Repositioning multiculturalism in teacher education policy and practice : a case for cosmopolitan capabilities

If multicultural education is to extend its knowledge base beyond previous incarnations of learning and teaching about “saris, somosas and steelbands” (Modood, 2007, p. 15), then fresh intellectual resources are necessary. As a way forward, this chapter proposes a consideration of ‘cosmopolitan capabilities’ for teachers and teacher educators as transnational knowledge workers (Rizvi, 2008) of the twenty-first century. The proposition is advanced with cognizance of the problematical nature of both cosmopolitanism (Appiah, 2006; Beck, 2006; Fine, 2009; Sen, 2006) and the capability approach when used in education (Harreveld & Singh, 2008; Nussbaum, 2003; Saito, 2003). Contextually, the case is situated at the intersection of local and global concerns around social, economic and political practices that impact teacher education policy and practices in Australia.