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This study investigated student perceptions of the significance of having a teacher education programme located in a culturally and ethnically diverse community in New Zealand. Four successive student cohorts were interviewed each year of their teacher preparation, and also during their first year of employment. Students identified location as a major source of the programme’s strength, both for pragmatic reasons, such as providing access to tertiary study, and for reasons of community dynamics. The students noted a sense of familiarity and community that was a source of unity and strength in shaping their engagement with the institution. They indicated also that the diverse student group was a rich resource in preparing them for teaching careers in diverse urban schools. The evidence presented in the study suggests that attention to location of teacher education programmes may be an important factor in addressing imperatives for teacher educators in today’s increasingly multi-ethnic, multicultural, multiracial, multi-religious and multilingual classrooms.

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