ARTICLE IN PRESS

0742-051X/$ - s

doi:10.1016/j.ta

�Tel.: +44 2

E-mail addr

Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1729–1738

www.elsevier.com/locate/tate

Exploring diversity through ethos in initial teacher education

James Nelson�

Department of Teacher Education (Post Primary), Stranmillis University College, Stranmillis Road, Belfast BT9 5DY, Northern Ireland, UK

Received 3 April 2007; received in revised form 12 October 2007; accepted 13 February 2008

Abstract

This paper considers whether there is value in introducing student teachers to schools of different ethos as part of their

initial teacher education. A 2-year study of undergraduate post-primary student teachers at a university college in

Northern Ireland reveals that encounters with schools of different ethos can help student teachers to understand

differences between schools and their visions of education, as well as correcting misunderstandings and challenging

stereotypes. It is argued that as a result of experiencing diverse examples of ethos, student teachers may also be helped to

understand the complexity of schools as organisations and to position themselves and their professional practice within

wider debates about the aims of education and schools as communities of practice.

r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Ethos; Diversity; Teacher education; Communities of practice

1. Introduction

The practice of assigning teacher educationstudents to diverse schools has been part of diversityeducation in a number of countries since the 1990s,for example, the Netherlands (de Kruif, 1996),Sweden (Bredange, 1996) and the USA (Causey,Thomas, & Armento, 2000; Zeichner, 1996). Therationale for this is generally based on the observa-tion that the student populations of teacher educa-tion colleges and departments tends to be largelymonocultural and students have limited experi-ence of diversity and therefore need to gain anexperience of the ethnic, cultural and religiousdiversity present in schools and the wider society.The emphasis is upon immersion in an unfamiliar

ee front matter r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

te.2008.02.014

8 90384326.

ess: j.nelson@stran.ac.uk

environment to broaden experience and to challengemisinformation and prejudices with the intention ofmodifying personal attitudes and behaviour. Clearlythis is important and valuable work although some,such as Haberman and Post (1992), caution againstthe use of this kind of field experience on thegrounds that it may lead to reinforcing stereotypes.However, the majority of studies of diverse schoolplacements show more positive outcomes. In asurvey of the literature Causey et al. (2000) note that‘diverse field experiences have proven crucial inmoving prospective teachers toward greater culturalsensitivity.’ (p. 35). It would seem that if managedwith care negative outcomes such as strengtheningprejudices can be mitigated. Zeichner (1996, p. 151)and Zeichner et al. (1998, p. 168) note threestrategies in this regard: careful preparation ofstudents prior to the school experience, closemonitoring of students during their time in school

.

ARTICLE IN PRESSJ. Nelson / Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1729–17381730

and time for structured reflection both during andafter the school placement.

Nonetheless, the emphasis on diversity work inteacher education would seem to be specificallyconcerned with bridging the gap between theknowledge, values and attitudes of the individualteacher and the cultural, religious and ethnicdifferences of pupils. But what of situations wherethere are differences at a more systemic or institu-tional level including differences in relation to aimsand purposes in education based on competingviews of human flourishing? To what extent is itimportant to take these into account as part ofdiversity work in teacher education? For example, ifthe student intake of a teacher education institutionis religiously and culturally mixed and studentswithin the institution have aspirations to teach inschools in a variety of sectors (including faith-basedschools) how does the institution deal with suchdifference? Does it offer a generic teacher educationwhich assumes that educational endeavours in allschools are basically the same? To do so would seemto ignore the reality of the variety of school types inmost countries and the competing visions ofeducation which motivate these different schools.A teacher education for diversity which aims toprepare students for encountering the realities ofmost school systems must not only pay attention todiversity of pupil types but also to diversity ofschool types. The importance of facilitating diver-sity education of this nature is particularly necessaryin countries where cultural, religious or ethnicseparation is systemic and represented in partiallyor wholly segregated educational institutions whichmay be bound up with wider societal conflicts, as inNorthern Ireland, but it is not confined to suchcontexts for it is fundamentally about the fact thatthere are different answers to the question ‘What iseducation for?’ Guillaume and Rudney (1993)believe student teachers need to be aware that thereare different responses to this question and that it isimportant for them to reflect on the aims ofeducation in order to position themselves and theirpractice within a broad understanding of educationand the roles teachers and schools play within this.Smith (1987) and McLaughlin (2003) argue thatsuch a critical engagement with broader questionsabout aims and purposes in education and school-ing is a neglected element of teacher education. Thispaper considers whether introducing student tea-chers to different school types as an aspect ofdiversity education can assist in addressing this

neglected aspect of teacher education. In particular,the value of using ‘ethos’ as a key concept forreflection by teacher education students duringvisits to diverse schools is investigated.

To begin with, it is necessary to make somepreliminary remarks about the use of the term ethosin this work. I will then outline the background andresults of a 2-year study of undergraduate post-primary student teachers at a university college inNorthern Ireland who were given opportunities aspart of their first year of initial teacher education tovisit three schools of distinct ethos. An analysis ofthe results and some implications are then discussed.

