Circle Time as an Inclusive Learning Space: Exploring Student Teachers’ Prior School Experiences.
Anne Marie, KavanaghORCID: 0000-0002-6962-452X and Collins, Bernie
(2015)
Circle Time as an Inclusive Learning Space: Exploring Student Teachers’ Prior School Experiences.
The All Ireland Journal of Higher Education, 7
(2).
pp. 1811-1815.
Promoting inclusive practices has become a priority for many higher education institutions (Higher Education Authority (HEA) 2008). Inclusive learning is promoted across a number of teacher education courses as part of the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree. Circle time - a widely employed and popular learning method amongst primary and post-primary teachers – is conceptualised as one effective method for facilitating inclusive learning at third-level.[1] Drawing on research which investigated student teachers’ prior experiences of and attitudes towards circle time in their primary and post-primary schools (Collins and Kavanagh 2013), this paper critically assesses the extent to which the practice of circle time reflects its inclusive theoretical underpinnings in light of research findings, and highlights some implications for teacher educators who wish to promote inclusion in their courses.