Inclusion, equity and intellectual equality: a case of overseas educated multilingual students in an Australian teacher education programme

ABSTRACT

Inclusive education is of considerable significance in Australia being politically recognised and promoted by federal and state governments. However, literature suggests conceptual gaps have contributed to a limited understanding by policy makers and practitioners concerning ‘what is’ and ‘who needs’ inclusion. The research this paper reports explores what type of inclusiveness multilingual students have experienced in an Australian university teacher education programme. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with a group of pre-service teachers with overseas education backgrounds and their Anglophone academic course lecturers. An integrated inclusion model was employed in the data analysis. The research found that the teacher educators exercised efforts to demonstrate inclusiveness to this group from physical, social and psychological perspectives. However, the prior educational experience and existing knowledge of these students were ignored, either consciously or unconsciously and they were often regarded intellectually ‘less able’ than their Anglophone peers. This paper argues that engaging multilingual students from the standpoint of intellectual equality is the key to advancing inclusive teacher education in multilingual and multicultural Australia.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusion
• equity
• equality
• intellectual equality
• multilingual students
• teacher education

Introduction

In recent decades, Australian students’ ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity has increased dramatically across all levels of education (Collins & Reid, 2012; Forrest et al., 2006; Forrest et al., 2017; Hugo, 2009). Among the students enrolled in New South Wales (NSW) government schools in 2017, 34% of students had a Language Background Other Than English (multilingual) (Department of Education, 2018). To meet the needs of students whose first language is not English, the Australian government has formulated inclusive policies designed to produce appropriately qualified teachers. In 2023, the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education (DoE) proposed a Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy 2023-26. This strategy seeks to value and respect both students’ and teachers’ diverse backgrounds, experiences and skills (NSW DoE, 2023). It states that valuing diversity could help build students’ confidence and contribute to future productivity in an ever-changing world. Additionally, it is observed that by enhancing workforce diversity through recognising individuals’ multilingual backgrounds and skills, teachers could better serve NSW students and communities. The Secretary of the NSW Department of Education, Mark Scott asserted, ‘Respect for diversity is a core value of the department’ (NSW DoE, 2020, n.d.).

To embrace the inclusiveness of a growing, increasingly linguistically diverse group of students, it is not acceptable for teaching bodies to continue to understand and practice their work through an exclusive monolingual pedagogy (Catalano & Hamann, 2016). Recognising this, the NSW DoE has recruited staff from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds in an attempt to meet the needs of diverse students, including overseas educated multilingual students. The aim is to promote effective inclusivity and to eliminate language-based barriers within the education system (Department of Education, 2018). As schools are one of the most significant enveloping social environments for children, this has the potential to contribute to more widespread and sustainable social inclusion (Holmes & McCarthy, 2001). ‘The way in which teachers carry out their professional activity will have a profound effect on the extent to which their pupils learn the attitudes and values associated with inclusion’ (Reynolds, 2001, p. 467). The same can be said for teacher education programmes. There is a need to develop and practice inclusive pedagogies and to model these throughout pre-service teacher education programmes. Evidence suggests novice teachers tend to replicate the teaching they came into contact with during their training, directly influencing the early years of their own teaching (Liddicoat et al., 2014).

Under the influence of government policies, curricula developed by teacher education institutions have demonstrated concerns about their students’ (future teachers) understanding of linguistic and cultural diversity. In an investigation of the issue in regional NSW, Australia, Forrest et al. (2017) found that half of the teachers they investigated had received training on diversity during their professional development, albeit not in a uniform way. Some programmes foregrounded multilingual ideologies and pedagogies providing insight into the challenges faced by students whose first language is not English. Despite this, Forrest et al.’s (2017) study reveals that in a real-world teaching context, one third of classroom teachers do not support the inclusion of language and cultural diversity in the classroom. This echoes earlier findings by Dandy et al. (2015). Another study by McInerney (2003) investigating teachers in 10 schools in NSW, Australia, found that multilingual education was only supported by a small percentage of teachers. Most were reluctant to admit this as an issue of significance. Forrest et al. (2017) found that less than half (42%) of the teachers in the investigation had read multilingual and multicultural education policies and only 37% observed or supported implementation of the policies. This heralds concerns as teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and values influence developments in education which are crucial to comprehension and effective inclusive education. It must be asked then, how have university teacher education programmes modelled linguistic and cultural diversity in their teacher education programmes? Is the problem, as described by Catalano and Hamann (2016, p. 264), that ‘it is more common [in teacher education programmes] to articulate [such understanding] … than actually pursue it substantively through modeling … responsive practices’?

