Ethno-cultural diversity in initial teacher education courses: the case of Ireland

ABSTRACT

The internationalisation of the population of Ireland in recent decades has created a more culturally diverse society. Hence teachers need to have the necessary skills to teach in ethno-culturally diverse classrooms. In addition, teachers need to have required tools and knowledge to teach in increasingly multicultural classrooms. This article looks at ethno-cultural diversity in Irish primary ITE courses. The research draws on documentary sources and interviews with teacher educators and pre-service teachers. The research aims to better understand the preparedness of student teachers to teach in culturally diverse classrooms. The findings demonstrate that although the concept of ethno-cultural diversity as featured in the courses aligns with policy expectations, the autonomy afforded to HEIs in devising how the concept is addressed in ITE courses can mean variable level of preparedness of student teachers in addressing this topic in the classrooms.

KEYWORDS:

• Initial teacher education
• primary schools
• exploratory study
• ethno-cultural diversity
• Republic of Ireland

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Ethno-cultural diversity refers to varied cultural background of different ethnic groups.

2 Development education is an active learning process aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of the rapidly changing, interdependent and unequal world in which we live. It seeks to engage people in analysis, reflection and action for local and global citizenship (Irish Aid 2007).

3 These documents were instrumental in the development of intercultural education guidelines for Irish primary schools: the ITE Criteria and Guidelines for Programme Providers, the Policy on the Continuum of Teacher Education, Introduction to the Primary Curriculum, Primary Curriculum Overview, English as an additional language and Intercultural education in Primary School.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alannah Hannigan

Alannah Hannigan is a postgraduate student in the Department of Sociology at Trinity College Dublin. She graduated from the MSc Comparative Social Change and has particular expertise in comparative research designs, migration and teacher education.

Daniel Faas

Daniel Faas is Professor in Sociology at Trinity College Dublin and founding Director of the MSc Comparative Social Change. His research is in the sociology of migration and consists of three interlinked strands: (1) identities and integration, (2) comparative curriculum analyses, as well as (3) religion and schooling in Ireland and Europe. He has published widely on these topics in peer-reviewed international journals, as well as a sole-authored monograph (Negotiating Political Identities: Multiethnic Schools and Youth in Europe, London: Routledge).

Merike Darmody

Merike Darmody is a research officer at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and adjunct assistant professor at the Department of Sociology, Trinity College Dublin. Her key area of interest lies in the sociology of education. Her more recent work includes studies on ethnic, cultural and religious diversity in Irish schools. She has been a partner in an EU project Religious Education in Multicultural Europe, and is currently working on an Europe-wide study on educational inequalities.