Race, Fitness-to-Practice and the Experience of Trainee Educators

A study in response to findings the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students enrolled on education courses at a Northern University, are over-represented in Fitness-to-Practice (FTP) investigations. Referrals to FTP are intended to rectify the underperformance of students. As a phenomenon, it replicates trends across education and the workplace, explained by capital, racial discomfort and structural inequality. In this study, the experiences BAME students on placement, in education settings, are applied to provide insights into the disparity in FTP referrals. To capture data relating to this, a phenomenological approach was taken, using semi-structured interviews to capture subjective first-person accounts from the target sample. These were evaluated using thematic analysis, with the finding considered using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a lens.The findings demonstrated two opposing accounts that were united by their conception of racial identity. The research found that BAME students’ placement experiences may be in response to an intersectional coherence of race and the status of the role they occupy within the placement. A clear link between FTP and placement experiences could not be established, but the CRT perspective points to issues with the conception of racism, white neutrality and supremacy active in BAME students’ placement settings.