When researcher and language teacher educator meet : challenges in researching and teaching about issues of diversity in higher education in Botswana

Preparing teachers to teach students from diverse background is an issue of concern to educators and researchers who are committed to multicultural education. Drawing on my professional experiences of teaching the course ""Foundations of multicultural literacy education "" interviews with students, researcher s journal, and the research literature on multicultural education, this paper examines the ethical and methodological challenges 1 encountered in researching and teaching about issues of diversity. 1 explore the questions: Is it ethical for teacher educators to engage in-service and pre-service teachers in discussing issues of diversity that they feel uncomfortable with? What 'borders' are teacher educators crossing and re-crossing as they prepare teachers for teaching diverse students? In what ways the professional, personal and community experiences of teachers inform their responses to issues of diversity? How do these intersect with teacher educator as researcher's commitment to multicultural education? The findings of the study suggest that, whether and how teachers would embrace multicultural education as part of their professional practices depends largely on their perspectives regarding specific issues of diversity.