Theoretical framework – inclusion, equity and intellectual equality

Theorising the concept of inclusive education has experienced an evolution. In 1990, inclusive education focused mainly on students with special needs, particularly those with physical and/or intellectual disabilities. In the last one and a half decades, the concept has evolved to include the provision of equivalent learning opportunities for all the learners (UNESCO, 2008). That is, an expansion from a ‘deficit-based conceptualizations of students with disabilities’ to ‘a more comprehensive approach [designed] to meet the needs of all students’ (Amor et al., 2019, p. 1278). Such an expansion is not simply an issue of who should be included, but rather an inclusive philosophy from equity to equality and from deficit to difference. This evolution has impacted on educational institutions whereby there is a recognition that individual differences are a consequence of the breadth of human experience and education systems should value and adapt to these (DeLuca, 2013; Nilholm, 2006). A number of inclusion models have been proposed with the intention of guiding inclusive practice. In the following section three key models are introduced.

Inclusion from physical to psychological

Qvortrup and Qvortrup (2018) propose a three dimensional inclusion framework. The dimensions they discuss are the physical, social and psychological. The physical dimension is ‘a matter of social participation and of addressing the included person’s sense of belonging to the community’ (p. 810). For example, in a learning circumstance, is the student physically included in activities? Social inclusion goes beyond ‘being there’. It is about having the opportunity to play an active role in social processes. Is a classroom activity designed for each student to be a performer? Psychological inclusion may not be as easily observable. It relates to feelings arising as a consequence of accumulated experiences. Inclusion of this kind occurs when a student perceives himself/herself being recognised by teachers and peers, leading to a sense of belonging. This framework highlighted the psychological need of learners, which is key to this model.

Inclusion from equity to equality

Going beyond physical, social and psychological dimensions, Morgan (2012) argues that inclusion should be addressed from the perspectives of equity, social justice and participatory democracy. He argues that ‘inclusion is not enough to ensure authentic participation’ (Morgan, 2012, p. 630). Inclusion should address social sustainability and ensure ‘a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner’ (Morgan, 2012，p. 630). Individuals and groups should be able to participate sufficiently to recognise themselves as involved in decision-making processes. This requires education to look beyond a curriculum that serves ‘the interests of the socially dominant’ and to enact ‘changes to the form and content of curricula so that it serves the interests of all’ (Singh, 1997, p. 121). Such a curriculum delivers fairness, ensuring ‘all learners [are] … seen as having equal importance’ (UNESCO, 2012, p. 16). In this context, the ‘voices of all’ necessitates the inclusion of those who are relatively ‘powerless’ in decision-making processes due to their lack of access to economic, cultural or symbolic resources (Morgan, 2012; Reynolds, 2001, p. 466). Those groups or individiuals who are marginalised as a consequence of their ethnic or religious identities, physical or intellectual disabilities, gender identities and/or economic disadvantage are most at risk of not being heard. This model of inclusion moves from addressing ‘equity’ to ‘equity plus equality’. It values active involvement in and commitment to democratic systems and practices.

Inclusion towards intellectual equality

Intellectual equality addresses inclusion by incorporating people’s knowledge production despite their ethnic, linguistic or cultural background. ‘Pedagogically, it means investing in the presupposition that [such people] … are intellectual equals when it comes to participating in the production of intellectual culture’ (Singh & Han, 2017, p. 38). For example, in some higher education contexts, overseas educated multilingual students are facilitated towards realising their capacities for critique and scholarly disputation, rather than assimilating to the ideation of Anglophone Westerners (Singh & Han, 2017, p. 38). Based on this presupposition, there is no need to prove that any or all of these students are as intelligent as any other, or that the cultures or countries which they are originally from, have ‘equally powerful theoretical resources’ (Singh, 2011, p. 359). Accordingly, it should be presumed that they ‘bring with them ideas and knowledge that have the potential to make inroads into the hegemony of ‘Western’ knowledges at their host institution’ (Epstein 2007 cited in Singh, 2011, p. 359). Inclusive education that works with these assumptions encourages the use of the intellectual resources which diverse background students’ capabilities afford them.

Through the integration of these models, educators may test their strategies of inclusiveness in teaching by considering: Have multilingual students been given an active role in learning? Are they seen as being equally important? Does the curriculum serve the needs of the group and each individual? Are individual members of multilingual groups regarded as possessing the same potential as mainstream students? Are students educated through other linguistic and cultural systems seen as capable of making a contribution to existing knowledge systems? And finally, does the teacher education programme provide the training and experience to meet these specific needs?

