Moving into the unknown

The article discusses a study which investigates the effects of the cultural background of student teachers on their perception to racial diversity. It says that the lack of cultural and ethnic awareness of teachers on their students separates them from other minority groups which create a gap between them. Meanwhile, the lack of exposure to information technology equipment worsens the situation of the teachers which may affect the way they address racism, ethnicity and equality in education

The unrecognised:a study of how some black and minority ethnic student teachers face the challenges of initial teacher education in England

Racism, as a covert but pervasive presence in teacher training in England, remains a major structural issue and its effects on student teachers, from Black and Minority Ethnic groups, are real and troubling. This Study asserts that they face multiple challenges in the Initial Teacher Education process which has implications for the teaching workforce and for pupils in schools. While national statistics for recruitment of BME applicants onto Initial Teacher Education courses are at good levels, in proportion to the BME population in general, their numbers are not viable because the drop-out rate between starting and completing courses, and becoming employed as classroom teachers, is significant. Furthermore the numbers of BME qualified teachers are small in relation to both the BME and white populations in England. This Study, which focuses on 32 BME student teachers at four universities across England, looks at how they journey through and negotiate obstacles and microagressions on their ITE courses. It shows that for those who choose to continue on their teaching course, their responses and modes of coping are complex and varied. Using Critical Race Theory to analyse their stories and make visible the way that hidden racisms within ITE can silence and disempower BME student teachers, the key findings reveal that they may adopt four ‘cultural positions’: Manoeuvred Cultural Position, Vibrant Cultural Position, Discerning Cultural Position, Stagnated Cultural Position. These demonstrate whether they are managing, struggling, culturally visible or culturally invisible. This study has implications for teacher educators and senior managers in universities involved in Initial Teacher Education in England

Building on experience in a white-majority ITE institution

In a day packed with excellent presentations, our last presentation from Diane Warner completed the wealth of ideas on offer to delegates. Diane Warner is a Senior Lecturer in English and Education Studies at the University of Cumbria. Among her academic interests are classroom approaches for EAL pupils. Her presentation focused on small-scale practice-based work she has been undertaking with student teachers. Diane explained that she is making tentative and early moves forward in her own understandings of student teacher thinking and needs in the field of EAL at an institution such as Cumbria (almost exclusively English-White ethnicity). Delegates were asked to engage with examples of students working to ‘develop as culturally-aware teachers’, beginning their journey towards showing understanding that cultural awareness is a necessary part of teaching

More austerity? The Treasury must act against the grain of its own history in responding to the COVID-19 crisis

Will austerity be repeated in the light of the ongoing pandemic? Sam Warner, Diane Coyle, Dave Richards and Martin Smith write that, while the evidence points to Rishi Sunak favouring belt tightening over exposing the public finances to further risk, this crisis underlines the need for fresh thinking within the Treasury, as well as for No.11 to engage more effectively beyond Whitehall

Cummings and Gove cannot reform Whitehall without reforming the Treasury

Dave Richards, Diane Coyle, Martin Smith, and Sam Warner explain why there is little that is novel in Gove and Cummings’s agenda for Whitehall reform. They argue that reformers would do well to consider why reform has been discussed for over 50 years but has yet to happen, and highlight that meaningful change will require Treasury reform

The unrecognised: a study of how some black and minority ethnic student teachers face the challenges of initial teacher education in England

Racism, as a covert but pervasive presence in teacher training in England, remains a major structural issue and its effects on student teachers, from Black and Minority Ethnic groups, are real and troubling. This Study asserts that they face multiple challenges in the Initial Teacher Education process which has implications for the teaching workforce and for pupils in schools. While national statistics for recruitment of BME applicants onto Initial Teacher Education courses are at good levels, in proportion to the BME population in general, their numbers are not viable because the drop-out rate between starting and completing courses, and becoming employed as classroom teachers, is significant. Furthermore the numbers of BME qualified teachers are small in relation to both the BME and white populations in England. This Study, which focuses on 32 BME student teachers at four universities across England, looks at how they journey through and negotiate obstacles and microagressions on their ITE courses. It shows that for those who choose to continue on their teaching course, their responses and modes of coping are complex and varied. Using Critical Race Theory to analyse their stories and make visible the way that hidden racisms within ITE can silence and disempower BME student teachers, the key findings reveal that they may adopt four ‘cultural positions’: Manoeuvred Cultural Position, Vibrant Cultural Position, Discerning Cultural Position, Stagnated Cultural Position. These demonstrate whether they are managing, struggling, culturally visible or culturally invisible. This study has implications for teacher educators and senior managers in universities involved in Initial Teacher Education in England

The identity dilemmas of Early Career Teachers from under-represented groups in the UK

Uncontested narratives of normality in primary teacher training are located and demonstrated in heteronormativity, whiteness, able-bodiedness and femininity. Early-Career Teachers who know and feel they lie outside of these are positioned uneasily as they try to locate spaces to express their identities and enable self-agency. This article explores how beginning teachers from under-represented groups come to understand themselves and others during the process of becoming a primary teacher. Through qualitative analysis of video stories of 12 novice primary teachers, we identified salient themes including dilemmas around identity invisibility/hypervisibility and lack of agency to (re)construct their identities. Our findings have implications for teacher educators and school leaders to provide new teachers opportunities to explore their identity dilemmas alongside their peers in safe spaces. Developing provision that builds beginning teachers’ peer networks alongside their understanding of self may not only offer an outlet for self-agency but impact on teacher retention from those located in under-represented groups

When being Black and having special educational needs and disabilities converge in children and young people: in conversation with Denise Miller

Diane Warner interviews Denise Miller about her work which lies at the intersection of special educational needs and disabilities and being Black or Asia

“Get back on the horse and start over again”: Long-Term Effects of a Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) Program in an Underserved Population

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective, mixed methods study is to examine the relationship between participation in an interdisciplinary diabetes self-management education (DSME) program at an urban primary health care center and patients’ perceived knowledge and skills, as well as clinical markers, on four cohorts of patients over a two-year period. Methods: Participants, mainly African-American females, responded to survey questions including self-care behaviors, perceived knowledge, and self-efficacy. The researchers also reviewed the participants’ clinical records for glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA 1c) and body mass index (BMI) data and compared these to similar patients in the health center who had not participated in the DSME program. Additional analysis involved a cross comparison of earlier cohorts (2014-15) to later cohorts (2016-17). Results: Quantitative analysis showed strong statistical evidence that those in the DSME program had more control over their BMI as compared to the control group. The results also suggested that those in the program after 2016 had more control over their HbA1c than those in the program before 2016, although this evidence was more limited. Qualitative themes that emerged highlighted the participants’ valuing most what they learned about nutrition, exercise, and disease management. Conclusions: Population specific DSME programs can help produce both quality of life and clinical improvements that persist over time in underserved populations. This study was limited by a small sample size