Preparing student teachers for inclusion and equality

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Preparing student teachers for inclusion and
equality

• Dr Lisa McAuliffe
• Lecturer in Education,
• School of Education,
• University of the West of Scotland
• lisa.mcauliffe_at_uws.ac.uk

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• A case study of how understanding of the concept
  of equality of opportunity and its implications
  for diverse groups is being promoted in the
  School of Education in the University of the West
  of Scotland through the teaching, learning and
  assessment of a module that gives student
  teachers the opportunity to explore the
  implications of the Equality Act 2010 for
  themselves as developing professionals and for
  the pupils in their future classes.

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The Standard for Initial Teacher Education in
Scotland identifies the following as core
interests of the teaching profession

• promoting equality of opportunity among all
  people in an inclusive society, and actively
  taking steps to counter discrimination
• promoting the learning of those pupils who
  encounter barriers to learning, including those
  who are in need of additional support in
  particular areas of the curriculum and those
  with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
• (GTCS 2006)

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According to SITE, by the end of their programme
of initial teacher education, student teachers
should be able to

• Demonstrate an understanding of principles of
  equality of opportunity and social justice and of
  the need for anti-discriminatory practices.
• Demonstrate the ability to identify and respond
  appropriately to pupils with difficulties in, or
  barriers to, learning.
• Demonstrate the ability to respond appropriately
  to gender, social, cultural, religious and
  linguistic differences among pupils.
• (GTCS 2006)

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According to SITE, by the end of their programme
of initial teacher education, student teachers
should be able to

• Demonstrate the ability to identify the ways in
  which additional support in the classroom can
  assist pupils learning.
• Demonstrate respect for the rights of all
  children and young people without discrimination.
• Demonstrate that they value and promote fairness
  and justice and adopt anti-discriminatory
  practices in respect of gender, sexual
  orientation, race, disability, age, religion,
  culture and socio-economic background.
• (GTCS 2006)

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SITE is aligned with the 1994 UNESCO Salamanca
statement which

• advocated inclusive education, defining it as the
  process of responding to the diverse needs of all
  learners by increasing participation in and
  reducing exclusion from education.
• argued that creating inclusive school communities
  is the most effective way of combating
  discriminatory attitudes, building an inclusive
  society and achieving education for all.
• (UNESCO 1994)

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Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes

• The themes of inclusion and equality are
  embedded in Curriculum for Excellence, as can be
  seen in the following examples of experiences and
  outcomes - the full documents are available
  through the following link
• http//www.educationscotland.gov.uk/thecurriculum
  /howisthecurriculumorganised/experiencesandoutcome
  s/index.asp

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Health and Wellbeing

• I can expect my learning environment to support
  me to
• develop my self-awareness,
• self-worth and respect for others
• acknowledge diversity and understand that
• it is everyones responsibility to challenge
  discrimination
• I know that friendship, caring, sharing,
  fairness, equality and love are important in
  building positive relationships.
• I understand that people can feel alone and can
  be misunderstood and left out by others. I am
  learning how to give appropriate support.

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Religious and moral education

• I can show my understanding of values such as
  caring, sharing, fairness, equality and love.
• I can share my developing views about values such
  as fairness, equality, love, caring, sharing and
  human rights.

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Social studies

• By studying groups in past societies who
  experienced inequality, I can explain the reasons
  for the inequality and evaluate how groups or
  individuals addressed it.
• I can gather and use information about forms of
  discrimination against people in societies and
  consider the impact this has on peoples lives.
• I can explain why a group I have identified might
  experience inequality and can suggest ways in
  which this inequality might be addressed.

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Inclusion and Equality BEd3 option module
introduced in UWS in 2010

• The main aim of the module is to help student
  teachers develop the knowledge, understanding and
  skills required to
• raise awareness in relation to equality and
  diversity issues including equal opportunities,
  disadvantage, prejudice, stereotyping,
  discrimination
• and
• provide additional support for pupils who
  experience difficulties in, or barriers to, their
  learning as a result of social and cultural
  factors.

