Tackling a Big Issue in the English Classroom: Reflections from Practice in Initial Teacher Education
Submitted by:
Rachel Lenihan
Abstract:
A recent study conducted in an Irish University sought to investigate the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes of preservice, post-primary (secondary) English teachers on one Initial Teacher Education (ITE) program regarding Global Citizenship Education (GCE). It aimed to explore participants’ experiences of learning about, designing and facilitating learning experiences that have a particular focus on homelessness as a global social justice issue, and consider the challenges and opportunities presented by such a pedagogical approach, as a result of thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2013) of observations of learners’ experiences, narrative reflections, design of lesson plans and a focus group, as well as in a reflective journal (Ortlipp 2008) maintained by the researchers.
Practicing teachers are acutely aware and concerned about the escalating homelessness crisis in Ireland and witness its impact on pupils in their class daily (Focus Ireland 2021). Several recent education policy changes in Ireland also made this a worthwhile area of exploration. ‘The Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers’ (Teaching Council, 2016) advocates that ethical values of respect, care, integrity, and trust should fundamentally underpin professional standards of teaching. The area of GCE has come into sharper focus for those teaching on ITE programmes following the introduction of ‘Céim: Standards for Initial Teacher Education’ (2020) which identifies GCE as one of seven core elements that must underpin all aspects of ITE programmes’ (Teaching Council 2020, p. 14). Furthermore, recent curriculum changes because of the Junior Cycle Framework (2015) outline the centrality of principles such as inclusion and active citizenship and this study offers insight into how teachers of English can promote these principles in their classrooms. This research, through engagement with a selection of prescribed texts on the Senior Cycle English curriculum, adopted a thematic and comparative approach to explore the complex and critical issue of homelessness. It aimed to develop knowledge and understanding relating to teaching methods in the English classroom and the practical application of pedagogy, while simultaneously, exploring the topic in an open and sensitive way, to promote empathy and to reflectively challenge assumptions and misconceptions. This paper offers insight into the process of conducting classroom-based research in this context, and presents some of the ethical and reflexive considerations taken by the researchers.