Racism in Children's Lives: A Study of Mainly-white Primary Schools [Hardcover]

Originally published in 1992. Both teachers and the general public have traditionally been unwilling to acknowledge that concepts of race might play a part in the lives of primary school children. For this book the authors spent a term in each of three mainly white primary schools. They talked to black and white pupils individually and in small groups about issues, not necessarily of race, which the children themselves saw as important. From these conversations they present a fascinating study of how race emerges for young children as a plausible explanatory framework for incidents in their everyday lives. The final picture is both disturbing in its demonstration of how significant racism is and hopeful in showing how frequently anti-racist attitudes exist even in the thinking of children who engage in racist behaviour. A final chapter looks at how school policy can combat racism and build on these positive elements.

1. Introduction  2. Feeling Harassed? Racist Incidents in Britain  3. Friend or Foe? Relationships Between Black and White Children in School  4. Childrens Cultures, Black Experiences  5. The Meanings of Racist Name-calling  6. Case Studies  7. Sources of Racism  8. Responses to Racist Incidents  9. The Four Girls  10. Conclusions

Originally published in 1992. From talking to black and white primary school pupils about issues, not necessarily of race, which the children themselves saw as important, the authors here present a fascinating study of how race emerges for young children as a plausible explanatory framework within their everyday lives.US? 1992 Barry Troyna and Richard Hatcher