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‘No One Sees a Traveller at the Top of the Class’: Experiences of Irish Travellers on Programmes Supporting Teacher Diversity

Burns, Gareth, Colum, Miriam orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-6605-9732 and O'Neill, Jerry (2022) ‘No One Sees a Traveller at the Top of the Class’: Experiences of Irish Travellers on Programmes Supporting Teacher Diversity. In: Keane, Elaine, Heinz, Manuela and McDaid, Rory, (eds.) Diversifying the Teaching Profession Dimensions, Dilemmas and Directions for the Future. Routledge, London, pp. 155-165. ISBN 9781003188735

Abstract
Marino Institute of Education’s Tobar and Maynooth University’s Turn to Teaching are university-based widening participation programmes focused on enhancing the engagement and experiences of Irish Travellers in initial teacher education. Adopting a narrative approach, this chapter explores five Travellers’ journeys into and through the two programmes. Participants’ teaching aspirations can be seen in a broader occupational desire and orientation to get involved with work that ‘makes a difference’ at both a personal and societal level. The intention of the programmes to create spaces for critical dialogue and reflection enabled participants to articulate not only the type of teacher they wished to become but also, significantly, provided them with a critical literacy and confidence to de-individualise notions of deficit through revealing and naming the structural, institutional, and financial barriers they experienced on their journeys towards teaching.
Metadata
Item Type:Book Section
Refereed:Yes
Subjects:Social Sciences > Education
Social Sciences > Teaching
Social Sciences > Racism
Social Sciences > Ethnicity
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Institute of Education
DCU Faculties and Schools > Institute of Education > School of Inclusive & Special Education
Research Institutes and Centres > Centre for Inclusive Pedagogy
Publisher:Routledge
Official URL:https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.432...
Copyright Information:Authors
ID Code:32016
Deposited On:15 Dec 2025 14:25 by Tom Feeney . Last Modified 15 Dec 2025 14:25
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