitude towards diversity predicts stronger cultural sensitivity in teaching. However, qualitative evidence of how pre-service teachers (PSTs) view cultural diversity and their own multicultural competence remains scant, particularly in ethnically more homogenous societies. This study addressed this knowledge gap by investigating how a group of PSTs perceived their readiness to teach in multicultural classrooms in Hong Kong. It used multicultural competence as a theoretical framework to focus on how PSTs described cultural diversity and foresaw their teacher roles in such classrooms. The study employed semi-structured interviews with nine PSTs at a teacher education university and thematic analysis to analyse the data. Findings showed that the PSTs showed awareness of cultural diversity grounded in broad cultural differences in values, religion, family and language of ethnic minorities. While the PSTs supported the need to foster cultural inclusion in classrooms, they anticipated a challenge of going “out of their comfort zone” to teach in English—a language they regarded as essential in meeting the learning needs of ethnic minority students. Implications for research and teacher education for enhancing multicultural competence in Hong Kong schools are discussed.