ABSTRACT
The intersection between ethnicity and class and its implications for the academic achievements of students from underprivileged ethnic groups is challenging the educational systems in the West. Special attention has been given to the case of multiethnic societies, such as the US, Canada, and Australia. Nationality is almost absent from the research dedicated to underprivileged students that share with privileged students the same national group. In case studies where nationality is perceived as a social unifier, like in relatively young nation states, nationality is even less visible in studies dedicated to learning obstacles and failure. The various ways in which the students, teachers, and parents handled this division, which was manifested through various sites, discussions, and events, tell the story played by nationality in national education systems in multiethnic societies, and explore the role of nationality in the reproduction of a depoliticised ethnic hierarchy in school.
