There is limited research relating to the extent to which student teachers are prepared to teach in culturally diverse learning environments. To fill the lacuna of research in this area, the Irish Government’s Shared Island Standing Conference on Teacher Education, North and South (SCoTENS) initiative funded the project being reported on here is to highlight the extent to which Cultural Responsivity (CR) is embedded in the curricula of primary and secondary Initial Teacher Education(ITE) programmes on the island of Ireland. The project saw

• the production of a review of the literature on Cultural Responsivity in Initial Teacher Education programmes;
• an overview of the policy instruments and regulations that are used to enhance Cultural Responsivity in educational settings on the island of Ireland;
• a synopsis of eligibility criteria and regulatory requirements to become a teacher in Ireland and Northern Ireland;
• an analysis of the place of Cultural Responsivity in Initial Teacher Education programmes concluded with a discussion of the findings and recommendations to align existing programmes with the professional development needs of newly qualified teachers in order to help them acquire the skills and dispositions to teach in culturally diverse learning environments.

It is proposed to provide briefly mention each of these sections in the presentation, focusing on the findings relating to the alignment and professional development of NQT’s on the island of Ireland.

European Dimension

The project is designed to examine different ITE policies in the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland – Northern Ireland and Ireland. Despite close historic links in the 19^th century education systems in general and ITE systems in particular have diverged since the division of the island in 1922. This creates a rich comparative policy space to explore how different European ITE systems address issues relating to culture and cultural responsivity.

The place of CR in ITE

Gay (2002) defines culturally responsive teaching ‘as using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively’ (p.106). Heineke and Ryan (2019) also present a teacher education model grounded in sociocultural theory to develop an enduring understanding for prospective teachers about the diverse population of students through building their knowledge base, skill set and dispositions.

The policy and practice imperative for CR education in IE and NI

Though migration is a relatively new phenomenon in IE, the diversity of cultures, languages and faiths is recognised in several regulations. The Education Act 1998 (Government of Ireland1998a) legally obliges the education system ‘to make provision in the interests of the common good for the education of every person in the state..’ At the ITE level, initiatives such The Development and Intercultural Education (DICE) programme also attempt to integrate elements of CR In programmes.

With growing diversity in NI schools, the government presented the Integrated Education Bill 2021 as an amendment to the Shared Education Act 2016. The 2016 Act describes diversity and integrated education in terms of mainly Protestant and Catholic learners, whereas the new bill provides a more comprehensive definition of integrated education as a form of education that embraces learners of all religions and no religion and respects cultural, ability and socioeconomic differences. The focus on increasing diversity in curriculum structures and practices is one of the routes that ITE students in NI engage with these issues. For example, the Education and Training Inspectorate (2022), as part of their Safeguarding Proforma requires schools to demonstrate an ethos and culture of inclusion for students. Finally, cultural awareness is also one of the key elements of the curriculum aiming to develop children and young people as contributors to society.  

This study used a qualitative research design and using Scott’s (2006) selection criteria for document analysis, data was collected via ITE courses and programmes available on the websites of the HEIs in IE and NI. Regulatory and statutory instruments together with various policy documents and initiatives relating to CR were also collected through for example, the websites of the respective Departments of Education. Official websites are regarded as some of the most reliable and accurate sources of information, of which up-to-date information can be accessed freely and quickly, thereby satisfying Scott’s (2006) selection criteria (currency, accuracy and reliability, relevance and authority) for document analysis. As a first step, we reviewed the literature on CR, public policy documents concerning interculturalism in education, and the regulations, statutory instruments, policy documents and initiatives relating to CR in education in IE and NI. Following on from this, between August 2022 and January 2023, the websites of all ITE programmes for teachers (and school leaders) in IE (15) and NI (4) were analysed using deductive coding, of which, 85 programmes (69 in IE and 16 in NI) and 176 modules (151 in IE and 25 in NI) were reviewed in the first phase . The deductive codes comprised of: the structure of the programme; the title of the course or module; the manner of teaching and assessment (e.g. seminar, lecture, independent study); whether the module is compulsory or optional; the number of ECTS and UCAS points for the module, participation requirements; a description of the course. In the second phase, each module were categorised according to Schrammel-Leber’s (2019) embedment criteria in order to provide an overall interpretation of the place of CR in ITE on the island of Ireland. Level Description 6 The module has diversity or inclusion used in the title and has high weightage in the overall programme (e.g. 60 ECTS) 5 Diversity/inclusion is used explicitly in the title of the module 4 The overarching aim of the module relates to diversity or inclusion 3 The dominant theme in the description of the module relates to diversity or inclusion 2 Diversity is mentioned in the general description of the module 1 Diversity appears together with other diversity topics (such as gender, disability, social class, race and ethnicity) in a general description of a course Schrammel-Leber’s (2019) levels of embedment

It is reassuring to discover some obvious CR aspects of in NI and IE ITE programmes preparing teachers to teach diverse classrooms. Themes such as interculturalism, second language pedagogy, social justice and equality appear frequently in the titles, aims and descriptions of the modules. Additionally, student teachers are encouraged to gain classroom experience in multiple settings while supported by experienced teachers. However, the extent to which student teachers are exposed to a range of culturally diverse learning environments as described by Ladson-Billing (2006), Yuan (2018) is questionable. The use of the Schrammel – Leber model indicated that features of CR are thinly spread over 69 programmes in IE, which raises a question about the adequacy of these elements to equip teachers to meet the learning needs of students from diverse backgrounds. The analysis also revealed that in NI there are few examples of such features in the ITE programmes investigated. Arguably, being a historically divided society (Magennis and Richardson 2020), ITE programmes in NI have more reason to allocate exclusive learning time to migration-related themes and the teaching of fundamental values to prepare teachers to be the agents of change and help schools be more tolerant and equitable. In conclusion, the analytical framework for effective implementation of CR-ITE emphasises the availability of supporting policies that encourage the incorporation of migration-related themes. IE and NI both have CR supportive policies, but these are not fully implemented to any significant degree in ITE. This presentation, therefore, proposes a review of ITE curricula in IE and NI and the integration of migration-related diversity as a core theme of a compulsory module. Finally, there is also a need to ascertain the extent to which ITE students experience culturally diverse learning environments during their teaching practice.

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