This study examined teachers' conceptualisations of multicultural education (MCE) within the setting of a laboratory school affiliated with a university campus in south eastern USA. This unique setting provided the researchers with an opportunity to study multiculturalism as a whole-school construct and in terms of how universities teach multicultural education. The analysis of data collected from a school-wide survey and group interviews with teachers revealed a) the importance of how language is used in teachers' conceptualisations of MCE, b) patterns of congruence and divergence in these conceptualisations and c) the implications of these conceptualisations for the teaching of MCE in universities and its implementation as school-wide practice. (Contains 2 tables.)