The case – participants, data collection and analysis

This qualitative research was designed as a case study, defined by Priya (2021, p. 95) as an ‘empirical inquiry which investigates a phenomenon in its real-life context’ (citing Yin, 2009, p. 18). In the context of this research a single-site, exploratory case study method was enacted (Priya, 2021). Exploratory in that its purpose was to ‘study a phenomenon with the intention of ‘exploring’ or identifying fresh research questions which can be used in subsequent research studies in an extensive way’ (Priya, 2021, p. 96). The phenomenon under investigation was the perceptions of inclusivity held by educators and international multilingual students participating in an Australian teacher education programme (Master of Teaching). As tertiary pre-service teachers, the international students had received a significant proportion of their prior education in countries where English is not the first language. Through the lens of these students, and their educators, this project explores ways in which inclusiveness has been perceived, understood and enacted.

The data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews conducted by the researchers in English, with pre-service teachers/students and educators/lecturers in the teacher education programme who communicated their experience and understanding through descriptive narratives. Data collection for the students was guided by the research question: how have students’ multilingual backgrounds advantaged and/or disadvantaged them with regards to their inclusion and participation in the teacher education programme? The educator interviews were framed in such a way as to elicit their perspectives on how this groups’ needs were considered in the programme design.

Deductive and inductive approaches were employed to process the data. The interview data were analysed based on the method proposed by Braun and Clarke (2006). This thematic analysis protocol involves becoming familiar with the data, generating initial codes, identifying and reviewing the themes, searching for patterns across the themes and categorising these appropriately, followed by generating the findings statements. Inclusion theories and the research questions were used to guide the case study, to organise systematic data collection and to manage the process of inquiry (Merriam, 2009).

Twenty overseas educated students in a teacher education programme were recruited at a university in Sydney. Whilst only multilingual students were targeted, there were two additional inclusion criteria. Firstly, participants needed to be students with English as an additional language (this excluded multilingual overseas students with English as their first language). Secondly, participants needed to have been substantially educated overseas and to have lived in Australia for less than five years. ‘Substantially’ in this regard necessitated the students to have experienced their primary, secondary and perhaps even some of their tertiary education in their home country. Students who satisfied the inclusion criteria were predominantly from Asia-Pacific countries (India, China, Fiji, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Samoa, and Malaysia) with two exceptions (one from Holland and one from Kenya). In addition, 12 educators/lecturers (all speakers of English as a first language) in the teacher education programme were interviewed.

Findings

Data reveal that the lecturers and students perceived a number of educational issues around ‘language’, ‘plagiarism’, ‘resources’, ‘knowledge’, ‘thinking’, ‘argument’ and ‘conceptualisation’. These have challenged and/or disadvantaged multilingual students, contributing to limitations to their inclusion and full participation in the programme.

Language and inclusion

Qvortrup and Qvortrup’s (2018) first rule for inclusive education is being physically included. Data reveal that language requirements are the first barrier for the multilingual students. The research indicates that lecturer and student participants unanimously perceive the teacher education programme as one designed exclusively for those who have English as a first language and who have experience-based insight into the local education system (Table 1). Multilingual students spoke of their lack of access to the programme, from a language perspective. They suggested this might have been a consequence of the low enrolment rate of multilingual students. According to Jane, one of the lecturers and a course coordinator, 10-15% of the students accepted into the programme are from a language background other than English. This is substantially lower than the enrolment rate (34%) for multilingual students in other programmes. Insight provided by participant students explained the reason. Liang, Rohini and Runi all spoke of the impact of International English Language Testing System (IELTS) as a screening tool for multilingual students (regardless of them being international or domestic). The university requirement for admission to their teacher education programme requires a higher IELTS score compared to other programmes, that is, overall 7.5 for education, yet an overall 6.5 is required for engineering and business. This issue was raised by several students (see Table 1).

Table 1. Physical inclusion.

