ABSTRACT

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.

chapter 1|8 pages

Introduction

chapter 4|16 pages

Children’s cultures, black experiences

chapter 5|31 pages

The meanings of racist name-calling

chapter 6|34 pages

Case studies

chapter 7|25 pages

Sources of racism

chapter 8|18 pages

Responses to racist incidents

chapter 9|21 pages

The four girls

chapter 10|10 pages

Conclusions