Abstract
Recent trends in British education policy have led to an increased focus on promoting ethnic diversity in schools, as well as greater parental involvement in school choice. This combination has led some schools to actively market diversity as a selling point in order to attract more minority ethnic students, as well as attract White middle-class students seeking a more ‘diverse’ educational experience. This article analyses how students attending such a school in England engage with discourses of multiculturalism. I identify three themes that characterise talk about multiculturalism at school: (1) multiculturalism-as-beneficial commodity, (2) claims of ‘reverse racism’ in provision for minority groups, and (3) denial of racism and constructing the school as a tolerant environment where everybody gets along. Through an analysis of discourse strategies and positioning tactics, I demonstrate how students negotiate tensions between the existence of racism and the construction of an inclusive and anti-racist educational environment.
Highlights
Over the past 30 years, education policy in the United Kingdom has placed an increased focus on promoting ‘multiculturalism’ in the state-funded compulsory schooling system
Katy and Holly prefaced their claims about alleged racism against Whites with a brief allusion to the multiculturalism as beneficial commodity discourse, which positions them as acknowledging the importance of getting on with other people and the benefits of cultural exposure
There is evidence that some of the discourses promoted by government and educational officials are reproduced by students, such as the idea of multiculturalism as a beneficial commodity, which is unsurprising given its pervasiveness in official school parlance
Summary
Over the past 30 years, education policy in the United Kingdom has placed an increased focus on promoting ‘multiculturalism’ in the state-funded compulsory schooling system. I interrogate how students use discourse strategies in order to do identity work in talk about ethnic diversity and show that this acts as a form of social practice, allowing students to negotiate tensions between the existence of racism and the construction of an anti-racist educational environment. Katy and Holly prefaced their claims about alleged racism against Whites with a brief allusion to the multiculturalism as beneficial commodity discourse, which positions them as acknowledging the importance of getting on with other people and the benefits of cultural exposure This assists in the construction of a balanced and reasonable persona, which is used to defend them against the view that some of their statements may be considered racist. Any instances of racism are deflected away from the mainstream and positioned as isolated incidents by rogue individuals
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
