Switzerland, like most education systems in industrialized countries, is confronted with the cultural diversity of the participants (students, teachers and parents) and of school knowledge (curriculum). Our research interrogates the demographic, linguistic and cultural discontinuity between students and cultural composition of the teaching body, a topic that has been little studied in Swiss research.

According to the literature, a disequilibrium between the ethnocultural composition of the teaching body and the student body is disquieting in that certain teachers are incapable of understanding or of showing empathy for children from an ethnic background other than their own. They are, consequently, unable to adapt their teaching or their pedagogical strategies to the public they must face. Gay (2002), observed that low expectations concerning minority students, the imposing of stricter discipline, the attributing of academic failure entirely to the home environment and systematically assigning racial minorities to special education classes are tendencies that have been widely observed. And among the American scientists, it seems unacceptable for a pluralistic society to submit public school students to a teaching body that is monocultural and mono-ethnic when one takes into account the influence of schooling on the transmission of values to students (Carnegie Forum sur l'éducation et l'économie, 1986; Graham, 1987; Ladson-Billings, 2011; Sleeter & Milner, 2011).

On another side, what research there is on teachers of different cultures in Europe or North America shows real promise. The ability to give meaning to school knowledge for students situated far from the school norm, and their families, along with higher expectations, leads to improved results (Georgi, 2011). Moreover, the presence of teachers coming from "other" backgrounds leads to changes in representations on the part of all of the students (negative stereotypes from some, acquired resignation for others). The importance of the teacher of migrant origin as an identity model or as a significant other  has been put forward both for the involvement of students in the learning process  and also as a vocational element in the choice of the teaching profession (Buhse et al., 2009 ; Guyton, Saxton & Wesche 1996; Jones, Young, & Rodriguez, 1999; Ochoa, 2007 ; Strasser & Steber, 2010 ). This potential can be realized only in association with a solid professional education that encourages, among other things, thinking about cultural diversity.

Due to the multicultural context of Switzerland, in our research, the cultural diversity of the teaching profession includes as well teachers coming from other countries that teachers coming from different linguistic regions within the country.

The research apparatus comes from three principal questions. The first question aims to analyze the sociocultural profiles of 1,200 teachers-in-training from five Swiss cantons (Geneva, Valais, French-speaking Bern, Jura and Neuchatel). The five cantons chosen are representative of the multicultural demographic situation in Switzerland.. The profiles of these teachers  are later compared with those of the students they will have in their charge during their professional career. The second question allows us to examine the trajectories and experiences of working teachers  coming from diverse backgrounds. We are also exploring  some of the obstacles teachers have had to deal with, and support they received, in order to become teachers. The third question examines the empirical evidence of the existence of an educational added-value supplied by teachers coming from diverse backgrounds. This added value is postulated in scientific literature but seldom shown from empirical data.

Buhse, H. et al. (2009). Konzept zur Förderung von mehr Migrantinnen und Migranten um Lehramt und im Bereich der sozialen Arbeit. Online im Internet: http://www.gew-bremen.de/Binaries/Binary12211/AGIL-MigrantInnen-foerderung.pdf (zugriff: 05.03.2012). Carnegie Forum on Education, the Economy, Task Force on Teaching as a Profession. (1986). A nation prepared: Teachers for the 21st century. Washington, DC: Carnegie Forum. Georgi, V. B. (2011). Vielfalt im Lehrerzimmer: Selbstverständnis und schulische Integration von Lehrenden mit Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland: Waxmann Verlag. Graham, P. A. (1987). Black teachers: A drastically scarce resource. Phi Delta Kappan, 68(3), 598–605. Guyton, E., Saxton, R., & Wesche, M. (1996). Experiences of diverse students in teacher education. Teaching & Teacher Education, 12(6), 643–652. Johnson, B., and L. Christensen 2004 Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Approaches (2nd Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc Jones, E. B., Young, R., & Rodriguez, J. L. (1999). Identity and career choice among Mexican American and Euro-American preservice bilingual teachers. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 21(4), 431–446. . Ladson-Billings, G. (2011). Asking the Right Questions: A Research Agenda for Studying Diversity in Teacher Education. In A. Ball and C. Tyson (Eds.) The American Educational Research Association Handbook on Studying Diversity in Teacher Education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Ochoa, G. L. (2007). Learning from Latino teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Sleeter, C. E. & Milner IV, R. (2011). Researching Successful Efforts in Teacher Education to Diversity Teachers. In A. Ball and C. Tyson (Eds.) The American Educational Research Association Handbook on on Studying Diversity in Teacher Education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Strasser, J., & Steber, C. (2010). Lehrerinnen und Lehrer mit Migrationshintergrund–Eine empirische Reflexion einer bildungspolitischen Forderung. Ethnizität, Geschlecht, Familie und Schule, 97-126.