Children's Voices: Studies of interethnic conflict and violence in European schools

Mateja Sedmak, Zorana Medarić, Sarah Walker, Mateja Sedmak, Zorana Medarić, Sarah Walker

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781134493524
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

How are the processes of increasing ethnic and racial diversity reflected in European schools? How do children and educators experience and perceive interethnic relations in schools?

This book examines the issues of interethnic coexistence, the management of ethnic diversity, xenophobic and racial attitudes and, in particular, the under-researched topic of interethnic violence among children in the school environment. Drawing together qualitative and quantitative data across five European countries it offers an insight into the views, personal experiences and responses of children from different ethnic backgrounds to interethnic violence in European schools.

International contributors from England, Slovenia, Cyprus, Italy and Austria come together to provide a comparative study of experiences of interethnic conflict and violence in primary and secondary school classrooms. Each chapter focuses on positive measures that can combat discrimination, providing examples of good practice as well as considering the position of the school in promoting citizenship in an increasingly global world. By examining the experiences and perspectives of children, educators and experts, the book provides up-to-date research findings in the field and suggests key mechanisms for addressing interethnic violence in schools. With support, schools can play a key role in alleviating interethnic tensions and combatting ethnocentrism through the implementation of strong policies, acting as 'protected spaces'.

Children's Voices: Studies of interethnic conflict and violence in European schools is of international relevance both within Europe, and beyond, and will appeal to researchers, teachers and policy makers concerned with race equality in the classroom.

Chapter 1

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Editors’ introduction

Reflections on interethnic relations and (in)equality

Mateja Sedmak, Zorana Medarić and Sarah Walker

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This book derives from an international research project, ‘Children’s Voices: Exploring Interethnic Violence and Children’s Rights in the School Environment’, that addressed the topic of interethnic violence in the school environment across five European countries: Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Cyprus and the United Kingdom (UK). These different countries and contexts, however, share the common developments of increasing ethnic and ‘racial’¹ diversity, which all too frequently appear to result in an increase in xenophobic and racist attitudes towards ethnic minorities and migrant communities. Since these issues are often also reflected in the school environment, five European universities: the University of Primorska, Slovenia, as lead partner, the University of Trieste, Italy, the University of Vienna, Austria, the European University Cyprus and London South Bank University in the UK, joined together to examine the under-researched issue of ethnicity-based violence in schools.

The concept of the project was developed on the basis of information gathered from European Union (EU) programmes (Daphne), local school authorities and international organizations (United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, FRA). The core idea was based on the fact that national and ethnic awareness in EU countries is strengthening in accordance with globalization processes, increasing migration flows, and EU enlargement; and whilst it was assumed that through these processes ethnic identity would become less important, the opposite is occurring. This is evident in the expansion of right-wing political parties in EU states as well as in increased xenophobic and racist attitudes towards ethnic minorities and migrant communities (i.e. ‘new’ ethnic minorities as a result of the diversification of migration flows). The fact that European societies are becoming increasingly multicultural confirms our responsibility to protect and safeguard the rights of all people living within EU borders regardless of their ethnic and cultural background. In general, children and young people are among the principal bearers of social values and they carry significant responsibility for securing multiculturalism in Europe as well as reducing xenophobia and discrimination.

The project did not focus solely on children’s perceptions and experiences of interethnic violence in school, but also explored the issues of interethnic relations in the five partner countries, as well as examining their legislative regulation and recent changes in this field, school regulations and good practices etc. European countries are highly heterogeneous and differ significantly in terms of their immigration history, the extent of ethnic diversity, diversity management, anti-discrimination regulation and so on. All these factors affect the levels of interculturality in the area, and thus also in schools. Partner countries therefore present highly heterogeneous contexts, and the aim of the research was not to provide a comparative study, as generalizable findings cannot be deduced, but rather to present the situation in each of the five countries as a form of case study, to give children and young people a voice to express their perceptions and experiences of interethnic violence with a view to greater understanding of this topic.

For the purposes of the research project, the concept of violence is understood as a continuum from hidden to overt (Henze et al. 2000) and violence is defined in its broadest form as including any kind of behaviour or treatment that poses a threat to human dignity. From this point of view, any act of violence originating from ethnic sentiment that appears at an interpersonal or institutional level in the form of physical or psychological violence should be understood as violation of basic children’s rights. Using this broad definition of violence, and given that there is little literature on interethnic violence in schools (Monks et al. 2008), the specific focus of this study was to examine violence that arises from ethnic tensions and focus on the different forms that such violence can take, something which is less covered in previous literature (Monks et al. 2008), and thus to examine different forms of violence – such as social exclusion, which, whilst less obvious than other forms, can be equally harmful. The aim of the Children’s Voices research project was therefore to shed light on pupils’ experiences of interethnic violence within the school environment, and to compare and contrast the experiences and perceptions of pupils based on their ethnic background to establish if there are any differences.

