The units of analysis for the study are:initial teacher education (as theoretical unit);indigenous ethnic minority language and culture (as research or observation unit),and reforms in teacher education in Botswana and Australia (as units of comparison).

A comparative case study methodological approach is followed whereby a more indepth understanding is made of initial teacher education programs and their applications to teaching-learning conditions for indigenous ethnic minorities in Australia and Botswana contexts.

A challenge for the study is how to prepare a teacher,coming from an outside 'global' context to accommodate the learners’ 'local' indigenous community language and culture as a resource instead of a barrier to classroom teaching and learning.

Reform in teacher education has been characterised by several paradigms or philosophical frameworks and this study locates itself in the range of constructivist / hermeneutic and critical theoretical views.

Prior to conducting of fieldwork proper, a survey study will be used on a sample of Basarwa (Khoisan) ethnic minority population in Botswana,to help in prioritising of questions for the study and possibly to generate additional hypotheses for the study from the point of view of the researched.

The methods to be used in the study for data collection are: personal life stories or biographies, focus groups,classroom (participant) observation and documentary analysis.