2. Ethos—an elusive concept

Despite academic uncertainty, and in some casessuspicion, of the word ‘ethos’ and its value inrelation to research in education, I want to arguethat it can still be employed usefully as long as thecontext of its use is made clear. Recent research hashelped to broaden our understanding of ethos inschools, and I believe this can be put to good use forinvestigating differences between schools and theirvisions of education, the complexity of schools asorganisations as well as the teaching and learningwhich take place there. Indeed I believe it can be aparticularly useful term for helping students ininitial teacher education to address questions ofpurpose in education.

Traditionally, in relation to education, ethosrefers to religious or ideological values and theirexpression in certain activities, subject content,methods of teaching and learning, extra-curricularactivities and, in some cases, devotional practice. Inthis way a learner becomes immersed or steeped inan ethos in order that they may come to share thebenefits of a particular vision of life. As Hogannotes, ‘it emerges clearly from the Republic thatPlato saw ethos primarily in terms of the imple-mentation of precept and the acquiescence of all inthis event.’ (Hogan, 1984). This idea of ethos beinga core common vision upheld by teachers, gover-nors and parents and handed on to children andyoung people is one that has had much influenceeven into the present (on the defence of a strong andfocused Catholic ethos in Catholic schools, see forexample Breen, 1994; Breen & Donaldson, 1997).Donnelly (2000) describes this as a ‘positivist’interpretation of ethos, although McLaughlin’s(2005) description of this as the ‘intended sense ofethos’ (p. 312) seems more self-explanatory. To say

ARTICLE IN PRESSJ. Nelson / Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1729–1738 1731

that schools have an ethos in this intended sense isto say that education takes place within a widerunderstanding of human purposes. While some seethese purposes in religious terms (for exampleMacIntyre, 2001) others might express them insecular language such as romanticism (Halpin,2006) or liberalism (White, 1982).

In relation to education research, the word ethoshas been used intermittently in the broad areas ofschool leadership and school effectiveness since the1960s (Prosser, 1999) but the elusive nature of theconcept has caused difficulties. By some researchersit has been used interchangeably with ‘atmosphere’,‘climate’ or ‘culture’, while others, such as Allder(1993), regard it as something quite distinct. Allder’scontention is that ethos is a dominant or normativeword in relation to similar concepts such as‘climate’, ‘atmosphere’ and ‘ambience’. While Glo-ver and Marianne (2005) do not give preference tothe term in any way, they too see it as distinct,believing it refers to ‘subjective values and principlesunderpinning policy and practice.’ (p. 266).

For some, such as Solvason (2005), the elusivenature of ethos renders it an inappropriate word inmost academic research on school effectiveness; sheargues that it gets in the way of sharper conceptssuch as ‘climate’ or ‘culture’ which are preferable.Solvason says of Donnelly (2000): ‘she uses the word‘ethos’ where I would suggest that ‘culture’ rightlybelongs.’ Prosser (1999) too adopts this revisionisttendency when referring to Rutter, Maughan,Mortimore, Ouston, and Smith’s (1979) work onethos which he ‘corrects’ to culture (see p. 3).

More recently, however, a number of writers havesought to develop a broader conception of ethos intheir work. McLaughlin (2005), E. Smith (2003) andDonnelly (1999, 2000) all note the difficulty ofdefining it, yet they agree that it is more than thestated or intended outcomes of a school. In contrastto ethos in an intended sense McLaughlin speaks ofan ‘experienced’ sense of ethos. Donnelly (2000)suggests three dimensions of ethos: ‘aspirationalethos’, ‘ethos of outward attachment’ and ‘ethos ofinward attachment’. From this perspective ethos isregarded as an ongoing, evolving construct which isnot a ‘given’ from an authority but created outof the dynamic interactions of school authorities,staff, pupils and parents and varying interpretat-ions of the overall purpose of education. E. Smith(2003) describes it as something continually con-structed and re-constructed through participation inlearning, ‘an amalgam of conflict and collaboration;

socially constructing knowledge and knowledgeabout knowledge; learning how to learn; andnegotiation about what it is valuable to learn.’(p. 468). To explore ethos from this perspective isto recognise its fluidity and to see its evaluativepotential (McLaughlin, 2003, p. 311).

To use the word ethos in relation to schools thenis to invite reflection on the purposes of education inan ‘intended’ sense and also to consider of whateducation consists (the ‘experienced’ sense of ethos)or as Hogan (1984) puts it, ‘what actually goes on inschool.’ (p. 697). In this broad sense then ethosbrings us to an understanding of diversity ineducation and helps us to recognise that there arecompeting views of education and that these arereflected in the function of schools, the nature ofsocial interactions in schools and the teaching andlearning which take place there. Thus ethos helps usto understand schools as ‘communities of practice’(E. Smith, 2003, p. 466) where what takes place inthe classroom is informed by an underlying visionor ‘telos’ (McLaughlin, 2003), though it is notbound by it. The ethos is not identical to the ‘telos’in the way that some might imagine; rather, asDonnelly (2000) notes, ethos is best understood as a‘negotiated process’ in any particular school ‘where-by individuals come to some agreement about whatshould and should not be prioritised (p. 150).

