In Quebec, the only French-speaking province in Canada, more than a third of Quebec students are first or second generation immigrants (Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec, 2023) and the initial training of teachers regarding the consideration of ethnocultural diversity varies depending on the university they attend (Larochelle-Audet et al., 2013). The heterogeneity that now characterizes most classes requires future teachers to develop a more inclusive approach (Magnan et al., 2021). The training must also bring them closer to real practice, enabling them to develop a certain professional know-how (Schön, 1983; Giddens 1987) in a context of ethnocultural diversity. In a research project conducted with preservice teachers (Audet et al., 2022-2026), we tested an experiment using an intervention training system in the context of ethnocultural diversity, based on stories of practice from in-service teachers that feature a student from an immigrant background (Audet, 2022). Through pre- and post-training questionnaire and individual interviews, we documented the effect of the experiment on future teachers’ acquisition of the professional know-how related to considering ethnocultural diversity. Generally, the results indicate that the group analysis (Desgagné et al., 2012) of these stories of practice facilitated the evolution of future teachers’ representations of students from immigrant backgrounds and their families, their perceptions of their responsibility towards these students as well as their positions regarding the status and legitimacy of the students' languages and cultures of origin. The potential and limitations of such training experiment for an effective implementation of inclusive practices will then be discussed. Our presentation is part of sub-theme 5: Equity and inclusion in teacher education.

Aim

Within Curriculum for Excellence, Religious and Moral Education is just one of the eight areas implemented within Scottish primary schools (The Scottish Government, 2011). The current paper, related to an ongoing doctoral thesis, aimed to understand how moral education was implemented in a non-denominational primary school.

Methods

An interpretive paradigm was adopted to provide in-depth descriptions of how moral education was implemented through a single case study approach (Kumatongo and Muzata, 2021). The three research tools were semi-structured interviews, researcher observations of moral education lessons, and document analysis. Nine educators participated in these. Twelve lessons were observed across the primary school stages, and the School Improvement Plan was collected from the school. These were then inductively thematically analysed to identify emerging patterns (Braun and Clarke, 2021).

Findings

The findings suggest that moral education implementation in this primary school had a tokenistic approach to diversity. Interviewees expressed that religious festivals are used in their practice and that these are only taught at specific times of the year. Despite this, Education Scotland (2021) has stated that ‘one off lessons that explore diversity… can have unintended consequences of ‘othering’ those who are not from the ethnic group which is in the majority’ (p. 21). Within this primary school, this one-off approach was common, and educators were aware that this was having a negative impact on students in their school.

Conference Theme

The current research highlights the need for equitable teaching practices as a way to address the needs of students from different backgrounds. The recent Census has shown that society continues to diversify (Scotland’s Census, 2024) which ultimately impacts the students’ in our classrooms. Therefore, the practice within moral education must be reflected on as to whether or not current teaching approaches are inclusive of various religious and non-religious beliefs.

This study explored how bodily awareness and expressions operate to promote or hinder the development of equity in teaching, as exhibited by student-teachers from diverse socio-cultural/ethnic backgrounds during their practicum experiences in a teacher education college in Israel. Specifically, we focused on competencies such as establishing presence as teachers, creating inclusive and egalitarian classroom interactions, leading discussions, and clarifying pedagogical content.

The connection between movement expressions and competency development in learning to teach has mostly been studied in the context of physical education. Limited attention has been paid to how the socio-cultural features of the school context and student-teachers’ backgrounds might inform their use of particular body expressions as non-verbal tools to promote equity in the classroom. Connecting between conceptualizations of body-movement awareness, socio-cultural perspectives on learning-to-teach and teaching competencies, we extend the focus on student-teachers’ use of bodily expressions in learning to teach in diverse socio-cultural-ethic elementary school contexts.

16 student-teachers doing practice teaching in Arab and Jewish elementary schools in the North of Israel videotaped themselves during one lesson. Stimulated recall procedures with each student, focused on how they used bodily expressions in teaching. Analysis of the transcribed conversations combined emic and etic interpretative lenses.

Three recurrent themes were identified: "Encourage via movement" for a safe and inclusive classroom climate, "I teach with my hands" for organizing and clarifying content, "These movements are me" for strengthening teacher presence. We exemplify and discuss these themes as exhibited distinctively in diverse contexts of practice.

Raising student-teachers’ awareness of how their bodily expressions play out in their teaching in diverse contexts deserves further attention in teacher education research and practice. Our presentation considers this dimension, stressing the need to educate prospective teachers to become sensitive to how their bodily expressions might promote or hinder equity in the classroom.

Inclusive education has been a worldwide trend for decades but has remained contested in practice. There is an international consensus on the philosophy of inclusive education, which is based on removing learning barriers for all students, addressing their needs, and steering them to make choices and be active in their adulthood in the broader context of society. What has been challenged is the ambiguity of inclusive pedagogy and practical implementation of inclusion: How can education meet the needs of diverse learners? In this article, we investigate student teachers' views on the professional challenges of their future work from the perspective of inclusive education. Our research uses sensemaking theory, which describes how people create meaning and understanding from their experiences. In our research, we ask what kind of changes student teachers believe will happen in their work in the future with the increase in diversity and inclusion. We are also interested in how the student teachers tackle the practical issues that arise with diverse learners. The data (N=134) was collected from two student-teacher groups. The first data set was collected using the reminiscing the future method, in which the students evaluated the changes in the teacher's work and identified future challenges. In the second data collection, another student group constructed meanings through a sensemaking process to explain and understand the themes of the first data set. Our results help to understand student teachers' perceptions of diversity and their attitudes toward it. In addition, the results describe how student teachers evaluate the teacher's work as it changes with the increase in diversity.