Multiculturalism in teacher education institutes – The relationship between formulated official policies and grassroots initiatives

•We find a gap between multicultural discourse and policies in two colleges.•Lack of official multicultural policy does not inhibit grassroots initiatives.•Findings indicate the importance of having both shared and separate spaces.•Multicultural policies emphasize the importance of relationships within the college.•Multicultural policies are significant to any multicultural society with similar tensions.

This study examined the multicultural policies advocated and the actual practices in two teacher education colleges in Israel. Qualitative methods included analysis of documents and official college Websites, interviews with academic staff members and high level officials in the colleges, and observations conducted in the public sphere. Findings provided insights regarding the relationships between official policies and grassroots activities, the function of separate and shared spaces in advancing multicultural policies, and the links between the college structure, the place of the minority group within a given structure, and the group's ability to advance a multicultural agenda.