We are not ‘Mixed’, we are ‘All’: understanding the educational experiences of mixed ethnicity children to enhance learner agency

Abstract

From the moment a child is born, they create a self that it is influenced by their external world, this includes social and political factors. As the sense of self develops one cannot ignore the importance of interpersonal relatedness and social interactions. School experiences are therefore key. This paper addresses the experiences of mixed ethnicity children in primary school in the UK. It presents an initial discussion of how children's agency is both impacted and enhanced by their racialised position. Categories of race/ethnicity may be broad and abstract, and this creates an opportunity for representations to be characterised by their physical appearance. This then has a direct impact on how children see themselves represented in primary school both through the curriculum and in their teachers themselves. The notion of belonging is central to the discussion of children's agency and mixed ethnicity children form their sense of self through interactions with both their peers and their teachers. For mixed ethnicity children to be given the best opportunity to develop agency, three elements are needed: culturally aware teachers; a curriculum in which children see themselves represented; and an ethnically diverse teaching body that truly represents British society.