The main research question addressed by this research is 'How do ITE students perceive non-religious beliefs in Ireland's overwhelmingly denominational primary school system.’ Two sub questions address:

 (1) How do ITE students' describe their own religious or belief identities?

(2) How do ITE students perceive children’s non-religious beliefs?

In contextualising this research the researchers drew on international EVS and ESS data as well as Census data for Ireland (CSO 2016).  The national and international context has implications for teacher education programmes in Ireland where the population has a very high rate of religious self-identification (86%). Between 1991 and 2016 the number of people who identified under the category of ‘No Religion’ or ‘nones’ increased seven-fold in Ireland and at 10% currently represent the fastest growing category in the 2016 Census. Data from the European Social Survey and research undertaken by Woodhead (2016), Pew (2012), Singleton (2015) and Bullivant (2018) enabled a comparative international and European dimension in the literature review. Bullevant's research identifies that the proportion of young adults (16-29) with no religious affiliation (‘nones’) is as high as 91% in the Czech Republic, 80% in Estonia, and 75% in Sweden. These compare to only 1% in Israel, 17% in Poland, and 25% in Lithuania. In the UK and France, the proportions are 70% and 64% respectively. To date in Ireland there has been little research into the rise of the new ‘nones’ (Kieran & Mullally 2020) and a death of research on ITE students' belief identities and perspectives on non-religious beliefs in denominational schools (Byrne & Francis 2019). This research investigated the professional implications for ITE students and elicited their perspectives on teaching in an overwhelmingly denominational school sector in Ireland in a changing, complex, multibelief and increasingly secular context.

This paper introduces and contextualises the educational system at primary level in the Republic of Ireland where almost 96% of schools are faith-based and 88.9% (DES Statistics 2020) of public-funded and privately-owned schools are Catholic. In this denominational context there is an expectation that teachers, including ITE students on placement, will deliver confessional religious education programmes (Irish Episcopal Conference 2015). In contemporary Ireland there are growing calls for the removal of denominational and confessional curricula (Nugent & Donnelly 2013) and a growing public resistance to Catholic involvement in education (Hyland and Bocking 2015). A changed social, cultural and educational landscape has been ushered in by a variety of factors, including secularisation and a greater diversity of religions and beliefs. The speed of change is remarkable (Littleton & Maher 2008), manifested in a series of recent referenda which removed the constitutional ban on divorce (1995), legalised same sex marriage (2015) and abortion (2018). Initial Teacher Education programmes are preparing students to teach in contexts that have moved inexorably away from the former ‘Catholic, White and Gaelic’ (Parker-Jenkins & Masterson 2013; Heinz, Davison and Keane 2018) markers of identity. Equality-based multi-denominational (Educate Together 2004), multi-belief (Goodness Me Goodness You NCCA 2018), inter-denominational, Church of Ireland (Wilkinson 2002), confessional Catholic (Irish Episcopal Conference 2015; 2019) as well as Islamic (Selim 2014) and Jewish (Stratford NS 2019) curricula and programmes have been generated for more diverse types of schools. The research raises the question of how beginning teachers might develop their teacher identities in this complex and changing context. Clearly much can be learned from engaging with European policy and practice and dialogue with ITE preparing teachers to teach in an increasingly complex and changing multibelief European context. Research findings from Ireland suggest ITE students exhibit high levels of belief fluidity, uncertainty about belief identity as well as strong identification with Catholicism.

This paper overviews and presents emerging findings from a mixed-methods research project entitled ‘The New Nones in Ireland (2020-2021)’ exploring initial teacher education (ITE) students’ attitudes to non-religious beliefs in Irish society and in primary schools in Ireland. The research involved data gathering among a total sample group of 400 Post-graduate Masters in Education (PME) ITE students in two Colleges of Education in Ireland. The mixed methods research combines both quantitative (Teo 2013) and qualitative (Cohen et al 2015; Bryan and Cresswell 2011) methods to elicit PME student’s perspectives during 2020 and 2021. The research took place over three stages: 1. Literature review of religion and non-religious (atheist/agnostic/humanist/secular/unbelief) belief in Ireland, including the researching of sensitive issues (Denham 2001), and approaches which provide for anonymity and appropriate research instruments. 2. Quantitative research instrument consisting of anonymous on-line survey with selected questions and scales from the EVS/ESS enabling researchers to compare and contrast relevant aspects of the gathered data with a larger body of international research. The questionnaire was designed using the anonymous, secure survey package Survey Monkey and incorporated aspects of the EVS and ESS research instruments and data base (EVS 1981-2008, ESS 2002-2014), two large-scale, cross-national and longitudinal surveys, which collectively are robust and widely used across Europe for their rigor and ethical underpinnings. 3. Self-selecting focus groups. Data analysis was informed by the work of Byrne & Francis (2019) involving religion and belief in Northern Ireland & ROI. Research participants were recruited and briefed by an independent gatekeeper. Ethical clearance was gained for this research. This research methodology involved: • Use of the anonymous, voluntary, confidential, secure on-line questionnaire (survey package Survey Monkey) • Emphasis on anonymity & confidentiality & creation of a safe space for speaking about beliefs in focus group and in-depth interviews • Briefing and debriefing opportunity & interview led by skilled researchers • SurveyMonkey software analysis tools provided statistical analyses and created tables and graphs as well as cross-tabulation features to compare results/trends in respondents’ answers. Data was prepared by transcribing audio interviews. Small-scale nature of the data meant that hand-analysis was employed when reading interview transcripts and the process of interpreting the data, developing codes, categories and concepts, drew on the work of Miles and Huberman’s (1994) approach to coding in qualitative analysis.

The research uncovers surprising findings and presents a profile of an ITE cohort who overwhelmingly self-identify as Roman Catholic and who have exceptionally high levels of sacramental initiation and relatively high levels of religious practice. Yet the research also reveals the complex multi-layered simultaneous religious and non-religious identities of this cohort, blending seemingly incompatible and binary beliefs. The researchers explore what ITE students might mean when they self-identify as 'Catholic' as the research exhibits that national and cultural identity is interwoven with religous language but not necessarily religious belief or practice. The ITE participants exhibit a fluidity of beliefs incorporating traditional Catholic teaching and practices with a wide spectrum of religious and secular traditions from across the globe. Findings suggest that participants' simultaneous religious and non-religious identities blend beliefs in psychics, chi, magic, chakras, pre-destination, gods, energy, reincarnation and energy with more orthodox Catholic beliefs in one God, the Holy Spirit and Saints. The research points to a fluidity of beliefs allied to an uncertainty about what participants believe. Research findings show that one in three either did not know what they believed or did not believe in God. The research draws upon Harmon’s (2018) research on children’s blended identities in Catholic Schools in the Republic of Ireland and raises significant questions about unrealistic professional and social expectations being placed on these future teachers as they begin their careers in denominatioal schools where prayer, faith formation and sacramental preparation are normative. Research findings challenge assumptions that ITE students are willing to engage in the task of faith transmission in Ireland’s denominational primary school sector. It raises questions about equality of opportunity and teacher identity in a multibelief and increasingly secular social and educational context and the reality that many may be playing the 'pretend game' in faith schools.

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