Exploring students' national and European identities at three European Schools

Author(s):

Nicola Savvides(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments

Format:

Paper

Session Information

20 SES 12, Exploring Sutdents' National and Euorpean Identities at Three European Schools- An Extended Session with Focus on the European Perspective; Interculturality; Identity and Inclusion and Qualities of Learning within Volunteering in the Global South

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-11

09:00-10:30

Room:

665.Oktatóterem [C]

Chair:

Raimonda Bruneviciute

Contribution

The intergovernmental European Schools cater primarily for children of staff working at EU institutions and other multilingual, mobile families. Since their establishment in the 1950’s, the ethos of these schools has been to preserve children’s national identities, cultures and languages, which they do partly by providing a mother tongue education through several ‘language sections’. Alongside this aim, and considered of equal importance, is the philosophy that these children who come from a variety of European backgrounds should be educated side by side in order to become Europeans with a shared sense of European identity and an understanding and respect for one another. This paper explores European School students’ constructions of their national and European identities focusing on their discourses around national identity and their conceptualizations and feelings of European identity. Data is drawn from interviews conducted as part of an ESRC-funded project that involved a multiple case-study of three European Schools, located in England, Belgium and Spain.

Method

Eight individual semi-structured interviews and 20 focus groups were conducted with students aged 16-18 across three European schools located in England, Belgium and Spain. It was thought that students of this age would be able to articulate their views on the complex nature of the questions asked and reflect more on how their identities were being shaped than students of a younger age. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews allowing thematic categories to gradually emerge. The data analysis was informed by insights within social constructionist, postmodernist and post-structuralist frameworks, particularly the idea that identities are not stable or fixed but rather are shifting, contingent, context-dependent, multiple and hybrid. Identities are viewed as a fluid process of ‘becoming’ and are discursively negotiated and renegotiated as individuals interact with one another. This view of identity gave students the space to speak about and negotiate their identities in their own words.

Expected Outcomes

Students’ discourses reveal the complexity of their identities and sense of belonging, which are often contradictory, fragmented and changing, particularly depending on the context in which they are operating. Many students described themselves as binational or as having multiple national identities, associating these with the countries their parents are from and their passport nationalities. Many students also expressed a sense of European identity, although this concept took on different meanings and levels of strength to different students. Some of the factors that are seen to shape students’ identities and the challenges and opportunities that they face in trying to mediate them will be discussed during this presentation and illustrated with examples from the empirical data.

References

Bhaba, H. K. (1990) The Third Space: Interview with Homi Bhaba. In J. Rutherford (ed.) Identity, Community, Culture, Difference. London: Lawrence and Wishart, pp. 207-221. Bhabha, H. K. (1996) Culture’s in Between. In S. Hall & P. Du Gay (eds.) Questions of Cultural Identity. London, Sage Publications, pp. 53-60. Byram, M. (2011). From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship. Intercultural Communication Review 9: 17-36. Hall, S. (1996) Introduction: Who needs ‘identity’? In S. Hall & P. du Gay (eds.) Questions of Cultural Identity. London: Sage, pp. 1-17. Ross, A. (2007) Multiple Identities and Education for Active Citizenship. British Journal of Educational Studies, 55(3), pp 286-303. Savvides, N. & Faas, D. (in press). Does Europe Matter? A Comparative Study of Young People’s Identifications with Europe at a State School and a European School in England. European Journal of Education.

Author Information

Nicola Savvides (presenting / submitting)

Kings College London

Kings Learning Institute

London

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