ABSTRACT
Research conducted within the fi elds of sociology and the sociology of education has shed valuable light on the ways in which young people construct racialised identities (e.g. Alexander, 1996, 2000; Back 1996; Brah and Minhas, 1986; Dwyer, 2000; Hopkins, 2004; Nayak, 2001; Parker, 1998a; Song, 1997, 1999) – and specifi cally, BME young people’s experiences of racialised identities within the context of education or schooling (e.g. Ahmad, 2001; Archer, 2003; Basit, 1997a, 1997b; Connolly, 1998, 1998; Dewan, 2005; Frosh et al., 2002; Haw, 1996; Mirza, 1992; Sewell, 1997; Shain, 2003; Youdell, 2003). Particular attention has also been given to the ways in which BME pupils construct their identities linguistically, in complex hybridised fashions (e.g. Cummins, 2000; Rampton, 1995; Wei, 1994). Alongside the attention that has been paid to young people’s identity self-constructions, insightful critiques have also been produced of institutional and policy constructions of BME pupils as learners, and of the impacts of such positionings on ‘race’ and achievement (e.g. Gillborn, 1990, 2005; Gillborn and Youdell, 2000; Hewitt, 1996; Wright, 1987a).
