The challenge of dealing with diversity in schools has provoked calls, especially from the political side, for „more teachers with a migrant background“ hoping them to have a particularly constructive way of handling cultural difference, being valuable role models for pupils with a migrant background and to build bridges between teachers, school leaders, political bodies and immigrant families (BAMF 2010; Cohep 2007, p. 32; EDK 2000, p. 64; Kalpaka & Mecheril 2010, p. 79-82; Stadler 1999).

There is, however, hardly any empirical evidence on their specific potential and their way of using it in the role as teachers. This lack of evidence can be understood on the background that teachers with a migrant background are strongly underrepresented in the teaching profession as well as amongst students in the teacher education institutions (Edelmann 2006, p. 20; Stiller & Zeoli 2010). The field to do research in is therefore very small.

Studies in the German speaking areas are particularly scarce, while the Anglo-American field is much better investigated upon this issue:

For the Anglo-American context studies have shown that teachers with a migrant background can be positive role models, more probably have positive expectations concerning the learning achievements of pupils from ethnic minority groups and more probably have an interculturally sensitive way of treating pupils with a a migrant background compared to their fellow teachers without a migrant background (see overview in Quiocho & Rios 2000; Strasser & Steber 2010).
In the German context Karakasoglu-Aydin (2000) has found empirical evidence, although not upon representative data, for a “sociocultural mission” amongst students with a migrant background towards children of minority groups (p. 446).
The Swiss context has been investigated by Edelmann (2006). She has found some indications amongst Swiss teachers with a migrant background for all the above mentioned, adding their potential in building confidence in the relationship with parents and in contributing to a less monocultural and more muliticultural habitus of teachers’ teams and schools (p. 193-200).
The described potential also entails some challenges. Edelmann (2006) shows that teachers with a migrant background may experience their role as ambivalent facing expectations from teachers’ teams as “special ambassadors” while wanting to be a normally accepted and integrated part of the team (p. 200). Karakasoglu-Aydin (2000) has found concerns amongst teacher education students of not being accepted as equals in teacher teams (p. 443).

More research is needed in order to understand the potential of people with a migrant background in the teaching profession, how they can be supported in their training and studying process and how more of them can be attracted into the teaching profession.

BAMF (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge) (2010). Bundeskongress Lehrkräfte mit Migrationshintergrund. Kongressdokumentation. Nürnberg: BAMF. COHEP (Schweizerische Konferenz der Rektorinnen und Rektoren der Pädagogischen Hochschulen) (2007). Grundlagenbericht Interkulturelle Pädagogik in der Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung in der Schweiz. Bern: COHEP. Edelmann, D. (2006). Pädagogische Professionalität im transnationalen sozialen Raum. Eine qualitative Untersuchung über den Umgang von Lehrpersonen mit der migrationsbedingten Heterogenität ihrer Klassen. Zürich: Lit. EDK (Schweizerische Konferenz der kantonalen Erziehungsdirektoren) (2000). Interkulturelle Pädagogik in der Lehrerinnen- und Lehrerbildung. Zentrale Lernbereiche – Thesen – Literaturhinweise. Schlussbericht. Bern: EDK. Kalpaka, A. & Mecheril, P. (2010). „Interkulturell“. Von spezifisch kulturalistischen Ansätzen zu allgemein reflexiven Perspektiven. In P. Mecheril, M. do Mar Castro Varela, I. Dirim, A. Kalpaka & C. Melter (Hrsg.), Migrationspädagogik (p. 77-98). Weinheim: Beltz. Karakasoglu-Aydin, Yasemin (2000). Muslimische Religiosität und Erziehungsvorstellungen: eine empirische Untersuchung zu Orientierungen bei türkischen Lehramts- und Pädagogik-Studentinnen in Deutschland. Frankfurt/M.: IKO-Verlag für Interkulturelle Kommunikation. Quiocho, A. & Rios, F. (2000). The Power of Their Presence: Minority Group Teachers and Schooling. Review of Educational Research, 70(4), 485-528. Stadler, P. (1999). Multikulturelle Schule und monokulturelle Lehrerschaft: ethnozentrische Selektion statt pluralistische Öffnung. Beiträge zur Lehrerbildung, 17(3), 285-296. Stiller, E. & Zeoli, A. (2010). Lehrkräfte mit Zuwanderungsgeschichte – für einen ressourcenorientierten Perspektivwechsel in der Personalentwicklung. Die Deutsche Schule, 102(4), 338-346. Strasser, J. & Steber, C. (2010). Lehrerinnen und Lehrer mit Migrationshintergrund. Eine empirische Reflexion einer bildungspolitischen Forderung. In J. Hagedorn, V. Schurt, C. Steber & W. Waburg (Hrsg.), Ethnizität, Geschlecht, Familie und Schule. Heterogenität als erziehungswissenschaftliche Herausforderung (p. 97-126). Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.