This paper presents aspects of a small-scale study that considered student teachers' language and discourse around race and ethnicity at a university in the northwest of England. The first part of the paper critiques current education-related policy, context and practice to situate the research and then draws upon aspects of critical race theory and whiteness theory as frames of reference. In the research, 250 student-teachers completed questionnaires that invited responses to statements about race and ethnicity and this was followed by two semistructured group interviews. A discourse analysis approach was taken to analyse the language used in the questionnaire responses and, in particular, the group interviews. Recurrent discursive configurations were characterised by language that signified othering, correct knowledge, personalisation and discomfort. Hesitations and silences during group discussions perhaps intimated thinking time and also maybe a reluctance to talk about aspects of race and ethnicity, and what was not said remains significant. It is suggested that a reconstruction of a teacher/educator subjectivity that fosters self-reflection on values and racial positioning, is needed in teacher education, alongside critical examination of the silences and discomfort surrounding race and ethnicity.
This case study details a research project that explored meanings, perspectives, and understandings of inclusion, using a photo-elicitation methodology. Children and young people were provided with disposable cameras and were invited to take photographs in their school setting that they felt represented inclusion or exclusion. Some of the anonymized images taken were then discussed with a range of groups of adults that included student teachers, serving teachers, teaching assistants, and academics. This case study details the methodological framework and methods employed. Two examples of images are discussed in order to draw out how photo-elicitation worked in action and the reflections that ensued. Learning Outcomes By the end of this case, students should be able to Recognize the place of photo-elicitation within visual methodologies Understand how to apply visual or photo-elicitation methodology Recognize how the interpretation of visual images generates differing perceptions and varied meanings Appreciate how the use of photo-elicitation facilitates reflection on values and practices Project Overview and Context The case study presented here considers the use of photo-elicitation as a method in a research project about inclusion. Following the Salamanca Statement (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 1994) that pressed for international moves toward inclusion based on rights and entitlement for all children, inclusive education is now part of the discourse and practice of schooling in countries across the world. However, inclusion remains a disputable concept that is wide open to interpretation, and the term appears to mean different things to different people (Allan, 2010; UNESCO, 2015). As educationalists, we have been working in the area of inclusive education and investigating conceptualisations of inclusion that incorporate community, social capital, equality, and respect (Thomas & Loxley, 2014). This case study reports on research which aimed to find out what children, young people, and adults "saw" as inclusion or exclusion. To do this, we carried out research using a photo-elicitation methodology (Boxall & Ralph, 2009; Prosser & Loxley, 2007). Özlem Sensoy (2011) points out that photographs and photo essays are frequently used in research in which people want to tell a story with pictures as it is a way to access life experiences. We adapted the photo-elicitation method in two research phases.
The purpose of this narrative literature review is to provoke new ways of understanding the plethora of research around the role of the SENCo. Specifically, the aim is to use four themes as lenses to explore how SENCo identities are formed, and reformed, by intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. The four themes have been distilled from a list of standards that underpin the learning outcomes of the National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination in England and are: change; culture; influence; and challenge. Although these themes stem from a given place and time, they mirror policy directives, and subsequent practice, across national boundaries and are visible in much of the research around the SENCo role and its equivalent. Whilst each of the themes is considered individually, areas of overlap are identified enabling both a focused, and wholesale, view of the literature in order to highlight areas of opportunity, conflict and tension that serve to shape SENCo identity.
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