“Nothing much has changed:” Black boys’ experiences of exclusion and reintegration in mainstream secondary schools

The exclusion of black boys from mainstream secondary schools has been prevalent in England for many years. Despite government policies and statistical analysis into this phenomenon, black boys are still disproportionately excluded from school. Previous research has failed to represent the lived experiences of exclusion and reintegration from the perspective of black boys. This emancipatory and exploratory research focuses on the experiences of boys of African or African-Caribbean descent who have received an external fixed-period or permanent exclusion and have been reintegrated back into a mainstream secondary school. The aim of this research was to explore how black boys make sense of their experiences of exclusion and reintegration. In total, six boys from three schools were recruited. There were three boys of African descent and three of African-Caribbean descent. The boys ranged in age from 12 years old to 15 years old and were recruited from Years 8,9,10 and 11. The participants were interviewed about their experiences of exclusion and reintegration on a one-to-one basis, using semi-structured interviews which were audio recorded and transcribed. The interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The participants' individual interviews elicited six overarching themes Pupils' positive and negative relationship with schools and teachers, Self-identity and managing adults' perceptions of them, Personal impact of different forms of exclusion, Forms of exclusion, Role of significant people and Inclusive environments. The findings have been discussed in relation to existing literature and the implications of the findings to families, Educational Psychologists, schools and communities has also been discussed.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

other

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Essex & Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Boyd, Rebekah

• BF Psychology

Language dc:language

en