Background to the Research

• Evidence shows that many teachers within NI have an under-appreciation of equality issues relating to pupils' learning and their own classroom practice. Such research suggests that teachers have had little exposure to these issues in either their ITE or continuing professional development. This differential exposure to equality issues ensures an imbalance and, usually, a continued lack of understanding of the impact of equality issues on teachers' practice and professional development and thus on their pupils' educational achievement. This study investigated these themes and gauged awareness and prioritisation of equality issues in teacher education and training in NI.
  

Research Approach

• The Graduate School of Education first carried out a desk study of currently published material from other jurisdictions, before focusing on awareness of equality issues among three groups in NI: policy makers and stakeholders in teacher education and training across all levels; providers of teacher education and training at each of its main stages; and 'users', i.e. the teachers (experienced, those recently qualified, and those in training).
  

Main Findings

Equality Issues at Policy and System Level

• Many respondents sought a coherent and cohesive equality framework within education, underpinned by commonly held values and beliefs, and promoted through continuing professional and personal development, rather than prescribed by legislation.
• While DE respondents believed that current arrangements generally do address the major equality issues, all other respondents articulated concerns across the major aspects of equality.
• Evidence from representatives of other stakeholder groups suggests that they believe that their capacity to influence schools' awareness of equality issues and to facilitate good practice is very limited.
• Evidence from seminars with policy makers and stakeholders suggests that there is no generally-known or accepted programme to identify the full range of equality needs, or to address those already identified. Limited resources also reduce the capacity to attend to equality issues.
• Focus group discussions with teachers revealed that teachers trained outside NI had more explicit exposure to equality issues in their course of study than those trained locally.
• The Department's current dominant agenda of improving standards in schooling appears to oblige schools to prioritise teaching, learning and assessment practices in relation to improving examination performance; equality and other concerns may thus be marginalised.

Equality Issues in Teacher Education and Employment

• Respondents from all groups expressed concerns about on-going gender-equality issues in the recruitment and promotion of teachers.
• Student teachers' and teachers' equality awareness was uneven, and more evident among those with direct experience of equality issues.
• Take-up of opportunities for training in equality issues varies greatly; only a minority expressed an active interest. Some aspects have thus become marginalised, making the expansion of provision unlikely.
• Higher education providers identified problems of access to Continual Professional Development courses/training for some teachers.
• Teachers identified the relative lack of opportunity to teach or work outside their own community background as a significant barrier to wider professional development. Related to this was unequal access for employment across the Controlled and Maintained school sectors.
• While student teachers felt that applicants to and students engaged in teacher education should not be discriminated against on the basis of disability or sexuality, some felt this might happen.

Issues of inequality in the teacher education curriculum and in the school classrooms

• DE representatives saw the promotion of equal opportunities as the responsibility of all teachers in pursuit of the statutory requirement for all children to have equal access to the curriculum.
• All the providers of ITE indicated that equality issues were a consideration within their courses, although the extent to which the constituent aspects of equality are addressed varies. ITE tends to cover issues of gender, race, social class etc in an ad hoc way.
• Student teachers felt that the Education for Mutual Understanding programme was not being implemented effectively.
• Tutors may be more comfortable with higher profile equality issues, but seemed unsure of the wider area of equality legislation.
• Teachers trained in NI agreed that, in general, issues of equality or equal opportunity were not explicitly addressed in their courses. Those trained in Great Britain stated that issues had been more formally addressed in their ITE, and appeared more confident on such issues.
• Student teachers felt that the equality issue emphasised most in their courses was differentiation in terms of pupil ability. Knowledge of other issues came from experiences gained on school placements.
• Students commented that, although 'race' was considered a lesser issue than religion in NI, they had noted inappropriate attitudes to 'race' by some pupils during school placements.
• Employing schools have the major responsibility for supporting beginning teachers. ELBs do not at present explicitly identify equality as a concern, although ELB officers felt that there may be some scope to accord greater priority to equality awareness for beginning teachers.
• While aware of certain equality issues, the attention given to them in the classroom by teachers varied - individual teachers are often left to deal with equality issues.
• Teachers acknowledged that issues around gender, particularly achievement, had become a particular area of focus in the past few years, although initiatives may have more to do with attainment.
• Some teachers were more commonly aware of equality issues arising from pupils' social background, although acknowledged that a certain degree of labelling is attached to children from certain backgrounds.
• Teachers normally defined equality issues about disability in relation to Special Educational Needs, specifically learning or behavioural.
• Teachers felt that equality issues of community background (religion) or 'race' were often either ignored or not dealt with adequately.
• Most NI teachers have had limited experience of diversity, either in their own schooling or professional lives. The commitment of schools to the equality agenda was felt to be variable, and teachers may not be supported in individual actions.

Conclusions/Recommendations

• Recommendations for equality issues at policy and system levels include: a reconsideration of the issues underpinning the NI teacher education system; explicit prioritisation of equality issues; the creation of an explicit and well-known equality programme within the education system; consideration of how to encourage greater representation of men and minority groups in teacher education; emphasis on the need for teachers to address and deal with the full range of equality issues; prioritisation to changing school practice; school monitoring of attainment, attendance etc. according to gender, ethnicity, disability etc.; greater involvement of stakeholder groups around equality concerns; and support for teacher educators and teachers.
• Recommendations for equality issues in teacher education and employment include: encouraging young people from all backgrounds to enter teaching; addressing gender-inequities in recruitment and promotion; a more in-depth approach to training and the promotion of a broader range of experiences; and addressing issues of unequal access to CPD courses.
• Recommendations for equality in the teacher education curriculum and in school classrooms include: provision of accurate and accessible information on legislation; inclusion of equality awareness in CPD courses; suitable support resources for tutors and student teachers; influencing teacher tutors in schools to consider equality issues as appropriate foci for Early Professional Development work; encouraging teachers to locate issues of equality within the broader debate; and the inclusion of an explicit examination of the equality and human rights philosophy and legislation in training for serving principals and other school senior managers.