'People talk about equality. It just doesn’t work…’: policy construction of the ‘other’

The Scottish Government identifies Curriculum for Excellence (CfE, 2004) as a framework enacted in the education system based on ‘inclusion’ and equality. This paper takes an opportunity to explore the narratives of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Muslim young people’s school experiences, who have been identified by the policy strategy More Choices, More Chances (MCMC, 2008) as requiring support for transition out of compulsory education due to the higher propensity of falling out of education, employment or training (Baird and Collins, 2010).

Hsieh and Shannon’s (2005) direct content analysis was used alongside Bourdieu’s (1986) framework of habitus, field and capital to analyse the relational ties between the young people and their peers, and young people and their teachers, using a case study approach (Stake, 1995).

Six out of the eleven research participants felt they felt neither included in the school environment or treated as equals to their peers. I argue that the policy language needs to be specific (Arshad et al, 2007:130) in order to address equality and inclusion in the school environment if it is to improve outcomes, particularly when addressing the ethnic minority pupils’ experiences of school in Glasgow, Scotland.