ABSTRACT
The introductory chapter described how black students are more likely to be excluded from school (Osler et al, 2002; Department for Education and Skills, 2003) and those excluded from school are more at risk from exclusion in wider society (Melrose et al, 1999, in Harris and Eden, 2000; Wright et al, 2000). Yet there has been very little consideration of how young black people, who are excluded from mainstream education, interpret their situation and construct an identity for themselves. This chapter examines how, following negative schooling experiences, young black people who are excluded from school and pushed to the margins, go on to secure for themselves a positive educational outcome. In looking at a set of case studies, this chapter provides a nuanced understanding of how young black people respond, resist and work to transform their situation, in order to emerge with a successful outcome. In doing so, two concepts are considered. The first is Thomson et al’s (2002) ‘critical moments’ and how young people react to these significant turning points in the process of growing up. The second is Yosso’s (2005) notion of ‘aspirational capital’, which is defined as ‘the ability to maintain hopes and dreams for the future, even in the face of real and perceived barriers’ (p. 77). It is argued that these combine and lead to a form of capital, which itself promotes resilience and a ‘culture of possibility’ (p. 78) as a way of responding to personal struggles.