The research I now want to turn to was carriedout to explore the value of introducing studentteachers to diversity between schools as part of ateacher education for diversity programme. Becauseof its reflective potential, ethos was employed as akey concept in this work.

3. The Good Practice in Diverse Schools

(GoPIDS) project

Research on student teachers’ opinions of ethoswas carried out during a period of change in thestructure of the school-based work element of aBachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree for post-primary student teachers in a state-controlleduniversity college in Northern Ireland. The changesinvolved the introduction of three visits (diversityvisits) for groups of students to schools of differentethos in Northern Ireland. As stated above, therationale for the visits was to explore the value ofintroducing student teachers to broad educationaldiversity in school settings, but it is worth specifyingthe importance of this aim within the local context.The aim emerged from some staff members of the

ARTICLE IN PRESSJ. Nelson / Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1729–17381732

Teacher Education Post-Primary (TEPP) Depart-ment of the university college reflecting on threeissues in particular: the ongoing reality of significantreligious segregation in teacher education in North-ern Ireland, some increase in the religious diversityof the B.Ed. student intake in the university collegeand the ongoing development and growth ofIntegrated education in Northern Ireland (schoolswith a mixed intake of Catholics and Protestantsand being ‘essentially Christian in character’ (http://www.nicie.org)). Some further elaboration of thesepoints may be helpful.

Firstly, student teachers at undergraduate level inNorthern Ireland are generally religiously segre-gated. Catholic B.Ed. students attend a Catholicuniversity college and other B.Ed. students (mostlyProtestant) attend a state-controlled universitycollege which, until recently, included mandatoryrepresentation of Protestant churches on its govern-ing body. In practice, historically, each college hastended to draw its students from a segregated schoolsector,1 place them in the same sector for school-based work and on graduation the students returnto the same sector for employment. No formalarrangement has existed whereby students areintroduced to a cross-section of school types duringtheir initial teacher education, so they could easilycomplete 4 years as undergraduate student teacherswithout coming into contact with a range of schoolsfrom the main school sectors in Northern Ireland.The separation of children, young people and adultsin this way could be considered as contributing tosystemic sectarianism:

Practised in a society not marked by sectarianism,church-based education serves the faith commu-nity running it and need have no negativerepercussions. But practised in a sectarian society,in exactly the same way, for the same reasons andeven with the same community-building benefits, itwill inevitably have sectarian implications thatneed attending to—i.e. it can easily hardenboundaries and therefore reinforce the sectariansystem. (Liechty & Clegg, 2001, p. 247)

1Schooling in Northern Ireland is generally segregated along

religious lines into Protestant and Catholic sectors. Mostly

Protestant children attend Controlled Secondary and Voluntary

Grammar schools. Mostly Catholic children attend Catholic

Maintained Secondary, Catholic Voluntary Grammar or Irish

Medium schools. Since the 1980s Integrated schools have

developed a form of shared schooling which Catholic and

Protestant children attend in roughly equal numbers.

In such a situation Liechty and Clegg (2001)suggest the need to ‘move beyond sectarianism’,although this need not mean the withdrawal ofreligious influence from education but requirestaking steps towards mitigating against the poten-tially negative impacts of religiously affiliatedschooling. One key element, they believe, in dealingwith the system of sectarianism in Northern Irelandis to break the cycle of division, and they suggestsome specific strategies for individuals or institu-tions including developing ‘wider inclusivity’,‘boundary crossing’ and learning to ‘co-operateacross traditions to develop positive relationships’(p. 345). So for the university college in question,one way of addressing the cycle of division inrelation to teacher education would be to facilitateinclusivity, boundary crossing, co-operation andpositive relationships through developing positivepartnerships with a range of school types. Thiswould allow students the chance to visit the schools,experience something of their ethos, particularlythrough an engagement with the staff and pupils,and to reflect with each other on these experiences.Indeed, based on a survey of final-year studentsfrom a university college in Northern Ireland,Hagan and McGlynn (2004, p. 249) noted thatwhile some strategies existed to support diversityand mutual understanding in teacher education inNorthern Ireland, a main issue raised by studentswas their desire for ‘increased learning in morediverse school contexts.’ Aware of these issues theTEPP Department staff members were keen todevelop a practical response.