Excerpts from lecturers and multilingual students	Categories
I am an international student. The IELTS requirement is high, much higher than the requirement of other courses such as business and engineering. I wonder whether native students could reach … requirement, but they don’t need to sit in the language exam. (S: Liang)	Entry criteria (IELTS) to screen international multilingual others
It is hard for people like me to get in. I am local. I did part of my high school study here. I had to provide IELTS. (S: Rohini)	Entry criteria (IELTS) to screen local multilingual others
It is not for everybody. You think they have assessed you and you are qualified to be in and you win. It is not. Some of my friends dropped out. It is very hard. (S: Runi)	Multilingual others’ dropping out after trial
This program is not designed for people from other countries and other language backgrounds. Their education system, curriculum and pedagogy would be all different from ours, and if they will go back to their own country to teach, why bother to learn something they are unlikely to use in their teaching (L: Rosemary) (note: similar views are shared by many lecturers)	The whole program designed for local Anglophone students
… among 300 students in my lecture, I would say there were around 10–15 percent of them are from other language and cultural background including local and international. (L: Jane).	Recruitment rate

These data echo research conducted by Sawyer and Singh into IELTS and multilingual students in teacher education. Sawyer and Singh (2012) found that the majority of education faculties in Australia set higher entry scores as a threshold level for students who did not speak English as a first language. An argument was made by the researchers that a score of 7.5 was too high ‘because it excluded too many students, when potential success in the course depended on so many other factors’ (Sawyer & Singh, 2012, p. 44). They argued that a high English score alone is not a guarantee of success or failure. It is only fair that students’ capacity for adaptive learning is accounted for when they are assessed. Interestingly, ‘Whether native students could reach the [language] requirement’ (see Table 1), as questioned by Liang, did not seem to be a concern. Further, ‘native students’ is a contestable term, but Liang appears to apply it to those who speak English as first language. It is not valid to assume that English only speakers should not have an English problem. When there is no evidence demonstrating English only speakers enrolled in teacher education programmes can all achieve an IELTS score of 7.5. This is not a fair, equal or inclusive criterion for entry.

Mutual exclusion in classroom activities

Qvortrup and Qvortrup’s (2018) second rule for inclusive education is social inclusion whereby educators create opportunities for individuals to be included in class and to interact with others. Using this rule as a criterion for analysis of the data, it is found that multilingual students and local English-only speakers tend not to mix, preferring to socialise primarily with people with a similar background (see excerpts from Shuilian and Shirley in Table 2). Both the participant students and lecturers tried to explain this phenomenon. It was argued firstly that rules for participation in some cultures are different, likely contributing to this situation. Gu explained: ‘We [multilingual students] normally don’t offer to talk unless the teachers call our names’. This may indicate that lecturers who expect students to voluntarily give their opinion may overlook some of the multilingual students whose passivity may limit their contribution. Secondly, some students’ deficit view of themselves can cause self-exclusion, thereby isolating themselves from interaction with others. Ju spoke of her reservations to contribute to group work in class: ‘I don’t mind doing the work by myself. It’s not fair if I am put in a group and hold them back’. Ju is not the only student who believed that they were academically unable to work with their English speaking counterparts (see excerpts in Table 2).

Table 2. Social exclusion/inclusion.

Excerpts from lecturers and multilingual students	Categories
… I often miss the chance to speak up in class. I feel I have things to share with others but I am usually not quick enough. We normally don’t offer to talk. I am used to being asked to talk by our teachers (S: Gu).	Social rules in the new country are different and disadvantage them
The tutorial discussions are mainly dominated by locals. They speak so fast and I have no chance. I am slow and I am worried they may be not patient when I talk so it seems better to just keep quiet and listen (S: Yan)	Self-exclusion due to self-criticism and lack of self-confidence
One assignment was given that needed teamwork. We needed to find our own team. But I often sit by myself and I am not good at socialising. I don’t have many friends. I don’t mind doing the work by myself. It’s not fair if I am put in a group and hold them back (S: Ju).	Not good socialising and making friends – exclusion for fairness
I am a local migrant and have lived in this country for many years. Slang and jargon used in class is often difficult for international students. They ask me for help after class (S: Shuilian).	Local multilinguals act as a bridge between inclusion and exclusion
We [overseas people] usually hang together automatically and become a group and we have no opportunity to talk with local students. If we can sit and be grouped with local students, it might help us to catch up with the subject and also the culture and the slang. Now mostly the local students talk a lot to each other but not to us. It is two-sided problem actually (S: Shirley).	Automatically form groups with similar background; more of oneself with similar background peers -identity
Students can self-select [the] groups they want to work with sometimes; other times the groups are structured and related to the types of reading they are doing and [also] maybe there is a situation when I know the student doesn’t have strong grasp of their English language so I would often ask English speaking peers to pair up with them and get them to work collaboratively so what they are doing enables them to share ideas and language and that all helps. I think about their background and where they might be struggling (L: Rosemary).	Lecturer mingles students of different backgrounds for social benefits, improvement of language and the sharing of insights and ideas
When I said that we are always changing grouping, sometimes pairs, sometimes small or large groups,  …  [students need to] get to know and work with different people. It is sort of trying to recognise that we all learn from each other, so that’s part of my pedagogy  …  I teach that we learn from each other (L: Margaret).	Lecturer mingles students of different background for learning purpose