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The module serves as a space for students to

• explore a range of social and cultural factors
  that can lead to prejudice, stereotyping, and
  discrimination, and can result in pupils
  experiencing difficulties in or barriers to
  learning
• consider the features of effective educational
  provision for
• raising awareness in all pupils in relation to
  issues of equality and diversity
• supporting pupils experiencing difficulties in,
  or barriers to, their learning as a result of
  social and cultural factors.

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The following topics are explored in depth

• Disability, gender, race, religion belief,
  sexual orientation, the needs entitlements of
  learners from Gypsy and Traveller backgrounds,
  and the needs entitlements of learners who are
  looked after.
• Given that the amended Additional Support for
  Learning Act (2009) requires education
  authorities and schools to give special
  consideration to the inclusion and equality needs
  entitlements of learners from the last group,
  it was deemed important to include this topic in
  the option despite the fact that the group does
  not have protected characteristic status.

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When planning the teaching, learning and
assessment of the module, careful consideration
was given to Perrys scheme of moral and
intellectual development

• According to Perry (1975), moral and
  intellectual development unfolds in stages
• Dualism at this stage, the individual believes
  that all problems have a solution and all
  questions have a right answer the
  authorities/experts know what the solution or
  answer is.
• Multiplicity at this stage, the individual
  believes that everyone has a right to his/her
  opinion and all opinions are equally valid.
• Relativism at this stage, the individual
  believes that problems/questions must be
  considered and evaluated in relation to the
  context.
• Commitment at this stage, the individual becomes
  committed to a position based on careful
  consideration of available evidence.

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• It is expected that the students taking the
  module will be at different stages in Perrys
  scheme based on the number and type of prior
  opportunities they have had to engage with the
  various topics.
• Because of this, special emphasis is placed on
  getting the students prepared for class so that
  those who have little prior knowledge and
  understanding of a topic are able to make
  informed contributions to the discussion.
• Preparation involves giving the students a week
  in advance of the class essential reading
  accompanied by questions aiming to link points
  raised in the reading with experiences the
  students may have had within and beyond the
  classroom.

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Examples of preparation questions

• For the gender topic
• Have you observed any sexist routines and
  practices that are not included in Thomsons
  list?
• Have you observed any differences in the way in
  which the adults who work in schools, including
  teachers, talk about or behave towards girls and
  boys?
• Come to the class prepared to share some of your
  observations and to make recommendations for
  improvements based on your reading and
  experiences.
• For the race topic
• Based on your reading and any relevant
  experiences that you may have had, what do you
  consider to be some of the principles and
  characteristics of effective practice in tackling
  racism and promoting race equality in and through
  school?Come to the class prepared to share some
  of your ideas.

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Selection of materials

• As it is considered very important to get the
  voices of the insiders heard, when selecting
  materials for use in this module, priority is
  given to materials which present a topic either
  exclusively or partly from the perspective of
  individuals with personal experience of the
  relevant issues.

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Selection of materials

• Novels, films and plays exploring relevant
  issues (typically from an insider perspective)
  are also discussed and recommended for follow up
  work. A wide range of these are available for the
  students to borrow from the library and from the
  tutors personal collection.

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Selection of materials

• Childrens books exploring relevant issues
  (typically from an insider perspective) are
  also considered, particularly with respect to
  their potential uses in the classroom. A wide
  range of these are available for the students to
  borrow from the library and from the tutors
  personal collection.

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Time for reflection

• It is deemed important to provide students with
  structured time after each class to reflect on
  their newly developed knowledge and understanding
  and to consider its relevance for their practice.
  Students are asked to record reflections related
  to each topic in a learning journal which they
  are required to fill after the corresponding
  topic has been covered. To highlight the
  importance of reflection, it was decided to make
  the learning journal part of the assessment of
  the module the other component is an essay
  focusing on one of the topics explored in the
  module (the students choose the topic).

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Impact

• End-of-term module evaluations and informal
  feedback from the students suggest that the
  module is very effective in helping students
  develop knowledge and understanding of a wide
  range of equality issues and of their educational
  implications. In June 2012, the two cohorts that
  took the module over the past two years were
  invited to provide more focused feedback through
  a survey monkey questionnaire. The first cohort
  had 16 students while the second cohort had 20
  students, so a total of 36 students were eligible
  to respond to this questionnaire. Responses were
  provided by a total of 16 students 5 of the
  respondents took the module in 2010/11 while 11
  took the module in 2011/12. The following slides
  show their responses to the main questions.

