Embedding Diversification Practice in Irish Teacher Education Supporting Irish Traveller Student Access and Engagement in ITE

Introduction

This chapter presents a case study of the TOBAR programme, a promising practice for advancing diversity and inclusion in Higher Education through its agenda to increase the participation of students from the Irish Traveller community into and through initial teacher education (ITE). TOBAR was developed in response to Ireland’s National Access Plan (2015-2019) and a growing awareness for the need to diversify the teaching profession in Ireland. It was established in 2017 and is funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA). The programme supports the access, inclusion, and progression of Irish Traveller students to and through ITE programmes.

This chapter provides a policy context for access and inclusion in Irish ITE; it will present a brief overview of the Irish Traveller community in Ireland; explore the specific systematic, institutional and programmatic challenges facing students from the Traveller community accessing higher level education; and it will outline the processes that have been created to address latent challenges faced by students, staff and HEIs striving to increase equity of access to ITE programmes for members of the Traveller community. Finally, it will document some recommendations for widening participation for students from the Traveller community who aspire to be teachers.

Background

The Traveller community are “identified (both by themselves and others) as people with a shared history, culture and traditions including, historically, a nomadic way of life on the island of Ireland” (Equal Status Act, 2000). Irish Travellers make up almost 31,000 of Ireland’s population (Central Statistics Office, 2016) and in March 2017, the Taoiseach of Ireland, officially recognised Travellers as a distinct ethnic group within the Irish nation and the Traveller community are the only group in the state to have their ethnicity recognised domestically. It has been well documented that Irish Travellers have and continue to experience persistent discrimination, bias, and exclusion across all domains of Irish society comprising health, housing, employment, and education (Watson et. al, 2017). Within education, Traveller pupils have low retention rates and are under-represented in post primary and higher education. Poor educational attainment and widespread discrimination when trying to access the workplace contributes to a high unemployment rate (80.2% unemployment in 2016 according to the AITHS, 2010). The poor correlation between education and employment for Travellers can contribute to the rate of early school leaving amongst the community and can perpetuate generational inequalities (Boyle et al., 2020).