The perceived needs of all children and adolescents are also strongly connected to a safe school environment, as this is a space where children spend most of their time. In addition, schools are institutions of high importance primarily because they represent a place of secondary socialization that influences the formation of norms and values; they play a central role in the development of children’s personalities, talents and physical and psychological capabilities. From this point of view, children from minority ethnic backgrounds are additionally vulnerable given that they are often exposed to segregation, discrimination and interethnic violence.

Interethnic relations and social stratification

In discussing the issues of interethnic relations and (in)equality in general, and, more narrowly, interethnic violence, it is essential to first outline our understanding of ethnicity and ethnic affiliation. In addition, in order to fully understand the dynamic of interethnic violence, we also need to explore how implicitly ethnicity and stratification are interconnected in reality; whether ethnic hierarchization can be avoided, or how present the reproduction of ethnic inequality is in today’s school systems.

Regardless of different theoretical approaches to ethnicity in today’s scientific arena, it is noticeable that there is quite a wide consensus that ethnicity and ethnic identity is both objective and subjective. Ethnic identity is marked by birth in an ethnic group but also by (auto)definition from members and non-members of the ethnic group.² Ethnicity claims the feeling of belonging and awareness of ethnic boundaries; it is composed of an intertwining cluster of attributes and not single cultural characteristics (Enloe 1980). The contact and relational nature of ethnicity is essential to defining ethnic groups (Barth 1970, 1996). The group categories are established through contact; the group identification is defined in relation to the others, to non-members and to ‘what they are not’. Because membership can be determined only in relation to non-membership, we cannot talk about ethnic groups in isolation.³ Eriksen (1993) therefore contends that ethnicity is ‘an aspect in mutual relationships and not characteristic of the group’.

Ethnicity and ethnic identity are closely connected with human classification and intergroup relations. When we enter in the field of interethnic relations, the possibilities for the production and reproduction of inequality and social stratification emerge. In the field of interethnic relations, hierarchization or social stratification always takes place on the basis of size and (more importantly) on the basis of power (unequal distribution of material and symbolic goods, access to political and cultural levers of power, etc.). Schermerhorn (1996) has created a typology of ethnic groups in relation to size and power: where a numerically stronger group also possesses (social, political, economic) power, we can talk about the Majority group (e.g. Germans in Germany); where a numerically small ethnic group possesses power, we have the Elite (for example, the white elite in South Africa during Apartheid); the Minority group in such a model is both small in size and has limited access to central activities and roles which are of essential economic and political meaning; finally, a numerically large ethnic group with no social power is described as Mass subjects.

However, the concepts of majority and minority are, as evidenced by Eriksen (1993), relational and relative: changes to the political border can switch the majority into minority and vice versa. Ethnic minorities (indigene or immigrants) are especially vulnerable and will need to make more of a conscious effort to preserve (in order to avoid assimilationist pressures) their mother language and culture. However, the denial of minority rights, discrimination and intolerance from the majority population are more problematic than the actual small size of the ethnic minority population and from this emerges a sense of (collective) threats (Sedmak 2009). Ethnic minorities experience a ‘universal’ feeling of threat, which can be differently manifested and have different intensity. The feeling of threat, which results in the strengthening of ethnic borders and in diminishing interethnic contacts, has actual influence on minority group preservation. Finally, the position on the stratification scale depends also on the indigene (traditional or autochthonous) or immigrant status (Sedmak 2004, 2005).

Interethnic relations are marked also by the influence of interethnic distance. Intercultural the possibility for more harmonious relationships (as in the case of ethnic heterogamy) (Robinson 1980; Petroviɣ 1986). However, this is not necessarily always the case; on account of historical or political reasons, culturally very similar ethnicities can build strong and tight intergroup ethnic borders, at the same time exposing insurmountable intercultural differences. A special aspect of interethnic relations, which influences unequal treatment and, consequently, inequality, is the discrimination of ethnic minorities.