Secondly, despite the historical segregation inteacher education in Northern Ireland, there isreligious diversity in the student bodies of mostof the various teacher education institutions(ETI, 2007) and it is therefore possible that astudent teacher may receive his or her teachereducation in an institution which possesses adifferent view of the ‘telos’ of education from theschool in which they have received their owneducation or the school in which they will eventuallyhave a career. For example, in recent years the post-primary B.Ed. pathway of the state-controlleduniversity college has attracted small but steadynumbers of Catholic students who have beeneducated in Catholic schools and who may wish toreturn to that sector on gaining qualified teacherstatus. The question for the TEPP Department staffwas whether the College has dealt with the needs ofthese students sufficiently. Certainly, it has been the

ARTICLE IN PRESSJ. Nelson / Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1729–1738 1733

desire of the College to create an inclusive environ-ment for these students (see for example the CollegeMission Statement2 and in relation to ReligiousStudies students in the college: Nelson & Richard-son, 2004) and it has always been happy tofacilitate, as far as possible, any student who wishesto be placed in a Catholic Maintained or CatholicVoluntary Grammar school as part of their initialteacher education but it was felt that more effortneeded to be made. As various authors note(Melnick & Zeichner, 1998; Price & Valli, 1998;Zeichner et al., 1998), if diversity education is to besuccessful, good practice must be modelled in allaspects of a teacher education institution’s func-tions, not least the organisation of school place-ments (Zeichner et al., 1998, p. 168). So it was feltthat it was particularly appropriate to createpartnerships between the College and Catholicschools as part of other changes in the structure ofschool-based work, but the value of this for thestudents required some exploration.

Thirdly, a significant number of Integratedschools have now been established in NorthernIreland; currently around 6% of children in North-ern Ireland are educated in Integrated schools.While the state-controlled teacher education collegehas taken every opportunity to build partnershipswith Integrated schools the small number of schoolshas meant that the chance of a student teacher beingplaced in an Integrated school has been limited andtherefore a majority of students complete theirinitial teacher education without having any experi-ence of this type of school. This is again confirmedby Hagan and McGlynn (2004, p. 249) who notedthat opportunities for student teachers in NorthernIreland to experience diverse school types wererestricted due to ‘limited teaching placements’.Conscious of this alongside the second point above,TEPP Department staff were concerned about theeffectiveness of the college in raising students’awareness of the diversity of school types inNorthern Ireland and engaging with the varyingeducational visions underlying each type.

Taking all students in year one to a range ofschools, including a Controlled Secondary, aCatholic Maintained and an Integrated3 school

2The Stranmillis University College Mission statement is

available at http://www.stran.ac.uk.3These are the three most common of the five main school

types in Northern Ireland: Controlled, Maintained, Grant-

Maintained Integrated, Voluntary Grammar and Irish Medium

(Independent Strategic Review of Education 2006).

seemed a reasonable way to address all three ofthe above issues, so it was decided to implement aseries of visits and then to assess their value as partof diversity education in teacher education. TheGoPIDS project was established to facilitate suchvisits. Partnerships were established with nineschools (three of each management type) and overa 3-day period groups of around 15 students visitedone school of each type. Ghosh (1996) notes theimportance of ‘guided teaching experiences’ forstudent teachers engaging in diversity work butwith these students being in the very first months ofa 4-year course a guided observation experience wasconsidered to be the most appropriate level ofengagement. The visits involved a range of activitiesincluding attendance at Assembly, a tour of theschool buildings, a presentation from the principalon school ethos, meeting school pupils, observing alesson, a presentation from relevant heads ofdepartment and hearing from a senior teacher withresponsibility for pastoral care. The visits wereaimed at addressing the issues outlined above, but itwas also hoped that exploring the ethos of thedifferent schools would bring students to an under-standing that there are competing visions ofeducation which impact upon how various activ-ities, such as teaching and learning as well aspastoral care, are conducted within differentschools. In order to assist students in processingtheir observations, tutorial sessions led by tutorswere included towards the end of the day duringeach visit. This provided valuable time for thestudents to reflect on their experience, somethingwhich Zeichner et al. (1998) and Causey et al. (2000)note is fundamental to the success of any diversityprogramme: ‘teacher cognitions may be influencedby experience, but that experience is educative onlywith time for reflection.’ (Causey et al., 2000, p. 35).The tools used for reflection included ‘circle-time’(Mosley & Tew, 1999) and ‘one-minute papers’(Stead, 2005) as well as open discussion. To assessthe success of the project in achieving this reflectionon values, aims and questions of purpose is thetask of the next part of this paper, but it is essentialthat one further issue about the project be raised atthis stage.

It must be acknowledged that visits of the kindoutlined above do raise significant issues in relationto the nature of teacher education in general and thepreparation of teachers for faith-schools in parti-cular. There are those, such as McLaughlin (2003),who might well question the underlying assumption

ARTICLE IN PRESSJ. Nelson / Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1729–17381734

in the reasoning above that it is possible to preparestudent teachers for careers in schools with compet-ing visions of education (in this case Catholicschools, non-denominational state schools andChristian Integrated schools) in the same highereducation institution. Drawing on MacIntyre’sargument for separate universities based on distinctvisions of human purposes (MacIntyre, 2001;MacIntyre & Dunne, 2002), McLaughlin arguesthat schools based on differing visions of humanpurposes constitute distinct ‘communities of prac-tice’ and student teachers should be educated andtrained into a community of practice appropriate totheir world-view:

diverse and distinctive forms of teacher educationand training would seem to be demanded bydiverse and distinctive conceptions of ‘practice’and ‘communities of practice’ in the overallholistic sense. (McLaughlin, 2003, p. 351)

