Scots have long acknowledged that education has a central role in shaping a nation’s
identity, culture and economic prosperity. Education is a key area within which
values and attitudes are formed and perpetuated. Scotland has also held sacrosanct
the concept of ‘education for all’, viewing education as a democratic enterprise
which can assist the reduction of privilege and contribute to the development of the
collective democratic intellect. Teachers are key within that process as they arbitrate
on what is taught and how it is taught. Research has shown that teacher expectations
can be pivotal in influencing pupil motivation and achievement. Scotland’s teaching
workforce, just like that of all other countries in the Western world, is largely
homogenous (white and middle class, female in the early years and primary sectors)
and this profile is becoming increasingly mismatched to an increasingly diverse pupil
population.
In Scotland, confidence and competence in engaging with issues of diversity and
discrimination are unlikely to be achieved through immersion in diverse
communities or through peer-education. Other ways need to be identified to
generate teachers of tomorrow who are ‘fit for purpose’ for a diverse population as
well as being able to teach on issues which are necessary for a global citizen to
negotiate the complexities and tensions of values, belief and ideological differences.
This thesis adopts a life history approach to identify why some teachers in Scotland
engage explicitly with equity and anti-discrimination issues as part of their approach
to learning and teaching. Using interviews and narratives, the study explores
particular factors that have prompted these teachers to develop an interest and
activism in this area of work. Are the teachers influenced by particular theoretical
frameworks? How has their commitment translated into practice? As a teacher
education lecturer, I am interested to identify learning points that could assist those
of us who select and prepare course content for such programmes. In particular, I am
interested in models that can assist teachers to become more competent and confident
in engaging explicitly with diversity and discrimination.
The study discusses these issues within the specificity of the Scottish context. The
impact of the belief of Scots in the efficacy of their education system, coupled with
their intrinsic belief in the Scottish commitment to egalitarianism (equality of
opportunity) is explored in relation to whether such beliefs are enabling or disabling
of the equity and anti-discrimination agenda with respect to teacher beliefs and
attitudes. The concepts of ‘teacher professionalism’ and ‘the activist teacher’ within
a Scottish context are also analysed in the context of promoting equity and antidiscriminatory
practice in schools.
The narratives of the nine teachers (mixed in terms of age, gender, faith and belief,
ethnicity, nationality and geography) in this study found that overall teacher beliefs
and values are shaped prior to entering initial teacher education programmes. Key
influences include parents and extended families, the church, peer groups in school,
college or university and specific friendships. Teachers’ personal experiences of
discrimination contributed to developing a ‘vested interest’ in the area of antidiscrimination work. Engagement with organisations external to the school, such as
voluntary work with non-governmental organisations, activism within trade unions
or political parties helped inform teachers of wider societal and global issues and
added to teacher interest and confidence in working for a more socially just world.
Teachers’ practices were in the main based more on an intuitive sense of fairness
rather than being underpinned by any theories relating to equity, social justice, power
or anti-discrimination. As a result, while all were swift to address aspects of personal
and cultural inequalities, many were less able to articulate ideas that address
institutional or structural discrimination.
The study concludes by exploring possible ways that teacher education programmes
and continuous professional development courses could assist teachers to ‘border
cross’ and to develop more empirical reasoning and practical purpose for investing in
pro-action on equity and anti-discrimination issues. Such crossings are particularly
important to assist Scotland’s homogenous teaching workforce restructure
pedagogical practice so that equity and anti-discrimination issues are embedded as
part of professionalism and professional practice rather than being viewed as ‘bolton’
issues