'TEACHING TO THE HALO-EFFECT': SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES AMONG TRAINEE-TEACHERS AT ONE TEACHER TRAINING INSTITUTION IN JAMAICA

Abstract

Social Justice themes have dominated education discourses over the decade of the 2000s with ideas ranging from equality in terms of gender, access to resources, teacher quality and the quality of students. These debates are not easily resolved and whereas concerns from policy makers and teacher-educators were often spotlighted, the opinions of teacher-trainees themselves were more or less absent from the discourse. This research sought to find out the views of teacher-trainees about their training experiences and how their interpretations of these experiences lead them to feel and act. This exploratory study therefore was conducted by collecting data from 41 third year teacher-trainees enrolled in a four year teacher training programme in Jamaica. Data was collected through two focus group interviews which were transcribed, sorted, coded and themes identified. The study was framed in the context of Rotter’s Locus of Control (1966) and Bourdieu’s (1977) Institutional Habitus. The main findings reveal that local students feel international students are treated more favourably; adequate learning resources are not always available (for labs especially) and some students are believed to be disadvantaged by lecturers because of how they speak and how they carry themselves (physical appearance). The researchers conclude that these are social justice issues that must be resolved to ensure a system that is built on the values of enabling rather than constraining. Key words: favouritism, exclusion, trainee-teachers, social justice, teaching quality.