{"id":1304,"date":"2025-06-23T08:36:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T07:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/?p=1304"},"modified":"2025-08-07T13:10:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T12:10:14","slug":"belonging-matters-the-experiences-of-minoritised-pre-service-teachers-in-teacher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/belonging-matters-the-experiences-of-minoritised-pre-service-teachers-in-teacher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Belonging matters: The experiences of minoritised pre-service teachers in teacher education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Dr Karan Vickers-Hulse<\/a> and Dr Sarah Whitehouse<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The importance of a diverse teaching workforce has been widely acknowledged, yet representation and inclusion remain serious challenges within teacher education in England. Recent research by Dr Karan Vickers-Hulse<\/a> (Associate Director: Education) and Dr Sarah Whitehouse<\/a> (Programme Leader for the International Doctorate in Education and Senior Lecturer: Education and Humanities) explored the lived experiences of pre-service teachers from minoritised groups, specifically those minoritised by race, sexuality, disability, neurodiversity, and gender identity, as they navigated university teacher training and school placements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study involved a series of focus groups with seven pre-service teachers over a nine-month period.  What emerged were powerful personal accounts revealing how identity, belonging, and representation shape teachers\u2019 professional journeys long before they qualify. Many participants described being the \u2018only one\u2019 in their placement schools -the only Black teacher, the only openly LGBTQ+ educator, or the only neurodivergent staff member. This often resulted in a sense of otherness, heightened scrutiny, and pressure to represent their entire community. One participant spoke of feeling \u2018stared at\u2019 as they walked down school corridors, while another shared uncertainty about how much of their LGBTQ+ identity to reveal for fear of \u2018pushing an agenda\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research highlights how pre-service teachers from minoritised groups often experience a disconnect between their personal identity and the dominant professional culture of schools. Social activities built around drinking, assumptions about clothing, and the invisibility of minoritised narratives within curricula all contribute to feelings of exclusion. Crucially, these experiences aren’t isolated. They\u2019re shaped by wider societal power structures and norms which remain embedded in teacher education. The study also showed that attempts at inclusivity, like supportive email signatures or diversity banners, can feel tokenistic if not backed by meaningful change in practice and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a model of \u2018critical incidents\u2019, the study examined how pre-service teachers respond when faced with moments of exclusion or identity conflict. Some accepted these experiences as \u2018just the way it is\u2019, while others quietly challenged the norms or actively pushed back against discrimination. The model helps visualise how people shift between acceptance and challenge depending on context, safety, and professional vulnerability. Our findings call for teacher education providers to move beyond recruitment targets and take responsibility for creating genuinely inclusive environments. Representation alone is not enough – it must be accompanied by policies, practices, and cultures that value and support minoritised pre-service teachers throughout their training.  To truly build an inclusive teaching profession, we must listen to and act upon the voices of those historically marginalised within it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not the responsibility of minoritised individuals to \u2018fix\u2019 exclusion – change requires collective effort. Teacher educators, schools, mentors, and policymakers must acknowledge discomfort, surface inequalities, and work together to build communities of practice where every teacher feels safe, seen, and valued. As one participant reminded us, it\u2019s not about a \u2018tick-box\u2019 exercise. It\u2019s about recognising that who stands at the front of the classroom matters – for the teachers themselves, and for the diverse pupils watching them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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read the full article<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Dr Karan Vickers-Hulse and Dr Sarah Whitehouse The importance of a diverse teaching workforce has been widely acknowledged, yet representation and inclusion remain serious challenges within teacher education in England. Recent research by Dr Karan Vickers-Hulse (Associate Director: Education) and Dr Sarah Whitehouse (Programme Leader for the International Doctorate in Education and Senior Lecturer: … Continue reading “Belonging matters: The experiences of minoritised pre-service teachers in teacher education”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":1313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":272,"footnotes":""},"categories":[300,272,4,7],"tags":[313,312,273],"class_list":["post-1304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-curriculum","category-equity-in-education","category-social-justice","category-widening-participation","tag-belonging-matters","tag-karan-vickers-hulse","tag-sarah-whitehouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1304"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1362,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1304\/revisions\/1362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}