Findings on participant perceptions of effectiveness and diversity capacity are outlined, and limitations of the study are acknowledged. Pedagogical findings reported three types of activity, namely dialogic activity, monologic activity and reflective activity and four types of social relationships, namely expert–novice, professional partnership, critical minority and silent minority. Key curriculum findings revealed variability in the depth of pre-service teacher preparation for cultural diversity and a conceptual development of sociocultural competence. Empirical findings were reported thematically and highlighted the complexity of the issue. The question was explored on four levels: curriculum, pedagogy, perceptions of effectiveness and diversity capacity. Framed within a critical constructivist inquiry paradigm, the primary research question explored how pre-service teachers were prepared to meet the learning needs of students in culturally diverse classrooms. This article is based on an in-depth case study that examined how a teacher education programme in New Zealand prepared pre-service teachers for cultural diversity (based on the author’s unpublished PhD thesis, Teacher Education for Cultural Diversity conferred by Curtin University, June 2012). Implications for personal, professional, and pedagogical growth are supported by novice teachers’ voices. Survey research with novice teachers reveals the importance of their critical thinking substantiated with novice teachers’ benefits and limitations for each perception. Through their words, actions, and interactions, novice teachers socially reproduce their interpretations of perceptions influencing their cultural competence visible through their generational perpetuation of practice. Perceptions build funds of knowledge shaping teacher efficacy that influence their development of cultural competence–the processes of acquiring, accepting, and applying requisite knowledge, skills, and dispositions for ensuring educational equity and excellence for all learners. Novice teachers believe and behave according to perceptions about teaching, learning, and schooling they formed during childhood and adult experiences with families, classrooms, communities, media, and teacher education programs.
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