While this may be a coherent argument there arethose such as R. Smith (2003) and Callan (1997)who contest that shared education at all levels ispossible and even necessary:

If higher education fragmented along linesmarked by different traditions then we reallywould have reached the point where we ceased totalk and think with each other. This in turnwould deprive universities of much of theirpointy (R. Smith, 2003, p. 314)

Unfortunately space does not permit a fulldiscussion of this issue here but, even so, apragmatic response is demanded if the studentintake of a teacher education institution is reli-giously and culturally mixed and students within theinstitution have aspirations to teach in schools in avariety of sectors (including faith-based schools).The view taken by the staff involved in this projectwas that it is possible for a higher educationinstitution to prepare student teachers to teach ina range of school types but adequate recognition ofthe needs of individual students is required alongwith opportunities for all students to explorevarious options in a safe environment where eachalternative is valued equally.

4. Methods

The visits were piloted with a group of 19religious education student teachers in 2004 anddue to successful feedback in evaluations the project

was extended to include all post-primary studentteachers in 2005 (n ¼ 47) and 2006 (n ¼ 45). Datawere collected through two questionnaires eachyear, one pre-visits and one post-visits. In the pre-visits questionnaire students were asked about theirown school background and using a 5-point Likertscale were asked to indicate their level of knowl-edge/awareness of other local school types listed. ALikert scale was also used to garner how positive ornegative students felt about visiting each schooltype, and they were also invited to write a fewsentences explaining the reasons for these attitudes.In the post-visits questionnaire, students were askedto reflect on their experience by identifying sourcesor features in schools which they felt were indicatorsof ethos. They were also asked to state what theyfelt was the ethos of each school type which theyhad visited. In both cases a process of contentanalysis (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007, p. 476)was employed whereby responses were coded,categorised and frequencies noted before beinganalysed. Inevitably the process of categorisationinvolved making interpretative judgements ofstatements made by the respondents. In oneor two cases the information provided was so briefthat it was impossible to untangle the ambiguity ofthe response. In these cases the frequency wasincluded in all possible categories. Despite the factthat this is an imprecise activity the statisticsgenerated do give broad indications that canusefully inform the discussion of exploring diversitythrough ethos.

Finally, students were asked to rate the value ofthe visits on a 5-point scale (from ‘very valuable’ to‘of no value’). Comments on the value of the visitswere also invited.

5. Results

5.1. Pre-visits questionnaire

Responses to the pre-visits questionnaire indi-cated that the post-primary student teachers at theCollege come from a range of school backgrounds,but that in 2005–06 (n ¼ 47) and 2006–07 (n ¼ 45)the majority of entrants were from VoluntaryGrammar schools (52.2%) and Controlled Second-ary schools (23.9%). Only a minority were fromCatholic Maintained Secondary (4.3%) and Catho-lic Voluntary Grammar (4.3%) schools while 14.1%indicated their background as being an Integratedschool.

ARTICLE IN PRESSJ. Nelson / Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1729–1738 1735

It was evident from the pre-visits questionnairesthat on entering higher education student teacherspossess a narrow knowledge of schools (otherthan the type they themselves attended). In ratingtheir own familiarity with the three schooltypes included in the project (Controlled, Main-tained and Integrated) there was most familiaritywith Controlled schools followed by Integratedschools and least familiarity with Maintainedschools.

Despite the lack of knowledge and the potentialtensions of visiting schools which, as a result ofconflict in Northern Ireland, may involve studentsentering an unfamiliar (and to them possiblyhostile) domain, the majority of students werewell disposed to visiting the different school types.One typical positive comment was: ‘Excited to

see how other schools operate, it will be a new

experience and will broaden my horizons.’ Therewere a small number of students who indicateduncertainty about visiting some school typesthey were unfamiliar with. In relation to visiting aControlled school one student noted: ‘Nervous,

was never in a Controlled school before.’ Andthe same sentiment was true for several studentswith regard to Catholic Maintained schools.One student noted: ‘I really am dreading going

to a Maintained school, I am unfamiliar with this

situation and I live in a very Loyalist area and

wouldn’t want to go to or teach in this kind of school.’No students indicated anxiety over the prospect ofvisiting an Integrated school; most commentsexpressed curiosity at seeing how the integrationof Protestant and Catholic pupils worked inpractice.

It is important to note that in some situations,whether claiming knowledge or ignorance of aparticular school type, students’ perceptions demon-strated a degree of misunderstanding of particularschools or rested on stereotype. For example, thatin Integrated schools, ‘yall religions are amalga-

mated as one’ or that Maintained schools are fullof ‘priests, nuns and statues’. It is difficult to knowthe extent of these misunderstandings or stereo-types from the brief comments supplied in the pre-visits questionnaires but the frequency of commentsin the post-visits questionnaires which indicatedthat prejudices or preconceptions had been chal-lenged (see below) would suggest that the knowl-edge of various schools which the students claimedbefore visiting them may have been imprecise ormistaken.

