Student experiences of widening participation in initial teacher education: a Bourdieusian analysis Eileen Kelly-Blakeney St. Angela’s College, Sligo, Ireland Education in the Globalised Age University of Sheffield 14 February 2014 Applying Bourdieu’s three-level approach to studying the field 1. Analyse the position of the field vis-à-vis the field of power 2. Map out the objective structure of the relations between the positions occupied by the agents or institutions 3. Analyse the habitus of agents (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992; p. 104-105) What is the structure and position of ITE in HE in Ireland? How is WP and increasing access to ITE enacted in policy and practice? How do non-standard entry-route students experience undergraduate concurrent ITE? Level 1: ITE: a field within fields within fields… The Hunt Report (DES, 2011) The Landscape Document (HEA, 2012) Report on Reconfiguration, Collaboration & Governance (HEA, 2013) Criteria & Guidelines for programme providers (TC, 2011) Literacy & Numeracy for Learning & Life (DES, 2011) Report on Review of the Structure of ITE provision in Ireland (DES, 2012) Level 2: WP in ITE: policy and practice • Accessing data from HEIs on entrants to ITE from Access courses – difficult • Data obtained from personal communication with HEA and Central Applications Office (CAO) • Fewer Mature entrants to ITE (10.6%) than average across all programmes (14.5%) • Steady increase in HEAR applicants since 2010 • Now more HEAR – route students in ITE (7.9%) than average across all programmes (4.5%) • Not all HEAR applicants receive HEAR place – thus not eligible to avail of supports provided Level 3: Student teachers’ stories • Face-to-face interviews with 9 non-standard entry-route students in 2 HEIs in Ireland • 6 Access-Route Students (4F, 2M), 3 MatureEntry Students (2F, 1M) • A layered approach used in data analysis: narrative analysis of narrative (Polkinghorne, 1995), intertwined with Bourdieu’s concepts • Narrative – focus on the ‘relational’ • Field positions of students at time of interviews: ‘Belonging’ or ‘Adjusting’ Field Positions ‘Belonging’ ‘Adjusting’ • Transition easy • ‘Same’ as everyone else • Capacity to draw on and convert capital • High level of agency in negotiating both fields • Heightened reflexivity • Non disclosure of entry route • Feeling ‘different / inferior’ to others • Capital not identified • Failure experienced in one/both fields – ‘Struggling’ • Resilience • Available supports not always drawn on Implications • Visibility and targeting re: WP routes to ITE at preentry stage • HEIs: ‘normalisation’ of WP entry routes would serve to enhance the student teacher experience • HEAR scheme is successful in WP to ITE, but needs to be adequately resourced • Pre-entry Access courses very beneficial • Teaching Council: Increasing accountability re WP