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Abstract

Schools around the UK, particularly British schools, have been continually facing significant issues in terms of social exclusion and ethnicity. Over the years, the occurrence of social exclusion within peer groups is caused by many factors. Research has shown that social exclusion in Primary schools is influenced by teacher’s perspectives and sensibility, the school system, and the diversity in friendship groups. This dissertation explores Arabic-speaking children’s experiences with social inclusion and a sense of belonging within friendships in British primary schools. Social inclusion can be portrayed in different ways. For example, it can come from parents who encourage their child to advocate their voice, feelings and stands up for themselves (Scorgie and Forlin, 2019). In this study, the experiences of ethnic minority children are analysed through various academic studies and personal encounters. Findings from empirical studies demonstrated that many children come upon unpleasant racist incidents because of their ethnicity, skin colour, or language.
Individuals who are constantly exposed to discrimination may internalise prejudice or stigma, which manifests as shame, low self-esteem, fear, stress, and poor mental and physical health. It can harm achievement and reduce a person’s sense of agency (the ability to make and act on decisions), causing people to work in ways that adhere to how others view them (United Nations, 2016). In addition, friendships are an integral part of personal, social, and emotional worlds, which is a key site in which individuals learn to negotiate public social worlds – interacting, forming opinions, engaging in practices and co-existing with others (Iqbal et al., 2017). Friendships created at an early age are remarkable. They are some of the first communicative encounters in which children begin to develop their understandings of social and ethnic, and individual differences

Course: Early Childhood Studies - BA (Hons)

Date Deposited: 2022-04-08

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13892.html