Discrimination can take the form of actions which either reduce the chances for members of the ethnic minority group to access possibilities which are available to others (e.g. employment), or favours them (Medariɣ 2009). Thus, we have either negative or positive discrimination, which is manifested in all important social structures: media, politics, as well as in the everyday experiences of individuals as members of ethnic minorities (Medariɣ 2009). Discrimination is connected to prejudices and stereotypes. Ethnic prejudices present a set of attitudes and beliefs, related to members of an ethnic group, but which are, however, not necessarily reflected in behaviour towards those members; discrimination is, on the contrary, associated with action (Ule 2005). (Ethnic) stereotypes, similarly to prejudices, target an ethnic group and present simplified, unified and often distorted views on the members of this group. They are based on the generalization of individual characteristics, which are ‘typically’ attributed to the entire ethnic group.

Discrimination and xenophobia

Owing to changes over the last decade on the social, economic and political level, which have additionally been enhanced by the current economic crisis, Europe has witnessed increased intolerance towards migrants and minorities, as Sauer and Ajanovic argue in this volume. Greater intolerance, hostility, prejudices and rising discrimination are an integral part of European reality and are also reproduced in the school environment, among children and young people. The process of ‘othering’, i.e. constructing differentiation between ‘us’ and ‘them’, by pointing out differences based on stereotyping, and hierarchizing among ethnic groups is also an important part of everyday and school life (see žakelj and Kralj this volume). Those ‘others’, migrants and ethnic minorities, are often on the outskirts of society, as well as frequent targets of prejudice and discrimination. Prejudices as generalized and often negative attitudes are created within an ‘in-group’ of people towards an ‘out-group’ of people with the aim of intensifying in-group cohesion (Allport 1954) and often pave the way for discrimination. As Zick et al. (2011: 159) put it: ‘Group-focused enmity is a central instrument of identity-creation and separation. It legitimizes inequality by discrediting certain groups through generalized negative opinions and prepares the ground for the discrimination that creates and maintains group differences.’

One of the simplest definitions of racial discrimination is that it refers to ‘unequal treatment of persons or groups on the basis of their race or ethnicity’ (Pager and Shepard 2008: 180). In Europe, discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin is considered to be widespread (Eurobarometer 2012). Black Africans, Roma and Muslims are currently the communities most vulnerable to discrimination according to the European Network Against Racism’s shadow report (ENAR 2013).

In the past few decades, the issue of ethnic discrimination has been addressed at a common European level through various policies, including those focusing on intercultural education and management of diversity in schools. Antidiscriminatory principles, including respect for racial and ethnic origin were integrated into national legislations of European countries. The question, however, is whether these policies have been effectively implemented, and here opinions vary from the perception of the complete ineffectiveness of, for example, the racial equality directive (Mason 2010) to an acknowledgment of its contribution to effective changes in the field of anti-discrimination (Amiraux and Guiraudon 2010). Similarly diverse are opinions on the effectiveness of multicultural educational policies (see Vryonides this volume) that on the one hand are seen as reproducing inequalities through, for example, hidden curriculum, and on the other, can and do contribute to changes in this field.

Schools as an integral part of wider society are also affected by changes in society and children are influenced by stereotypes and prejudice, differentiations between ‘us’ and ‘them’, which are perpetuated in everyday life. Here, the media can play an important role, but so too can subtle policies and schools, through hidden curricula. However, as our research shows, schools also have the potential for change and can make a difference in the lives of children and young people (Inman et al. this volume; Sauer and Ajanovic this volume). Schools are important spaces in which children’s perceptions and behaviours can be challenged through effective policies.

Indeed, research has identified a whole school approach as a means with which to address interethnic violence. As Henze et al. (2000) find in their study based in the USA, a dual approach of zero tolerance and the overall inclusive ethos of school are key mechanisms in preventing violence. Acknowledging the difference between students, and celebrating the heterogeneity of school community, gives pupils the ability to learn and stay safe within the school environment (Tippett et al. 2011: 23). Pupils need to see themselves reflected positively in the curriculum of the schools that they attend (Coles 2004: 122). Further, research evidences the importance of trust, and a willingness to report bullying, for the prevention of racist bullying (Scherr and Larson 2009 in Tippett et al. 2011: 25). Other research reports have recommended that inclusive language is promoted throughout school and found that schools which dealt best with bullying h...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Editors’ introduction: reflections on interethnic relations and (in)equality
• 2 The rise of racism across Europe
• 3 The management of interethnic relations in the European context
• 4 Interethnic violence in schools across European countries: the state of the art
• 5 ‘Ethnicity is not an issue!’: interethnic relations and peer violence in Slovenian schools
• 6 Interethnic violence in Austrian schools: an intersectional approach
• 7 Interethnic violence in Italian schools: a marginal phenomenon?
• 8 Wearing your own culture: perceptions of Islamophobia in England
• 9 Interethnic violence in Cypriot public schools: a dormant problem with explosive potentials
• Index