CIMA Brief #38 : TALIS 2024: Do Teachers Have the Skills to Teach in Multilingual and Multicultural Classrooms?

In many Latin American classrooms, students learn in a language different from the one spoken at home, including Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and migrant students. Supporting these learners requires teachers to adapt instruction, manage linguistic diversity, and develop strategies for multicultural education. Using TALIS 2018 and 2024 data, this brief examines how teachers report linguistic diversity in their classrooms and how prepared they feel to teach in multicultural and multilingual environments. Findings show that while most teachers report feeling confident, 73% also identify a need for further professional development in this area, suggesting that greater exposure to linguistically diverse classrooms may sharpen teachers' awareness of the limits of their own preparation.