'More like the kids than the other teachers': one working-class pre-service Teacher's experiences in a middle-class profession

Jo Lampert, Bruce Burnett, Stevie Lebhers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

While teaching is largely a White, middle-class profession, some teachers, including White teachers, come from low socio-economic backgrounds. This paper examines how one working-class pre-service teacher in Australia experiences studying in a predominantly middle-class teacher-education program. Drawing on the work of Bourdieu, this paper seeks to explore what we can learn from the reflections of a female pre-service teacher who is a member of this much smaller group of working-class teachers and who brings to her teaching the habitus and life history that aligns with many of her students and the low socio-economic communities in which she teaches.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)35-42
Number of pages8
JournalTeaching and Teacher Education
Volume58
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Disadvantage
  • Effective teaching
  • Social class
  • Teacher education

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