Most of the lecturers interviewed for this project appeared to understand these issues. They claimed to structure their classes around inclusiveness and to maximise social opportunities for all. Lecturer Rosemary explained that in her classes: ‘ … when I know the student doesn’t have a strong grasp of the [English] language I often ask English speaking peers to pair up with them and I get them to work collaboratively.’ Similarly, Margaret said she always tries to mobilise students by ‘changing groupings, sometimes pairs, sometimes small or large groups’ to allow all students in the class to ‘get to know and work with different people.’ The lecturers anticipated that multilingual students would learn from their Anglophone peers. However, when structured interventions ceased, the students tended to return to previously established language-based groups, indicating that a top-down approach to collaboration is not sustainable. One student confirmed: ‘we usually hang together automatically and [this means we] become a group [outside the mainstream]’ (Shirley). Patterns of behaviour of this kind are not new and many studies have commented on them (Kimmel & Volet, 2010; Li & Campbell, 2008; Strauss & Young, 2011). However, despite recognition of the problem, no solutions have been reported in such literature.

Emotional exclusion and inclusion – multilingual students’ psychological dilemma

Emotional or psychological inclusion addresses less visible, but no less significant, aspects of inclusion (Qvortrup & Qvortrup, 2018). During the interviews multilingual and multicultural students expressed their strong feelings through a range of adjectives. Words such as ‘un/comfortable’, ‘uneasy’ and ‘isolated’ arose, indicating the students’ emotional and psychological states (see Table 3). Jason, an Indian-Malaysian student, said: ‘It’s not [just] the language. I did all my study in English in Malaysia. It’s just that I can be more myself when sitting with those similar to me’. Here similarity does not refer to nationality or ethnicity. It refers to the experience of being multilingual in an English-language based educational environment. Olivia, a student from Kenya, said: ‘ … I feel more comfortable to sit with non-local people especially in tutorial group work, even if we are not from the same countries.’ Cindy spoke of the complexity of the experience: ‘I feel uneasy and not confident when I am in their group (local peers) [and] … I feel isolated when I [choose to] distance myself from them.’ In this situation lecturers’ efforts to overcome discomfort, whilst well intentioned, can be ineffectual. Lecturer Ross admitted ‘it might not be comfortable for both people if they have different language backgrounds [in a group]’. Jane’s inclusive action was to overtly acknowledge difference ‘ … up front [I say] ‘I know you are gifted and different and I also acknowledge that you are from a different country and [maybe] you are here for a year and you will return to your country, or [maybe] you are here and you might stay longer’.’ This attempted inclusive action may lead to an opposite effect as she ‘othered’ these students. This situation is not a uniquely Australian experience for international students. Tavares (2021a, p. 1) uncovered similar findings in a Canadian university where ‘international students felt excluded and othered in the community’

Table 3. Psychological inclusion.

Excerpts from lecturers and multilingual students	Categories
I am from Africa. English is almost my first language, but I feel more comfortable to sit with non-local people especially in tutorial group work, even we are not from the same countries. (S: Olivia).	Comfortable with others of not similar background non-local
…  It’s not [just] the language. I did all my study in English in Malaysia. It’s just that I can be more myself when sitting with those similar to me (S: Jason).	More of oneself with peers of similar background
…  I feel uneasy and not confident when I am in their group (local peers). I don’t have much to contribute to the group discussion. They can speak very fast and often use slang and if you are in their group, you cannot understand them. They gradually lose the enthusiasm and feel annoyed having to explain things to you. I feel isolated and  …  I [tend to] distance myself from them [more] (S: Cindy)	Uneasy and not confident when included; feeling lonely when not included.
Sometimes I will get them to form their own groups. I say I want you to form groups with people that are like you or different from you in some way. So there is a mixing. Sometimes the students who have the same language background will want to pair up together. I let that happen a lot but sometimes I split them because they can learn from others as well. I acknowledge that it might not be comfortable for both people if they have different language backgrounds  …  if English might not be their first language. (L: Ross)	Acknowledging inclusion may make students uncomfortable. Sacrifice psychological need to pedagogical need for learning
Last year I had a PhD student from India who was doing our teaching degree and she had already had a PhD in Geology. She was very smart lady, so I acknowledged that up the front ‘I know you are gifted and different and I also acknowledge that you are from a different country and [maybe] you are here for a year and you will return to your country, or [maybe] you are here and you might stay longer’. Right up front that I acknowledge that (L: Jane)

