In Multiculturalism: A Handbook for Teachers, a text co-printed by the Canadian Secretary of State and the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, the encoding of Lady Bountiful and minority students is particularly salient: "In a multicultural, multi-social, multi-ethnic society such as ours, it is essential that those who presume to teach should know and understand adequately the cultures of those they are likely to teach... Quite often, a major cause of difficulty for teachers in understanding children of culturally different backgrounds is that they are in ignorance of the life these children lead outside school -- except insofar as they may read or hear about it in its more sordid aspects through press reports of local crime and delinquency... The knowledge of students and their environment, their aspirations, their frustrations and their dreams, is the first requisite of the teacher. ... All students need support, security, understanding and empathy, but those who are different culturally need them most of all" (McCreath, 1981: 59-60). Lady Bountiful is produced in this appeal. In her "bountifulness" she will emphatically get to know her minority/immigrant students -- 'to hear their frustration and their dreams, to sympathize with and support these "more needy" children.

In Teaching to Diversity, a 1993 text that earned an award from the Federation of Women Teacher's Association of Ontario, Mary Meyers offers a construct of Lady Bountiful. In this case she is rather inadequate. As depicted in an illustration taken from the book, a confused and frazzled looking white woman is surrounded by a series of ethnic categories; Greek, Portuguese, Korean, Hindustani, Italian, Spanish, Farsi, Bengali, Egyptian, Ukrainian, Chinese, Somali, Latvian, Vietnamese, and Russian. Beside the picture the following question is posed: "Am I supposed to speak all these languages???" The white woman teacher is graphically represented outside of race, ethnicity and culture. Evidently she does not have a personal history of immigration. She does not know how to manage the ethnic identities emerging in the context of her classroom and so is in need of support and guidance.

Am I supposed to speak all these languages???? Teaching to Diversity by Mary Meyers, p.20

Meyers argues that the white woman teacher must collect information about culture. She must learn "facts" about "immigrant" culture such as "your students' special days, religions and cultures" (Meyers 1993: 3) and languages. The teacher must learn basic facts about the immigrant child's personal history including information about geography, culture, family situation, skills in the first language, personality, etc.

Under the category Family Situation, the following questions are suggested: "Are parents alive and are they together with the children? Are or have the siblings been separated? How long and where? Have all the siblings had schooling? In which languages?