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How much did you know before you started the
option about inclusion and equality issues
associated with each of the option topics?
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How much of your current knowledge about
inclusion and equality issues associated with
each of the option topics do you attribute to
your participation in the option?
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To what extent, if at all, has the option enabled
you to think more inclusively in relation to the
topics covered?
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Examples of inclusive thinking

• When I walk in a classroom I look around to see
  whats on display, whats at the book corner etc.
  Im pleased to see diverse groups in the
  resources. Im itching to make suggestions where
  there isnt much.
• I read the paper or a magazine and things that
  wouldnt register before jump out at me. The
  other day, as I was passing the newspapers stand
  in the supermarket I caught glimpse of a title
  that said something like Can parenting be
  taught? The mother of all questions! I thought,
  why mother? Thats sexist language! I dont think
  I would have given this a second thought before
  the option. Ive learnt something not just for
  school but for my life.

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To what extent, if at all, has the option enabled
you to act more inclusively in relation to each
of the topics covered?
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Examples of inclusive practice

• Mothers day. I wanted it to be inclusive. I
  talked to the class teacher and we agreed to
  broaden it up to include all important women in
  the childrens lives. I was anxious in case I got
  it wrong but it went well and I felt good.
• I suggested at a staff meeting that we should
  look for ways to do more with the local Catholic
  school. A couple of teachers seemed keen and we
  got a good response from the Catholic school. We
  set up a group and got a few things going. The
  logistics can be tricky but its well worth it.

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Examples of inclusive practice

• In my planning I kept thinking universal
  design! I made my lessons as multisensory as I
  could. At first it was hard to come up with ideas
  but then it became second nature. Im positive it
  helped the learning.
• We did a topic on the olympics and I gave the
  paralympics as much attention. I dont think I
  would have done it this way before the option.
  Then I found out that in the ancient olympics
  women werent allowed to take part so we spoke
  about it in class. We got a good discussion
  going.

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To what extent, if at all, has the option
encouraged you to keep learning about inclusion
and equality in relation to the topics covered?
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Conclusion

• In line with a growing body of literature on
  this topic (e.g. Hodkinson 2005 Ji-Ryun 2011
  Lancaster Bain 2010 Sosu et al 2010), the
  experience of delivering this module highlights
  the importance of providing student teachers with
  opportunities to become more aware of a range of
  issues, debates and dilemmas related to inclusion
  and equality as increased personal awareness can
  help them become more confident in dealing with
  these issues, debates and dilemmas at school and
  beyond.

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References

• GTCS (2006) Standard for Initial Teacher
  Education. Available http//www.gtcs.org.uk/web/F
  ILES/the-standards/the-standard-for-initial-teache
  r-education.pdf
• Hodkinson, A. J. (2005) Conceptions and
  misconceptions of inclusive education a
  critical examination of final year teacher
  trainees' knowledge and understanding of
  inclusion. International Journal of Research
  in Education. 73, pp. 15-29.
• Ji-Ryun, K. (2011) Influence of teacher
  preparation programmes on preservice teachers
  attitudes toward inclusion. International Journal
  of Inclusive Education, 15(3), pp. 355-377.
• Lancaster, J. and Bain, A. (2010) The design of
  pre-service inclusive education courses and their
  effects on self-efficacy a comparative study.
  Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 38(2),
  pp. 117-128.
• Perry, W. G. (1975) Forms of Ethical and
  Intellectual Development in the College Years.
  New York Holt, Rinehart Winston.
• Sosu, E. M., Mtika, P. and Colucci-Gray, L.
  (2010) Does initial teacher education make a
  difference? The impact of teacher preparation on
  student teachers attitudes towards educational
  inclusion. Journal of Education for Teaching,
  36(4), pp. 389405.
• UNESCO (1994) The Salamanca Statement. Available
  http//www.unesco.org/education/pdf/SALAMA_E.PDF