Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1729–1738 Exploring diversity through ethos in initial teacher education James Nelson à Department of Teacher Education (Post Primary), Stranmillis University College, Stranmillis Road, Belfast BT9 5DY, Northern Ireland, UK Received 3 April 2007; received in revised form 12 October 2007; accepted 13 February 2008 Abstract This paper considers whether there is value in introducing student teachers to schools of different ethos as part of their initial teacher education. A 2-year study of undergraduate post-primary student teachers at a university college in Northern Ireland reveals that encounters with schools of different ethos can help student teachers to understand differences between schools and their visions of education, as well as correcting misunderstandings and challenging stereotypes. It is argued that as a result of experiencing diverse examples of ethos, student teachers may also be helped to understand the complexity of schools as organisations and to position themselves and their professional practice within wider debates about the aims of education and schools as communities of practice. r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Ethos; Diversity; Teacher education; Communities of practice 1. Introduction The practice of assigning teacher education students to diverse schools has been part of diversity education in a number of countries since the 1990s, for example, the Netherlands (de Kruif, 1996), Sweden (Breda¨nge, 1996) and the USA (Causey, Thomas, & Armento, 2000; Zeichner, 1996). The rationale for this is generally based on the observa- tion that the student populations of teacher educa- tion colleges and departments tends to be largely monocultural and students have limited experi- ence of diversity and therefore need to gain an experience of the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity present in schools and the wider society. The emphasis is upon immersion in an unfamiliar environment to broaden experience and to challenge misinformation and prejudices with the intention of modifying personal attitudes and behaviour. Clearly this is important and valuable work although some, such as Haberman and Post (1992), caution against the use of this kind of field experience on the grounds that it may lead to reinforcing stereotypes. However, the majority of studies of diverse school placements show more positive outcomes. In a survey of the literature Causey et al. (2000) note that ‘diverse field experiences have proven crucial in moving prospective teachers toward greater cultural sensitivity.’ (p. 35). It would seem that if managed with care negative outcomes such as strengthening prejudices can be mitigated. Zeichner (1996, p. 151) and Zeichner et al. (1998, p. 168) note three strategies in this regard: careful preparation of students prior to the school experience, close monitoring of students during their time in school ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/tate 0742-051X/$ - see front matter r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2008.02.014 à Tel.: +44 28 90384326. E-mail address: j.nelson@stran.ac.uk