Multilingual students as intellectual agents

The lecturer participants in the study tended to share commonly held views about multilingual students’ approaches to their study (see Table 4). According to their perceptions, the challenges for students are not only with their English language but more importantly with their knowledge, both content and procedural. This can be seen to suggest a lack of academic integrity. On this issue, lecturer Frank said, ‘If we don’t put some strategies in place for them, you get a lot of plagiarism. They will just copy things from the Web and paste them into documents.’ Secondly, their overseas educational training has been seen to lead to a poor understanding of Western derived contemporary approaches to teaching and learning. Lecturer Glen explained: ‘most of their experience with education has been from a teacher-centred rather than student-centred perspective’, and ‘their own education follows expository rather than experiential perspectives’. Thirdly, their prior learning also appears to contribute to a lack of familiarity with dialectical discourse. Lecturer Margaret depicted this as an issue of prior learning, or ‘familiarity’, saying, ‘It’s hard for a speaker of a second language: the ability to structure an argument, and [to structure] arguments from four or five different points of views. A lot of them are not familiar with this form of discourse.’ Similarly, Rosemary suggested: ‘It is very common that the non-English background students give a lot of detailed description but not so much of their own analysis or ideas’. Research in and beyond Australia acknowledges that in elementary and secondary schools multilingual students bring valuable experience, cultural knowledge and multilingual skills to their learning (Cummins, 2009; French, 2016; Saxena & Martin-Jones, 2013; Shohamy, 2006). However, the data in the research undertaken exemplifies that these multilingual students’ prior experience and knowledge are not valued to the same extent in this teacher education programme. This perspective is indicative of many from the Global South, whereby ‘peripheral’ nations are the outsiders and the ‘ignorant’. They are here to be educated in and about the dominant knowledge from the North (Connell, 2007; Moletsane, 2015; Singh, 2011) rather than jointly contributing to educational norms and standards for knowledge production.

Table 4. Intellectual inclusion and exclusion (data from lecturers).

Excerpts from lecturers	Categories
…  and you need put things in place to help them (multilingual students) because reading and writing in English is difficult for a lot of them. If we don’t put some strategies in place for them, you get a lot of plagiarism. They will just copy things from the Web and paste them into documents. In doing assignments, we need to set it up so that first of all in my case I minimize the amount of writing they have to do by concentrating a bit more on mathematics and demonstrating the teaching of mathematics rather than writing it, so get them to do more demonstration (L: Frank).	Multilingual ESL students are intellectually deficient and lack academic integrity
We update the reading list every year and they are in the learning guide we give them. They have to read those articles before they come to tutorials and they need to bring their reading notes for discussion. But a lot of them simply don’t do it and it makes discussion difficult because they’ve got no idea what the discussion is about. Quite a few of them don’t refer much to the references we give in their assignments and you can tell they haven’t done their reading. Our strategy is we require them to refer to, for example, at least 5 or 6 papers on the list and they are allowed to use their own references, but it is important for them to read these as the list we give them is updated by the team from key US and UK based journals. We want to make sure they get to know the most recent and important literature in the field. (L: Linda)	Knowledge is circulated in English and valuable knowledge is reported in key Western, English language journals
I try to take into account that the students come to the class from the diversity of background. You see, many students were at least partially educated in Australia. They come to the classes with a wide range of world views about teaching and about how teaching should occur. Many  …  come from a cultural background where their experience of teaching is [of the sort]  …  the teachers themselves  …  a teacher-centred expository [approach to] teaching  …  So even though they may be Australian citizens now, most of their experience with education has been from a teacher-centred rather than student-centred perspective. Most of their own education follows expository rather than experiential perspectives. They are unfamiliar with more contemporary student-centred approaches to teaching and learning, and I take this into account when I structure my program (L: Glen).	Pedagogically, deficient in relation to western dominant student-centred approaches
They put a lot of effort sometimes into making things pretty but not [so much into] the quality of the ideas. In some cases, that is an issue of coming from other backgrounds. They think ‘I put a lot of time in it and made it look pretty, so I should get a good mark’. But what really happens is if it comes in and looks dreadful but the ideas are good, they will get good marks. It is very common that the non-English background students give a lot of detailed description but not so much of their own analysis or ideas (L: Rosemary).	Lack of ideas; Lack of analytical skills
It is hard for a speaker of a second language: the ability to structure an argument, and [to structure] arguments from 4 or 5 different points of views. A lot of them are not familiar with this form of discourse from their backgrounds. A lot of them just take one side of the case and do not present opposing arguments and do not present both sides of the case (L: Margaret).	Lack of critical thinking

