In the context of Ireland's changing demographics, this paper explores the importance of pedagogic research in informing both philosophies and pedagogical practices in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) which endeavours to facilitate student teachers' engagement with the teaching and learning process in Ireland's multicultural classrooms. By utilising firstly the insights provided by Lev Vygotsky, via others into the meditational role of cultural tools and his concept of the Zone of Proximal Development and, secondly, Basil Bernstein's exploration of curriculum and in particular his concept of the Pedagogic Recontextualising Field, it examines through engagement with data obtained from semi-structured interviews carried out with newly qualified teachers (NQTs) how specific pedagogic practices can be informed by this convergence of culture and curriculum. It discusses the manifestations of the tensions between theory and practice both in the college and classroom context, as experienced by the NQTs and in doing so, provides the author with valuable insights into the need for adapting her own philosophical and pedagogical practices within ITE to enhance the learning experience of the student teacher and to facilitate their future engagement with teaching and learning in the multicultural classroom. (Contains 3 footnotes.) [For the full proceedings, "Research-Teaching Linkages: Practice and Policy. Proceedings of the Third Annual Conference of the National Academy for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (3rd, Dublin, Ireland, November 11-12, 2009)," see ED539248.]