5.2. Post-visits questionnaire

The post-visits questionnaire was used particu-larly to gather information about the students’perception of the ethos of each school. On thesurface it would seem that the students identifiedethos most specifically with the ‘aspirational’(Donnelly, 2000) ethos of each school and locatedthis within the religious tradition of the school.So the most common descriptors for the ethosof a Maintained school (40% of answers) were‘Catholic’, ‘Christian’ and ‘religious’. For Inte-grated schools the top response when describingits ethos was ‘Christian’ (41%) with some referenceto bringing Catholics and Protestants together in ashared environment being second (25%). Languageused to describe the ethos of Controlled schools wasmore diverse but religion (or the lack of it) was thedominant feature in answers. Some described theControlled ethos as secular while others usedphrases such as ‘some religious influence thoughnot emphasised’, ‘Christian’ and ‘Protestant’. Intotal 26% of the phrases used to describe ethos inControlled schools did so in terms of religion or thelack of religion. The next most frequently citeddescription of the ethos of a Controlled school was‘pupil-centred’ (17%).

Despite the seeming pre-occupation with ethos inits aspirational sense, the post-visits questionnairesindicated that on visiting these schools studentsdisplayed an understanding of ethos in morecomplex ways as well. When asked, ‘What are themain indicators of ethos in schools?’ the studentsprovided 37 different answers. In analysing theseresponses it became gradually clear that they couldbe grouped into the following ten different cate-gories: aims, policies, organisation of curriculum,leadership, relationships, environment, attitudes,activities, measures of success and behaviour.Looking at the frequency of the respondents’statements in terms of these categories yields someinteresting results (see Table 1). For example, themost frequently cited indicators of ethos wererelationships (25.4%), environment (22.3%) andattitudes (17.3%). These would seem to be whatMcLaughlin (2005) might categorise as ‘experi-enced’ forms of ethos and their frequency indicatesthat while students acknowledged the aspirationalethos of a school they were of the opinion that it isprimarily out of personal dispositions and interac-tions that ethos emerges. Donnelly (2000) refers tothese as ‘deep expressions of ethos’ (p. 151). In other

ARTICLE IN PRESS

Table 1

(Post-visits questionnaire) Frequency of indicators of ethos identified by student teachers after visiting three schools of different ethos

Yr 1 Yr 2 Total. no. Percentage of total

responsesNo. of students

identifying indicator of

ethos

No. of students

identifying indicator of

ethos

Relationships 29 21 50 25.4

Environment 26 18 44 22.3

Attitudes 20 14 34 17.3

Policies 9 8 17 8.6

Measures of success 14 2 16 8.1

Aims 10 2 12 6.1

Behaviour 5 4 9 4.6

Activities 6 2 8 4.1

Leadership 3 2 5 2.5

Organisation of

curriculum

2 0 2 1.0

J. Nelson / Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1729–17381736

words it could be said that students were consciousthat education is not bound by prescribed aspira-tional values but is fundamentally diverse andsignificantly connected to the ways teachers relateto pupils and to their colleagues, the attitudes of theindividual teachers and the environment they createaround them as well as the overarching values of theschool.

When asked to rate the value of the visits on ascale of one to five, where one indicated ‘veryvaluable’ and five ‘of no value’, 77.4% of studentsrated the visits as one and the remaining 22.6%as two. When asked to comment on the valueof the visits the majority of comments indicatedtwo things—improved clarity and understandingof the different school types and had prejudicesand stereotypes challenged: One comment fromthe post-visits questionnaires was: ‘I have learnt

a lot in the past three days and feel that my

knowledge of various schools will be useful in my

teaching career. Also many of my prejudices and

preconceptions have been challenged.’ Others stated:‘Put my myths and misconceptions to rest’ and ‘I

gained a more precise understanding of each indivi-

dual school’s ethos.’In summary the results indicate that on entering

undergraduate post-primary initial teacher educa-tion, students at the university college in questionhad limited, and in some cases incorrect, knowledgeof main school types in Northern Ireland, but as aresult of visits to Controlled, Maintained andIntegrated schools they had their stereotypeschallenged and could give precise examples of

differences between schools (particularly in termsof their intended ethos); could show a complexunderstanding of the concept of ethos in both itsintended and experienced senses; and believed thatvisiting schools of different management type toexplore differences in ethos was a very valuableexercise in improving knowledge of diversity andchallenging prejudices.