Student participants offered a variety of thoughts on their learning in the teacher education programme at this university. Some reported disappointment that knowledge, skills and experience drawn from previous studies overseas could not be drawn into this new environment (Table 4; Table 5). On this point student Binu said: ‘The lecturers are trying to help you, but no one would care what you have [the knowledge and experience you bring to the course], how you teach and how successful you were once as a teacher.’ Binu’s critique is more far reaching than an observation on ignorance of relevant prior learning. In further conversation he challenges the assumption that the course derived its impact from its adherence to student-centred pedagogy: ‘They say [the] method [used in our overseas education] is didactic and their method is student-centred. I didn’t feel I am the centre … . If I am the centre how come no one ever wanted to know what I have [learned in my previous study].’ Binu’s criticism of his teacher education programme was sharp and to the point. It also highlights a contradiction in that whilst the Western lecturers have indicated Binu and other students have been previously educated via ‘didactic’ methods, these same methods have provided Binu with intellectual capabilities and critical thinking enabling him to foreground his argument.

Table 5. Intellectual inclusion and exclusion (data from students).

Excerpts from multilingual students	Categories
…  my English hurt my essay score. I feel like my language errors are always enlarged and function as a tool to scale me down to the next level of learner (S: Liang)	Intellectual work punished due to inaccurate English
This is one of the most friendly, racist countries. They are nice and very helpful to you. The lecturers are trying to help you, but no one would care what you have, how you teach and how successful you were once as a teacher. They say our method is didactic and their method is student-centred, I didn’t feel I am the centre. …  If I am the centre how come no one ever wanted to know what I have (S: Binu).	No one wants to know what I have (knowledge, skills and experience)
…  in tutorial classes, there is a lot of discussion. I only talk a little cause the ideas I have were said by my local peers and said beautifully  …  it is like I know nothing and they know everything When I sit in a local group, it’s like they know everything and I have nothing to contribute and it makes me feel bad about myself (S: Yu)	Intellectually equal but they use English better
I had 10 years of teaching experience in India. I taught Physics. Although I can’t see how that experience adds merit to my study now. Your past experience is with you and makes who you are. All the essays or assignments in this program are designed as Australia based and about teaching in Australian schools. Lectures and tutorial discussions are all about how we are going to be an Australian teacher. This is good because this program gives things I don’t have. (S: Anbu)	Past teaching experience is not engaged in the current study
I did all my schooling and first degree in English. I know the language but feel like I am ignorant about some topics because the education systems are different (S: Olivia)	Past knowledge is cut off from current study

Anbu, another student interviewed for this project, decried the course for its focus on the development of teachers for the Australian school system. ‘[It’s] … all about how we are going to be an Australian teacher.’ In doing so Anbu suggested the need for the university to design a programme that addresses educational needs beyond Australian shores. This suggests a less exclusive programme; a programme with due consideration for intellectual engagement and knowledge exchange with students of other language and cultural backgrounds. A movement of this kind could be of significance in a rapidly changing educational environment; one where demographics within western nations are shifting and movements in the international balance of power speak loudly of the need for more insight into the epistemological foundations of nations and cultures that are not English-speaking.

Discussion

Through the data analysis, it can be concluded that exclusion, intentional or otherwise, contributes to, rather than ameliorates, inequality. Inclusive education needs to extend its ambit to reflect upon the inequality experienced by multilingual students at all levels of education. This, like most issues of inclusion, is not easily addressed. Those students who feel excluded need to have their voices heard to ensure educational equality can be enacted. This project has sought to do this. Although having passed the English language hurdle (IELTS), many of these students considered their participation in their programme as little more than a physical presence in the classroom. Social and psychological isolation remained. For many, this contributed to feelings of intellectual inferiority compared to their Anglophone peers. This programme can therefore be seen to have contributed to those feelings. Interview data demonstrate that many withdrew from socialising with their local Anglophone peers perceiving themselves as either having little to contribute to the others’ learning and/or having little chance of being heard, engaged with and accepted as having an ability to contribute to educational discourse. Similarly, research by Tavares (2021b, p. 92) concluded the complexities to the challenges cited by international students at a Canadian University in terms of their inclusivity ranged across ‘ … the linguistic, academic, and social dimensions, and originating from both structural and individual factors’.

