I Should CoCo?: The awareness of community cohesion and its utility as a tool for teacher preparation and professional development

How do trainee teachers and their mentors conceptualise diversity? How confident are they in harnessing and articulating notions of community diversity in their teaching and school-based initial training, and what strategies do they deploy?
The English approach to community cohesion had its origins in the British Government’s response to race riots in the North of England during 2001. Following the Cantle Report (2001) into these events, the Labour Government adopted the concept of ‘community cohesion’, a refinement of previous policies relating to issues of multiculturalism, race relations, diversity and social inclusion. Cantle highlighted the social deficiencies of segregation and recommended that emphasis be placed instead on promoting shared values, citizenship and a respect for cultural distinctions (Cantle, 2001). Within the wider ‘community cohesion’ programme, the Commission on Integration and Cohesion recommended in 2007 that schools should play a key social role in promoting the values of community cohesion amongst young people and the communities the schools served.
Guidance to schools at this time grouped their required contribution to community cohesion into three areas:
Teaching, learning and curriculum: helping children and young people to learn to understand others to value diversity and promote shared values and awareness of human rights; develop skills of participation and responsible action.
Equity and excellence: to ensure equal opportunities for all to succeed at the highest level possible.
Engagement and extended services: to provide reasonable means for children, young people, their friends and families to interact with people from different backgrounds and build positive relations. (DCSF, 2007 p.8)
The importance the English Labour government placed on new teachers addressing diversity was expressed through a series of reviews and reports, and the centrality of diversity, inclusion and social cohesion concepts are implicit throughout the Professional Standards for Qualified Teacher Status (TDA, 2008; DfES, 2007; QCDA, 2010).
The creation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government in Britain in May 2010, with policy changes and priorities expressed since, including a review of Professional Standards for QTS, raise the possibility that schools’ and teachers’ perceptions of community cohesion in education may be in a period of transition (Shephard, 2010)
This research will consider how mentors and trainee teachers conceptualise, articulate and respond to concepts of community cohesion and diversity, and the extent of change in perceptions and practice within a context of policy change and reform.