6. The value of exploring ethos in teacher education

Having considered the evidence above I wantto ask: What is the particular value of exploringethos in schools with students in initial teachereducation? Three particular points seem to emerge;firstly, similar to other studies (Causey et al., 2000)which employ field visits to schools as part ofdiversity education, this study shows that visits toschools which are unfamiliar to student teachers,and that they may even have negative dispositionstowards, help expose stereotypes and correct mis-information and, as a result, challenge theirprejudices. Secondly, that exploring ethos in diverseschool settings helps student teachers to understandthe complexity of school life and the manycomponents which contribute towards an educationand, thirdly, it provides opportunities for reflectionon the aims of education and, through dialogue,to position their own teaching in relation tothese. Some further elaboration on these points isnecessary.

The evidence provided here is further confirma-tion of the work that can be done by teacher

ARTICLE IN PRESSJ. Nelson / Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1729–1738 1737

educators to challenge prejudice and ignorance byfacilitating meaningful encounters for their studentsacross boundaries of difference. There is more thana suggestion from the students’ responses thatvisiting schools of different ethos is one wayof addressing the cycle of division in relation toteacher education in Northern Ireland and, inLiechty and Clegg’s (2001) terms, can facilitateinclusivity, boundary crossing, co-operation andpositive relationships.

Secondly, the fact that the students in thisresearch could collectively identify 37 wide-ranging indicators of ethos after visits to threeschools would seem to confirm Donnelly (2000),McLaughlin (2005) and E. Smith’s (2003) pointthat ethos is more than a set of values ordispositions passed onto pupils by the school.The high frequency of ‘relationships’, ‘attitudes’and ‘environment’ as indicators of ethos also showsthat by exploring ethos student teachers can behelped towards understanding the complexityof schools as organisations including the signifi-cance of varying levels of social interaction,such as staff–staff, pupil–pupil and teacher–pupilrelationships.

Lastly, exploring diversity through ethos cancontribute to an understanding of the relationshipbetween a vision of education and the practiceof teaching. McLaughlin (2003) argues that asstudent teachers begin to develop the practiceof teaching it is essential that they begin tolocate their practice within a wider view of thenature of education. He notes that for the activity ofteaching to have educational value it must be‘situated’ and ‘contextualised’ within a broad visionof education, its telos. While I would not shareMcLaughlin’s reservations over the ability of acommon higher education institution to educatestudent teachers who may want to teach in a faith-school, I agree that it is important for studentteachers to situate their ideas about education interms of existing school types and the ethosand vision of education each espouses. Indeed,it could be argued that in coming into contactwith a diversity of schools and the ethos ofeach, students are able to understand the uniquenessof each ethos in a more significant way. Thusdiversity education, which is connected meaning-fully to wider questions about the value of educa-tion, could be a useful element in developing whatZeichner (1996) calls ‘intercultural teaching compe-tence’ (p. 151).

7. Conclusions

The process of clarifying ideas about educationand ethos is not straightforward as McLaughlin(2005, p. 320) notes, ‘there are many inherentcomplexities’, yet the results above indicate thatintroducing student teachers to ethos in diverseschool contexts creates conditions in which they canreassess their existing knowledge and views ofeducation and, with a more informed and criticallyaware perspective, begin to locate their ownteaching within existing visions of education. Thiswould seem to be close to Hogan’s (1984) notion ofdialoguing with ethos.

In comparison to other contexts where studentteachers are introduced to diversity throughschool placements it must be acknowledged thatthis work in Northern Ireland is at a relativelyearly stage and as such there is much to learnfrom others, for example the good practicein multicultural teacher education outlined byZeichner et al. (1998). Yet, it is also possible tosuggest that the idea explored in this paper ofusing ethos as a critical concept for reflection onschool experience could be instructive for othersbeyond this local context. Diversity education inteacher education has traditionally worked at thelevel of bridging the cultural, ethnic or religiousgap between teacher and pupil, but diversityeducation which is concerned with engaging studentteachers in an exploration of different schooltypes and their varying educational visions couldalso be regarded as of fundamental importanceto the development of teacher educators, particu-larly in societies where separate schooling is asignificant feature.

To understand more fully the value for studentteachers of visiting schools of different ethosand to assess the long-term value of the project,a follow-up study of the students in their firstyear of teaching would be useful. Nonethelessit is possible from these findings to suggestthat such experiences help to illuminate the beha-viours, interactions, teaching and learning whichtake place within a school, particularly in relationto the stated aims and ethos of the school, andcan challenge misunderstandings and stereo-types student teachers may hold. Moreover,visiting schools of different ethos helps studentteachers to place themselves and their professionalpractice in relation to existing communities ofpractice.

ARTICLE IN PRESSJ. Nelson / Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1729–17381738

References

Allder, M. (1993). The meaning of school ethos. Westminster

Studies in Education, 16, 59–69.

Bredange, G. (1996). Teacher education in Sweden: An inter-

cultural perspective. In M. Craft (Ed.), Teacher education in

plural societies. London: Falmer Press.

Breen, D. (1994). The catholic ethos and its critics. In B. Breen, et

al. (Eds.), Ethos and education. Belfast: St. Mary’s Christian

Brothers Grammar School.

Breen, D., & Donaldson, A. (1997). Catholic education: Vocation

or profession. In D. Breen, & A. Donaldson (Eds.), Ethos and

education. Belfast: St. Mary’s Christian Brothers Grammar

School.