Data from the lecturers indicate a view that grouping disparate students should assist multilingual students to learn from their local Anglophone peers. Thus, the interaction is built around assumptions of a one-way interaction. Anglophone peers accommodate multilingual students and ‘give’, while the multilingual students are accommodated and passively receive or ‘take’ what is offered. This puts them in an unequal learning situation based on perceptions of unequal capacity to contribute. To optimise effective inclusive educational processes, teacher educators might consider how to switch perceptions of multilingual students: from being deficit to being different. The pedagogical question might be: how can teaching be adjusted to enable different groups or individuals to have equal opportunity to share and contribute to others’ learning? Herein lies a model of practice directly transferable to the contemporary classroom.

Data gathered from this university course suggests that a minority of students prefered to stay in their linguistic comfort zone. Exclusion or inclusion is multi-faceted and subject to variabilities. Lecturers may be aware of both the educational and psychological needs of students and may try to address this, within their capacities. However, educators lecturing in an accredited education programme are somewhat constrained by the ‘set’ course content designed to achieve the specified graduate outcomes. For this reason, there are practical limits to the degree they can address the needs of disadvantaged students including those with multilingual capabilities. At the same time it can be argued that if education is for the public good, is it necessary for teacher educators to make a concerted effort to explore a mode of inclusion that can loosen the psychological barriers and self-isolation of the disadvantaged? Teacher educators could consider pedagogies that embrace, value and utilise the educational experiences and perspectives of multilingual pre-service teachers whereby they can contribute comfortably to mainstream discussions. In this context, it is paramount that teacher educators hold a pluralistic language ideology to counter any normalisation of monolingual teaching environments (Wang, 2023).

This project revealed that the multilingual students’ funds of knowledge, drawn from their original pedagogical cultures, should be integrated into their teacher education programme in order for intellectual inclusion to be addressed. At this university the lecturers’ inclusive action focused primarily on acknowledging language difficulties and attempts to construct interaction that enabled them to learn from their Anglo-phone peers. These sorts of passive and powerless situations are not the situations of ‘reciprocity or mutuality in learning across intellectual cultures’ as advocated by Sawyer and Singh (2012, p. 47). Work of this kind builds, consciously or unconsciously, a discourse around ‘Western intellectual superiority’ reinforced by Western ‘knowledge production’ (Singh, 2011, p. 360). Given that there is no evidence proving that ‘intelligence is biologically determined’, or ‘caused by genetic factors’, it is only equitable that multilingual students be engaged in a discourse that reflects and contributes to emergent understandings of an increasingly multilingual and multicultural Australia (Singh & Han, 2017, p. 38) in a rapidly changing world.

Forrest et al. (2017) argue that while Australian higher education is ostensibly multilingual and multicultural, it continues to be dominated and determined by long standing assumptions, derived from prior history, much of it built around colonial fears and prejudices. Singh (2011) found that multilingual students, though believing in their knowledge and experience, lack confidence to say so and in many instances, fear offending their lecturers and peers. This is especially the case when they have little effective institutional support. True inclusiveness must embrace intellectual equality from the perspective of knowledge production (Singh & Han, 2017). That is, managerially and pedagogically address the intellectual resources and knowledge multilingual students have acquired from their prior education and experiences (Wang, 2023). Change needs to occur at a systemic level, and outcomes need to be assessed across those systems (Hays & Reinders, 2020). Inclusive learning requires that teachers grant multilingual students opportunities to display and engage their entire language repertoires. For teacher education, this means tertiary educators should abandon a lingual and cultural deficit-based pedagogical approach (Wang, 2023) and model responsive practices to pre-service teachers with the support of the resources required to implement such practices.

Conclusion

This study was conducted with a group of multilingual pre-service teachers and their lecturers in an Australian Master of Teaching Programme. Data were analysed using contemporary inclusion theories relating to physical, social, psychological and intellectual equality. The findings indicate that the students perceived their knowledge and skills, derived through their multilingual experience and resources, as insufficiently valued. Subsequently, they became isolated in a self-justified ‘comfort zone’ of limited learning. With limited understanding, time and resources teacher educators tried convenient methods to include these students in their programmes and these proved to be not very effective.

This research at one institution indicates that inclusive teacher education needs negotiation. Future research could address critical questions around approaches to valuing and engaging with the structures of different education systems to enrich the learning process for all. In any such process diverse student groups can be considered important critical allies. Further investigation is warranted in order to discover how this can be approached pedagogically.

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Dr David Wright for the collegial and scholarly support with the discussions around the concept of inclusion.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).