Burns, Gareth
(2018)
Teachers from Diverse Backgrounds: ‘Making a Different Kind of Difference’.
In: International Conference on Engaging Pedagogy (ICEP), 14&15 December 2018, Dublin City University, Dublin.
Abstract
The recent government investment in the Programme for Access to Higher Education
(PATH) and its aim of widening access to initial teacher education, has focused
attention on the need for greater diversity in the teaching profession. Much of the
research on the benefits of a diverse teaching profession focuses on the potential of
teachers from under-represented groups to act as positive ‘role models’ for students
from various socio-demographic backgrounds (Villegas & Irvine, 2010). This study
adopted a narrative life history methodology grounded in phenomenology. Semi-structured, life-history interviews were conducted with 18 early career teachers drawn
from three urban designated disadvantaged primary schools. Significantly, the sample
contained a balance of teachers drawn from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds,
which was very advantageous considering the emphasis the study placed on exploring
teachers’ habitus and its influence on idealised and realised teacher identities and
practices. The very distinct and positive contribution early career teachers with strong
childhood ties to working class communities are making in social justice terms, offers
a window into the transformative influence a more diverse teaching population can
have. However, the strength of this cohort’s belief in the importance of students acting
appropriately within prevailing, non-controversial and non-political discourses of
meritocratic participation, points to the need to problematise the way in which the
desirability of a more diverse and representative teaching force is framed in the policy
discourse.
| Item Type: |
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
|
| Keywords: |
Teacher Diversity; Early Career Teachers; Initial Teacher Education; Teacher Identity;
Teachers as ‘Role Models; Education and Social Justice; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Adult and Community Education |
| Item ID: |
16037 |
| Depositing User: |
Katriona O'Sullivan
|
| Date Deposited: |
31 May 2022 16:01 |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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