How can training on culturally responsive mentoring support the integration and inclusion of international trainee teachers on a secondary PGCE?

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Published on: February 19, 2026

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JULIETTE CLARO, LECTURER IN EDUCATION, ST MARY’S UNIVERSITY TWICKENHAM SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, UK; CO-CHAIR OF THE UCET SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP IN SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL TRAINEE TEACHERS In the last two years, the number of international trainee teachers on the PGCE secondary at St Mary’s University has exponentially increased, reflecting the national trends in the teacher labour market highlighted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (McLean and Worth, 2025). Like many other initial teacher education (ITE) providers in England, St Mary’s University’s School of Education has embraced a change in demographics in the last few years. Benefiting from the government bursaries in shortage subjects, more overseas applicants apply to complete their PGCE, mainly in secondary modern foreign languages (MFL) and physics. Although international trainee teachers are not a new phenomenon at St Mary’s, especially in MFL, the change comes from the origins of the trainees, who c

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How can training on culturally responsive mentoring support the integration and inclusion of international trainee teachers on a secondary PGCE?

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