The diversification of the teaching profession is a matter of international concern (Keane et al., 2023), with academics and policymakers increasingly engaged with the issue. This growing interest is driven by several motivations, including commitments to social justice, efforts to expand the potential pool of available teachers in response to teacher shortages, and a belief in the importance of ethnic and other identity-based teacher-learner matching to enhance the educational engagement and experiences of learners from minoritised backgrounds (Egalite and Kisida, 2018).

Research in this area has focussed on a number of areas including the recruitment and retention of minoritised teachers, their experiences within the profession, and the impact of teacher diversity on students, schools, and society (Keane et al., 2023). In discussions of anti-racist practices, Duncan (2022) highlights that many Black teachers, due to their own racialised identities, are uniquely positioned to model ways of confronting racialised oppression. Their lived experiences provide them with a "thorough understanding of the permanence of racism" (p. 922), which can contribute to fostering inclusive and anti-racist educational environments. Among the various intersecting identities in this discourse, teacher ethnicity has emerged as a dominant line of inquiry (See et al., 2024).

Bringing together arguments for teacher-learner ethnic matching as a means to challenge social exclusion, this paper focuses on the experiences of Roma and Traveller teachers. Particular attention is given to the impact of an initiative aimed at increasing the number of teachers from the Traveller community in Ireland. As Europe’s largest ethnic minority, Roma communities continue to face exclusion and discrimination across multiple social domains, including education (Bereményi and Girós-Calpe, 2021). Similarly, the Irish Traveller community, which shares many experiences of exclusion and racism with the Roma, faces "acute disadvantage" in education (Kavanagh and Dupont, 2021, p. 554). Despite strong evidence for over two decades on the importance of increasing the number of Roma and Traveller teachers in European education systems (EUMC, 2006), progress in this area has been slow.

This presentation examines Ireland’s policy and practice direction in widening participation for Irish Traveller and Roma students in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), with a particular focus on initial teacher education (ITE) programmes. Central to this discussion is TOBAR, a collaborative initiative between Marino Institute of Education (MIE) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD). TOBAR is dedicated to advancing diversity and inclusion in HEIs by increasing the participation of students from the Irish Traveller community in ITE programmes.

TOBAR was conceptualised as a response to Ireland’s National Access Plan (2015-2019) and the growing recognition of the need to diversify the teaching profession in Ireland. Established in 2017 and funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), the initiative seeks to address systemic barriers to access and participation for Traveller students in teacher education. Through a targeted and sustained approach, TOBAR aims to contribute to long-term changes in representation within the Irish teaching profession, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and equitable education system.

As part of the project’s commitment to evaluative and reflexive practices, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with two TOBAR students: Annie, a woman in her early 20s, and Caroline, in her early 30s. Both were completing their journey into primary teaching through the post-graduate Professional Master of Education (PME) programme. Ethical approval was secured from the host institution, ensuring the study adhered to ethical guidelines. However, through researcher self-reflection, power dynamics inherent in the research process became evident. A key concern was the discomfort of researching ‘on’ rather than ‘with’ a minority ethnic group. Consequently, the study sought to foreground participants' lived experiences within a collaborative framework—what Clandinin and Connelly (2000, p. 20) describe as “collaboration between researcher and participants, over time, in a place or series of places, and in social interaction with milieus.” The temporal context was significant, as data collection occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online interviews via Teams, phone calls, and email were employed, reflecting necessary adaptations. These digital methodologies, while pragmatic, introduced both opportunities and challenges in fostering rapport and capturing the nuances of participants’ experiences. Thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) was used to identify commonalities and divergences in their narratives, ensuring a structured yet flexible approach to data interpretation. Ethical considerations remained paramount throughout, particularly in maintaining confidentiality, participant agency, and an awareness of researcher positionality.

The analysis identified several key motivational factors influencing participants’ decisions to enter the teaching profession, including a strong desire to serve as role models within their communities. Alongside these motivations, participants also reflected on the systemic school-based barriers they had encountered. These included discriminatory practices by their own teachers, inadequate career guidance in secondary education, and racists practices in schools when they were on educational practicums. Beyond school-level challenges, participants faced significant material barriers in accessing and progressing through higher education. Financial constraints, lack of targeted academic supports, and the broader structural inequalities in educational pathways all shaped their experiences. In examining the TOBAR project, the study highlights the crucial role of bespoke initiatives in supporting first-generation college students (Colum and Collins, 2021). A key strength of TOBAR was the presence of a named academic contact—a consistent and relational support figure for students navigating higher education. This continuity provided critical financial and academic assistance, fostering a sense of stability and belonging. The research underscores the profound impact of such access programmes in mitigating institutional barriers and improving retention and success rates for minoritised students. However, the findings also raise concerns about the limitations of access programmes that focus primarily on entry into higher education. Participants’ experiences point to a ‘safety of third level—then off you go’ model, where structured supports diminish once students transition into the workforce. This gap has significant implications for access programmes aiming to increase diversity in teaching, particularly for Roma students and other minoritised groups across Europe. Sustainable, long-term strategies are needed to ensure these students are not only supported in accessing higher education but also in navigating the profession beyond graduation.

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