Professional Development and GRT Education What’s going on in Initial Teacher Training? Chris Derrington and Claire Byron

NQT Annual Survey Carried out in February each year to collect and analyse NQTs’ perceptions of their training. Preparedness for meeting the needs of minority ethnic pupils is consistently rated lower than any other aspect of their training.

Survey of ITT providers National survey of Universities and SCITTs (Derrington, 2005) Response rate 58% (52 Universities 29 (SCITTs)

Findings Just over half the respondents said that their student/trainee teachers did not have any specific training or guidance about the particular needs of Gypsy/Traveller pupils in school. Of those that said they did, explanatory notes revealed that this input was sometimes little more than a passing reference during a lecture on Inclusion or Equality.

“Traveller education is not referred to specifically but will be mentioned in a lecture on inclusion at the beginning of the course.” (SCITT) “ …the needs of Gypsy & Traveller children are briefly mentioned as part of a more generic lecture.” (HEI) “Traveller education forms part of a more general approach to Special Needs and Inclusion but only as an incidental example.”(HEI)

Findings Only one in three providers made use of their local Traveller Education Support Service. 38% of universities and 31% of SCITTs felt that they had no source of support /expertise

An initial teacher education professional resource network (IPRN) Created for the benefit of teacher educators, student teachers and trainees - in response to the NQT survey results.

Strands: Race and ethnicity Religious diversity Social Class Travellers and Roma Asylum Seekers and Refugees Bilingual pupils

The web-site contains more than 820 resources and has over 1,000 downloads a day.

Case study - University of Northampton Inclusion week built into all ITT routes Compulsory keynote lecture Workshops run by Romany Gypsy trainers