Student teachers interpretations and responses to working with children living in poverty: a mixed methods longitudinal study.

Teacher beliefs, attitudes, and values are influential to how teachers frame the problem of child poverty and low achievement at school, and underpin the solutions they can imagine (Gorski, 2016). Empirical research into practitioners’ perspectives of child poverty has revealed negative stereotypical attitudes towards families living in poverty (Cox, Watts & Horton, 2012; Cummings, Laing, Law, McLaughlin, Papps, Todd, and Woolner, 2012). Similar findings are revealed in studies into student teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about child poverty and educational achievement (Ellis, Thompson, McNicholl & Thomson, 2016; Thompson, McNicholl, & Menter, 2016; White & Murray, 2016). However, the beliefs, attitudes, and values of student teachers in relation to child poverty and low educational achievement has not been researched in sufficient depth to make recommendations for improvements to initial teacher education (ITE).

This project builds on work currently being undertaken by a research group within the School of Education at the University of Aberdeen. The successful candidate will join this group and develop a particular line of enquiry as part of the on-going research into child poverty and teacher education. This project aims to explore student teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward children living in poverty and their practice responsiveness, uses mixed methods methodology (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011) and involves collecting, analysing and combining quantitative and qualitative research in a longitudinal programme of enquiry. The project includes a longitudinal electronic survey of MA Primary student teachers and follow up face-to face interviews.

Applicants with an interest in social justice, social theory, and teacher education are invited to submit a 2000 word research proposal. The aims of the proposed research should be contextualised within the relevant research context and the conceptual literature, and the research methodology should present a clear rationale for the proposed approach. Proposals must include appropriate reference to the academic literature in the research fields and should explicitly consider any ethical issues that are likely to arise in the course of the research.