Race and the geographies of educational spaces

Project

This project was funded by the Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research. Data collection took place between October 2021 and August 2023.

Background

Education is both embodied and affective. Those who work and study in educational institutions not only shape, and are shaped, by curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, but also the spaces and places they teach and learn in.

As is increasingly recognised in discourse about ‘geographies of education’, educational spaces matter to people’s experiences of education, to their identities and to who they become in their futures. Here, geography is significant in helping us to better understand education and educational spaces. For example, in considering the relationships between social and spatial reproduction in localities through educational opportunities, systems and outcomes. 

In contributing to these debates, the aim of this project was to examine Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students’ affective and embodied experiences of race and racism as they move in, and between, different educational spaces. 

Methodology

Walking is a social practice and a sensuous experience. In this project, we walked with PGCE students and conducted a walking interview and mapping exercise as we moved together around the UCL IOE campus. This process was then repeated with student teachers as they walked around their placement schools, reflecting on their experiences of, and perspectives on, education and educational space.

Team

• Dr Lauren Hammond
• Dr Mark Hardman
• Dr Emma Jones
• Professor John Morgan
• Alison Wiggins

Image

Mat Wright for UCL IOE.