Precarity and pedagogic rights: How teacher training programmes prepare trainees for the realities of migration in the classroom

Caroline Bagelman, Chris Keelan, Mona Massumi and Jan Springob

Abstract

In considering the increasing flow of displaced peoples globally, this paper suggests it is necessary for trainee teachers to receive thoughtful training equipping them to become responsive to the many challenges and possibilities that this migration brings. In presenting two case studies of teacher training programmes (in Cologne, Germany and Liverpool, UK) the paper focuses on identifying the pedagogies and best practices to support trainee teachers in their future classrooms and offers some tangible recommendations for their training to help overcome these challenges. Namely, it illustrates that the success of training programmes depends on the trainee teachers’ experiences with refugee pupils (including local and international experience), and the opportunities in their training for action and reflection. We hold that this training is vital to trainee teachers’ professionalisation, which we maintain ought not to be a matter of learning procedures, but developing the know-how to make sensitive judgements. Engaging trainee teachers in this manner, we suggest, supports what Basil Bernstein calls ‘pedagogic rights’ for refugees and trainee teachers alike.

Bagelman, C., Keelan, C., Massumi, M. and Springob, J. (2021) Precarity and pedagogic rights: How teacher training programmes prepare trainees for the realities of migration in the classroom. Educationalfutures, [online] Vol. 12(1). Available at: https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=16046 [Accessed 20 Apr, 2024].

Creative Commons LicensePublished under Creative Commons Attribution, Non Commercial Licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Keywords

diversity, migration, pedagogic rights, practical training, refugee education, teacher training

Volume

Volume 12(1) 2021

Full Text

PDF