Callan, E. (1997). Creating citizens: Political education and liberal

democracy. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Causey, V., Thomas, C., & Armento, B. (2000). Cultural diversity

is basically a foreign term to me: The challenges of diversity

for preservice teacher education. Teaching and Teacher

Education, 16(1), 33–45.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods

in education (6th ed.). London: Routledge.

de Kruif, G. (1996). Teacher education and multiculturalism in

the Netherlands. In M. Craft (Ed.), Teacher education in

plural societies. London: Falmer Press.

Donnelly, C. (1999). School ethos and governor relationships.

School Leadership and Management, 19(2), 223–239.

Donnelly, C. (2000). In pursuit of school ethos. British Journal of

Educational Studies, 48(2), 134–155.

Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI). (2007). The chief

inspector’s report 2004– 2006: Teacher education phase

report /http://www.etini.gov.uk/teacher.pdfS (accessed 10

September 2007).

Ghosh, R. (1996). Mulitcultural teacher education in Canada. In

M. Craft (Ed.), Teacher education in plural societies. London:

Falmer Press.

Glover, D., & Marianne, C. (2005). School culture, climate and

ethos: Interchangeable or distinctive concepts? Journal of

In-Service Education, 31(2), 251–271.

Guillaume, A. M., & Rudney, G. L. (1993). Student teachers’

growth toward independence: An analysis of their changing

concerns. Teaching and Teacher Education, 9(1), 65–80.

Haberman, M., & Post, L. (1992). Does direct experience

change education students’ perceptions of low-income min-

ority children? Midwestern Educational Researcher, 5(2),

29–31.

Hagan, M., & McGlynn, C. (2004). Moving barriers: Promoting

learning for diversity in initial teacher education. Intercultural

Education, 15(3), 243–252.

Halpin, D. (2006). Why a romantic conception of education

matters. Oxford Review of Education, 32(3), 325–346.

Hogan, P. (1984). The question of ethos in schools. The Furrow,

35(11), 693–703.

Independent Strategic Review of Education. (2006). Schools for

the future: Funding, strategy, sharing. Bangor: Department of

Education Northern Ireland /http://www.deni.gov.uk/review_

of_education.pdfS (accessed 10 September 2007).

Liechty, J., & Clegg, C. (2001). Moving beyond sectarianism.

Dublin: The Columba Press.

MacIntyre, A. (2001). Catholic universities: Dangers, hopes,

choices. In R. E. Sullivan (Ed.), Higher learning and catholic

traditions. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame.

MacIntyre, A., & Dunne, J. (2002). Alasdair MacIntyre on

education: In dialogue with Joseph Dunne. Journal of

Philosophy of Education, 36(1), 1–19.

Melnick, S., & Zeichner, K. (1998). Teacher education’s

responsibility to address diversity issues: Enhancing institu-

tional capacity. Theory into Practice, 37(2), 88–95.

McLaughlin, T. (2003). Teaching as a practice and a community

of practice: The limits of commonality and the demands of

diversity. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 37(2), 339–352.

McLaughlin, T. (2005). The educative importance of ethos.

British Journal of Educational Studies, 53(3), 306–325.

Mosley, J., & Tew, M. (1999). Quality circle time in the secondary

school. London: David Fulton Publishers.

Nelson, J., & Richardson, N. (2004). Teaching religion in a

divided society. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 8(2), 96–100.

Price, J., & Valli, L. (1998). Institutional support for diversity in

preservice teacher education. Theory into Practice, 37(2),

114–120.

Prosser, J. (1999). The evolution of school culture research. In J.

Prosser (Ed.), School culture. London: Paul Chapman.

Rutter, M., Maughan, B., Mortimore, P., Ouston, J., & Smith, A.

(1979). Fifteen thousand hours, secondary schools and their

effects on children. London: Open Books.

Smith, R. (1987). Teaching on stilts: Critique of classroom skills.

In M. Holt (Ed.), Skills and vocationalism: The easy answer.

Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

Smith, E. (2003). Ethos, habitus and situation for learning.

British Journal of Sociology of Education, 24(4), 463–470.

Smith, R. (2003). Thinking with each other: The peculiar practice

of the university. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 37(2),

309–322.

Solvason, C. (2005). Investigating specialist school ethosy or do

you mean culture? Educational Studies, 31(1), 85–94.

Stead, David. (2005). A review of the one-minute paper. Active

Learning in Higher Education, 6(2), 118–131.

White, J. (1982). The Aims of Education Restated. London:

Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Zeichner, K. (1996). Educating teachers for cultural diversity in

the United States. In M. Craft (Ed.), Teacher education in

plural societies. London: Falmer Press.

Zeichner, K., Grant, C., Gay, G., Gillette, M., Valli, L., &

Villegas, A. M. (1998). A research informed vision of good

practice in multicultural teacher education: Design principles.

Theory into Practice, 37(2), 163–171.