Practising What You Teach: Inclusive Approaches to Equality Diversity and Inclusion with Primary School Student Teachers

Abstract

Equality, diversity and inclusion are values deeply embedded in teacher education in Scotland. For this reason, courses in teacher education provide an opportunity for students, and indeed their educators, to critically reflect upon the ways in which Education (re)produces and may break down social inequalities. Students at one Scottish university following a course to become primary school teachers engage with a module called 'Inclusive Practice: Difference and Diversity'. The module uses inclusive pedagogies to model and to explore equality, diversity and inclusion in the primary classroom, using the National Framework for Inclusion. Feedback from students indicates that they leave the module with the confidence to take helpful action regarding the inequalities and injustices they may see later in their career. This paper is intended to provide a reflection on this teacher education module with a view to encouraging readers to consider the importance and value of embedded inclusive practice within initial teacher education.