Session Information
07 SES 06 A, Cultural Diverse Schools
Parallel Paper Session
Contribution
This paper highlights some findings of an EU funded project 'Children's Voices' (2011-2013) which seeks to explore and understand children and young people's experiences of interethnic conflict within the school environment across five EU countries: England, Slovenia, Cyprus, Austria and Italy. Research into the current position of interethnic relations within the school environment across European countries is particularly important at the moment with the rise of racism witnessed within many European states over the past few years. Any commitment to education for all cannot be realised without the development of school systems which promote interethnic and intercultural equality between pupils. The paper draws upon the empirical findings from the English study which adopts a mixed methodology to examine the little researched area of interethnic violence within schools in England, with a particular focus on Islamophobia. The focus on Islamophobia was chosen as there is evidence of increased prejudice and hostility towards people perceived as Muslim in England since the events of 9/11 and the London bombings of 2005. Empirical data is drawn from a quantitative study of 8 primary schools (year 6) and 8 secondary schools (year 13) in 4 regions of England whereby students in two classes completed a questionnaire on their experiences of interethnic relations in school. A second, qualitative stage involves focus groups conducted with pupils from 4 schools in London, adopting a participatory approach, as well as semi structured interviews with school staff and a range of experts on racial equality. Results will evidence pupils’ own experiences of their school environment from the perspective of interethnic violence and map the scale of the problem. The research also focuses on positive strategies and examples of good practice in race equality work in schools. We anticipate that the findings of the research will make a contribution to the further embedding of social justice and interethnic equality in schools particularly with respect to understanding of diversity, resolving conflict and promoting the rights and development of all children and young people. The conclusion will be drawn from the findings and will discuss implications for policy and practice in schools with respect to race equality and diversity.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
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