Connolly, M. Claire (2019) Reflective Activists? Exploring Student Teachers’ Emerging Practice in Northern Ireland: a Bourdieusian Analysis. Ed.D thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/75162/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Reflective Activists? Exploring Student Teachers’ Emerging Practice in Northern Ireland: a Bourdieusian Analysis. Mary Claire Connolly B.A. (Joint Hons), P.G.C.E., M.Ed. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) School of Education, College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow April, 2019 Abstract ‘Class’ has become increasingly invisible in contemporary society, with teachers reluctant to discuss or acknowledge it (Reay, 2006; Hall and Jones, 2013). This can lead to inequality as the education system continues to disadvantage working-class children while advantaging their middle-class peers. In this study, I focus on two aspects of this problem. First is the impact on education due to the perpetuation of class-based inequality and, secondly, the (in)ability of teachers to recognise and/or address this inequality within the system. This research set out to explore student teachers’ perceptions of social class and academic selection which, I argue, exacerbates and perpetuates unfairness in education in Northern Ireland. My concern is that student teachers, having themselves been through processes of selection to gain a place in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and generally having come from socially ‘privileged’ backgrounds, may find it challenging to move beyond their own experiences to meet the needs of disadvantaged pupils. Consistent with an interpretivist paradigm, this research acknowledges that meaning is socially constructed through interaction with others. Data was collected initially through a survey of 128 students in their third year of ITE in a single institution. This was followed by three focus groups and then semi-structured interviews with ten student teachers. The methodological design and data analysis were informed by Bourdieu’s signature concepts of habitus, field and, to a lesser extent, capital, thus exploring students’ perceptions of practice. Drawing on the data collected through focus groups and interviews, five themes emerged and these are analysed and discussed in relation to both current literature and with reference to Bourdieu’s theoretical understanding in three sections based around the facets of habitus. The findings indicate that social reproduction is likely to continue if the student’s habitus is reproductive. The student teachers in this study, who have not been challenged either by experiences or in their thinking, tend to misrecognise the current education system as fair and effective, and often (in common with findings from Reay, 2006; Dunne and Gazeley, 2008; Hall and Jones, 2013; Archer et al., 2018) attribute underachievement to the home background of the pupil. It is only when students encounter failure or disruption within the field, or are asked to stop and consider inequalities, that the habitus’ transformative potential might encourage them to question the equity of the system and to play a part in seeking amelioration. The conclusion to this study offers some proposals that might encourage student teachers to being to reflect more deeply about the ‘purposes and consequences of education’ (GTCNI, 2007:9) and promote reflective activist practitioners. Although this is a small-scale study, and I articulate its limitations, its findings lead me to suggest that until ITE equips students to recognise and challenge their own assumptions and to better understand the complexity of our education system, inequalities and symbolic violence will be perpetuated. Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................ 1 This Study ................................................................................................................................4 Structure and Chapter Outline .................................................................................................6 Chapter 2: Education in Northern Ireland ................................................... 9 Introduction .............................................................................................................................9 The Genesis of Northern Ireland’s System of Education ........................................................9 Current arrangements for post-primary education in Northern Ireland ......................13 Teacher Education in Northern Ireland .................................................................................17 Becoming a teacher .....................................................................................................22 Summing Up ..........................................................................................................................24 Chapter 3: Bourdieu’s Conceptual Tools ...................................................26 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................26 Habitus ...................................................................................................................................28 Habitus as history ........................................................................................................29 Habitus as everyday bodily practice ...........................................................................31 Habitus has generative potential and is not necessarily determinist/reproductive .....34 Field .......................................................................................................................................37 Capital....................................................................................................................................41 Summing Up ..........................................................................................................................44 Chapter 4: Sophisticated Mechanisms of Reproduction ..................................46 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................46 Doxa ............................................................................................................................48 Symbolic violence .......................................................................................................49 Misrecognition ............................................................................................................50 Reproduction .........................................................................................................................51 Language .....................................................................................................................53 Selection ......................................................................................................................56 Summing Up ..........................................................................................................................61 Chapter 5: Perceptions of Class .............................................................63 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................63 What is Class? .......................................................................................................................63 Bourdieu’s Understanding of Class .......................................................................................65 Class in the Classroom ..........................................................................................................68 The invisibility of class within education ...................................................................73 Stereotyping ...........................................................................................................................75 Deficit constructions of working-class pupils.............................................................78 How social class shapes students’ expectations of learners........................................79 Summing Up ..........................................................................................................................82 Chapter 6: Methodology .......................................................................83 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................83 The Research Design and Context ........................................................................................83 Bourdieu’s Approach to Research .........................................................................................87 Examining practice .....................................................................................................91