The Paucity Factor: Race Equality Provision In Initial Teacher Education

Using the critical race theory paradigm, this study adopts a deductive-inductive case-study approach which utilises semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The original contribution to knowledge it makes arises from the consideration of the presence of race equality provision across four initial teacher education (ITE) pathways. The study reports the perceptions of ITE tutors’ and student teachers’ experience in relation to programme content, ITE pedagogy and the student teachers’ own means of developing their preparedness for teaching in a diverse educational context. The findings suggest that the existence of a performative culture within ITE has resulted in a generation of new entrants to the profession who are better placed to cope with the rigours of assessing, planning, behaviour for learning and aspects of inclusion than they are able to effectively manage race equality in the classroom. The ITE tutors and student teachers alike are pre-occupied by the need for compliance with the Teacher Standards (2012), whilst issues of race equality within ITE are compromised by the current demands of the neoliberal agenda and colour blindness. Further to this, the study utilises a triadic typology to argue that a student teacher’s propensity to engage with issues of race equality provision in the classroom is largely dependent on their pre-service experience. The research recommends the need for ITE providers to investigate their own perpetration of 'normative' culture through the constructs of White privilege in the preparation of new entrant teachers for 21st century practice.