Race, Masculinity and Schooling (Educating Boys, Learning Gender)

204 Pages·2003·2.24 MB·English

by  Louise Archer

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EDUCATING BOYS LEARNING GENDER
Series Editors: Debbie Epstein and Máirtín Mac an Ghaill
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A RACE, MASCULINITY
• How do Muslim boys see their identities?
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(cid:127) What are their views of schooling?
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(cid:127) How do they describe their lives outside school?
U AND SCHOOLING
Muslim boys are at the centre of current social and educational
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debates.They have been associated with global terrorism,
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fundamentalism and urban rioting, and suffer from disproportionately N
high rates of exclusion and low rates of achievement and post-16
I Muslim boys and education
progression.But is this the whole story?
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Y
Race, Masculinity and Schoolingbrings together new research and
a range of views to examine the lives and schooling of Muslim boys.
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The book features Muslim boys discussing their identities, their views
on life and schooling, their aspirations and their experiences of N
Louise Archer
racism.
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This timely and ground-breaking book provides researchers, students,
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teachers and policy-makers with a comprehensive overview of the
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impact and implications of issues of race/ethnicity and masculinity
within secondary schooling. H
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LLoouuiissee AArrcchheerris a Senior Research Fellow in the Institute for Policy
Studies in Education at London Metropolitan University.She
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researches issues of race, gender, social class and education
including:widening participation to Higher Education;Chinese pupils' L
identities and aspirations;and inner-city pupils who 'drop out' of I
schooling. N
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cover design:Kate Prentice
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Race, masculinity and schooling
EDUCATING BOYS, LEARNING GENDER
Series editor: Debbie Epstein and Ma´irtı´n Mac an Ghaill
This timely series provides a well articulated response to the current con-
cerns about boys in schools. Drawing upon a wide range of contemporary
theorizing, the series authors debate questions of masculinities and high-
light the changing nature of gender and sexual interactions in educational
institutions.Theaimthroughoutistoofferteachersandotherpractitioners
grounded support and new insights into the changing demands of teaching
boys and girls.
Current and Forthcoming titles:
Louise Archer: Race, Masculinity and Schooling: Muslim Boys and
Education
Madeleine Arnot: Boy’s Work: Teacher Initiatives on Masculinity and
Gender Equality
Christine Skelton: Schooling the Boys: Masculinities and Primary
Education
Martin Mills: Challenging Violence in Schools: An Issue of Masculinities
Leonie Rowan et al: Boys, Literacies and Schooling: The Dangerous
Territories of Gender-based Literacy Reform
Race, masculinity and schooling:
Muslim boys and education
Louise Archer
Open University Press
OpenUniversity Press
McGraw-HillEducation
McGraw-HillHouse
ShoppenhangersRoad
Maidenhead,Berkshire
EnglandSL62QL
email:[email protected]
worldwide web:www.openup.co.uk
Firstpublished 2003
Copyright#Louise Archer 2003
Allrightsreserved. Except forthe quotationof short passages forthe purposeof
criticism andreview, nopart of thispublicationmay bereproduced, storedin a
retrieval system,ortransmitted, inany formorbyanymeans,electronic,
mechanical, photocopying,recording orotherwise, withouttheprior written
permission ofthe publisherora licence from theCopyright Licensing Agency
Limited.Details of suchlicences (for reprographic reproduction) maybe obtained
fromtheCopyright Licensing Agency Ltdof 90Tottenham CourtRoad, London,
W1T4LP.
Acataloguerecord for thisbookisavailablefrom theBritish Library.
ISBN 0 335 210627 (pb) 0 335 210635 (hb)
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
CIPdataappliedfor
TypesetbyYHT Ltd,London
Printedin GreatBritain byBell andBain Ltd,Glasgow
For Lesley and John Archer

Contents
Series editors’ preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction 1
Part I Debates and issues 5
1 Gender, ethnicity and education: the theoretical and policy
context 7
2 Muslim pupils: current debates and issues 26
Part II Identities 45
3 ‘Race’, religion and masculinity in school 47
4 Boys, girls and gendered identities 66
5 Identities out of school: home, leisure and family 87
Part III Linking identities and inequalities 105
6 Muslim boys and racism(s) 107
7 Educational and occupational aspirations 129
8 Conclusion: Muslim boys and schooling 155
References 170
Index 186

Series editors’ preface
Educating boys is currently seen – both – globally and locally – to be in
crisis. In fact, there is a long history to the question: what about the boys?
However, it was not until the 1990s that the question of boys’ education
became a matter of public and political concern in a large number of
countries around the world, most notably the UK, the USA and Australia.
Thereareanumberofdifferentapproachestotroublingquestionsabout
boys in schools to be found in the literature. The questions concern the
behaviours and identities of boys in schools, covering areas such as school
violence and bullying, homophobia, sexism and racism, through to those
aboutboys’perceivedunderachievement.InFailingBoys?IssuesinGender
and Achievement, Epstein and her colleagues (1998) identify three specific
discourses that are called upon in popular and political discussions of the
schoolingofboys:‘poorboys’;‘failingschools,failingboys’;and‘boyswill
beboys’.Theysuggestthat it mightbeuseful todraw,instead, onfeminist
andprofeministinsightsinordertounderstandwhatisgoingonintermsof
gender relations between boys and girls and amongst boys. Important
questions,they suggest,are:whatkindofmasculinitiesare beingproduced
in schools, in what ways, and how do they impact upon the education of
boys? In other words, there is an urgent need to place boys’ educational
experiences within the wider gender relations within the institution and
beyond.
Despite the plethora of rather simplistic and often counter-productive
‘solutions’(suchasmakingclassroomsmore‘boy-friendly’inmachoways)
thatarecomingfromgovernmentsindifferentpartoftheEnglish-speaking
world and from some of the more populist writers in the area (e.g. Steve
Biddulph), there is a real necessity for a more thoughtful approach to the
issues raised by what are quite long-standing problems in the schooling of
boys. Approaches for advice to researcher in the field of ‘boys’ under-