Educating Boys, Learning Gender Series

Race, Masculinity and Schooling

by Louise Archer

Published 1 January 2003

"a welcome and valuable contribution ... because of Archer's ability to reveal for her readers the complex and dynamic ways in which young Muslim Asian boys in England construct their identities. Through a careful analysis, she demonstrates how stereotypes and inequalities have a real impact on the ways in which these young people negotiate their identities, reminding us of the importance of reading identities within their different contexts... an important and refreshing book" Journal of Education Policy

Muslim boys are currently 'hot topics' of social and educational debate: they have been associated with global terrorism, fundamentalism,urban rioting and, within the context of schooling, they appear to be suffering from disproportionately high rates of exclusion and low rates of achievement and post-16 progression. This timely and innovative book examines the issues in detail, fore-grounding Muslim boys' own views of their lives and schooling.

The book explores the complex interplay between race/ethnicity, religion, masculinity and social class within Muslim boys' lives. Attention is also given to the role of the teacher/researcher within the boys' production of masculine identities.

The book draws on illuminating new research data and reviews a wide range of literature on masculinity and race/ethnicity to enable readers to engage with complex social inequalities within the context of secondary schooling.