The challenge of dealing with diversity in schools has provoked calls, especially from the political side, for „more teachers with immigrant background“ hoping them to have a particularly constructive way of handling cultural difference, being valuable role models for pupils with immigrant background and to build bridges between teachers, school leaders, political bodies and immigrant families (COHEP 2007, p. 32; EDK 2000, p. 64; 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 immigrant background are strongly underrepresented in Switzerland (Edelmann, 2008, p. 20). The field to do research in is therefore very small.

Not only in Switzerland, in the German speaking countries in general, studies have been scarce so far, while the Anglo-American field is much better investigated upon this issue:

For the Anglo-American context studies have shown that minority group teachers 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 immigrant background compared to their fellow teachers without immigrant background (see overview in Quiocho & Rios, 2000; Strasser & Steber, 2010).

For the case of Germany Georgi et al. (2011) have pursued an explorative approach and found indications for teachers with immigrant background being particularly competent in managing diversity, in acting as role models or in their cooperation with immigrant families, just to mention a few aspects.

The Swiss context has been investigated by Edelmann (2008) who has found some indications amongst Swiss teachers with immigrant 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). However, the described potential entails challenges: Teachers with immigrant background may experience their role as ambivalent facing expectations by other teachers as ‘special ambassadors’ for the interests of immigrants while wanting to be a normally accepted and integrated part of the team (p. 200).

More research is needed in order to understand the particularities of teachers with immigrant background in Switzerland. We need to know more about the way they understand their role, about the way their assumed potential is being brought  into schools and the challenges and difficulties they may encounter.

Recently we can observe a growing number of students with immigrant background in the Swiss teacher education institutions which increases the relevance to gain a better understanding of their particular role, of their potential and challenges in order to conclude on measures that need to be taken or specific support that needs to be given during their training phase.

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