Australia’s policy discourse of culturally and linguistically diverse teachers

Jing Qi; Catherine Manathunga; Jiao Tuxworth; Rachael Dwyer; Daniel X. Harris; Rachael Jacobs

doi:10.1080/01596306.2025.2525128

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Australia’s policy discourse of culturally and linguistically diverse teachers

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Australia’s policy discourse of culturally and linguistically diverse teachers

Jing Qi, Catherine Manathunga, Jiao Tuxworth, Rachael Dwyer, Daniel X. Harris and Rachael Jacobs

Discourse , Vol.47(2), pp.185-198

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2025.2525128

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Abstract

Australia

teacher shortage

culturally and linguistically diverse teachers

teacher education

teacher workforce

policy

Recruitment of more culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) teachers is considered a strategy to address the current national teacher shortage and increasing community diversity in Australia. However, the success of this strategy is cast into uncertainty when considering the historical underrepresentation of CALD school leaders and teachers in Australia. We approach this issue through policy analysis and examine two questions: How are CALD teachers represented in Australian policies about teacher workforce and teacher education? How can CALD teachers be better supported through inclusive policymaking? Using Bacchi’s WPR approach, we analyse the problematisations, assumptions, silences, and contradictions in the representations about CALD teachers in Australian federal policies. Findings show a blurred picture and a deficit view of the cohort without genuine understanding of their backgrounds, distinctive contribution and additional challenges they experience. We argue that future policymaking should critically and differentially support CALD teachers towards sustainable careers in Australian schools.

Details

Title: Australia’s policy discourse of culturally and linguistically diverse teachers
Authors: Jing Qi (Corresponding Author) - RMIT University
Catherine Manathunga - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Education and Tertiary Access
Jiao Tuxworth - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Education and Tertiary Access
Rachael Dwyer - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Education and Tertiary Access
Daniel X. Harris - RMIT University
Rachael Jacobs - Western Sydney University
Publication details: Discourse , Vol.47(2), pp.185-198
Publisher: Routledge
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.1080/01596306.2025.2525128
ISSN: 1469-3739
Copyright note: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Organisation Unit: Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; School of Education and Tertiary Access
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991148840102621
Output Type: Journal article

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