All Ireland Society for Higher Education
| Name: | Joanne Moles |
|---|---|
| Email: | joanne.moles@ul.ie |
| Institution: | University of Limerick |
Laura Purdy
This article examines attitudes to inclusion among a final (fourth) year cohort of Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) students. The study was undertaken in response to anecdotal reporting of potentially racist remarks from undergraduate students. Similar studies, in Ireland and elsewhere, (Leavy, 2005; Devine, 2003; Waldron, 2007; Zeichner and Gore, 1990) have indicated that attitudes which students bring to their initial teacher education are difficult to shift. In an Ireland which is rapidly becoming multi-cultural this gives cause for concern. Leavy (2005) indicates that:
"The homogeneity that once represented Irish society will soon be represented only in the annals of history. The influx of people of diverse nationalities, together with the increasing presence of children with physical and intellectual disabilities, and children coming from a range of non-traditional backgrounds will make our classrooms increasingly diverse over time."
We decided to investigate beliefs and perceptions among fourth year PETE students. These students' values with regard to teaching Physical Education were assessed using a Value Orientation Inventory (VOI) (Ennis and Chen, 1993). Focus groups which explored students' attitudes towards inclusion in the classroom identified a clear sense of `self' and `other' among the students. Students' positive views of teaching were apparently compromised by attitudes towards difference which were not always consistent with values identified by the VOI. Significantly, feelings of inclusion were most positive when the students had direct contact with people who represented `the other'. These findings have implications for teacher education, as the ability to accommodate different cultures within a classroom is evidently facilitated by personal experience of interaction between people from different backgrounds.