Proposed
Project Title:
Immigration,
Race and Identity:
the responses
to education
of Zimbabwean
heritage children
in the UK
Supervisor:
I
have yet to be assigned a supervisor for my research,
but I certainly have my hope pinned in a certain
direction... I shall just have to continue to pray
about it!
Research topic:
The UK has seen, in the last 10 or so years, the biggest influx of African immigrants since the arrival of the Ugandan Indians in the late 1970s. This 'new' black immigration is occurring against the backdrop of the existing educational inequality of black children in English schools. The arrival of these new communities has not had a noticeable effect on national attainment figures for black children overall. However, I am strongly of the view that this masks many hidden issues. It is these issues that this research seeks to explore. Some of the themes I will explore will include, amongst others:
- Migration,
and the socio-cultural effects of 'diasporic-ness'
- Nationalism,
xenophobia, 'Britishness' and race
- Home
- a fixed or fluid concept?
- Self-concept,
identity and belongingness for the black
immigrant child
- The
ontological frameworks of 'blackness' and 'whiteness'
- Concept
of 'blackness', and the Eurocentric
fallacy of "monolithic constructions
of black identity"
- 'Self',
blackness and identity, and responses to schooling
- The
racialised school - perceptions and responses
of African immigrant children to schooling'
***This
research is overtly partisan, and takes a critical
theory position about the education of black children
in the UK
Professional experience:
Over the
last 12 years, I have variously worked as an FE
tutor, managed an LSC funded college project, worked
as Principal Officer (Inclusion) for Education
Leeds, and as a Children and Young People's Services
manager for North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC),
with a countywide brief for the education of young
offenders. My work has been predominantly been
concerned with the educational inclusion and reinclusion
of vulnerable and challenging young people, including
excluded children, looked after children, young
offenders, and BME children, and has involved developing
policy, strategy and practice documents, working
with multi-agency teams to plan and implement targeted
support for vulnerable and challenging children,
and monitoring, challenging and supporting schools
with regards to the education of these children.
I currently work as a secondary school teacher
in Boston Spa, Leeds.
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