Schools as inclusive workplaces: understanding the needs of a diverse teaching workforce in Australian schools

This paper draws together academic and policy literature around the value of a culturally, linguistically and racially diverse (CLRD) teacher workforce in Australia. While Australia’s population is becoming more diverse, the teaching population is significantly less so, with far fewer teachers born overseas and/or speaking a language other than English at home. This paper seeks to address some reasons for this lack of diversity, and the lived experiences of teachers from diverse backgrounds, including the unique contributions CLRD teachers make to their school communities and the challenges they face. We begin by describing how CLRD experiences are understood within the Australian education context, and the contributions made by CLRD teachers to their school communities, the barriers to entry, and the experiences of exclusion and discrimination faced by many CLRD teachers in Australian schools. We conclude by highlighting the critical need to support CLRD teachers, by ensuring that schools are culturally safe and inclusive workplaces for teachers, as a necessary precursor to ensuring the same for students.