Constructions of class, race, ethnicity and tolerance : the case study of St Aber's and Mawerley

This thesis explores constructions of class, race, ethnicity and tolerance in a ‘monocultural’ private school; whose white, middle-class make-up, was a reflection of its affluent London setting. The study focuses, in particular, on how the school community made sense of the discourse of Fundamental British Values being promoted within UK schools. In this research, the notion of ‘British Values’ is utilised as the basis for an analysis of the values that were seen as significant within the school and exploration of who and what became valued vis-à-vis the school’s (and the wider community’s) normative behaviours. The ethnographic nature of the case study allowed for various avenues for collecting qualitative data. Interviews, with staff, pupils and other members of the community, observations, events at the school and Mawerley; all provided me with great insights of the workings of the school and the locality. The case study developed a number of key findings. Fairness and meritocracy which are considered to be core British values, and also placed at the heart of St Aber’s ethos, can form the basis for justifying exclusions. The school and the area formed a bubble which became a space for privileged white and middle-class practices to become habitual, acquiring moralistic nuances. Questions of British Values led to discussions around race, class, gender, and national belonging, transcending the confined boundaries of the school. The thesis argues that practices of exclusion and inclusion did not only revolve around Britain, and her values, but extended to the school and the locality’s practices. In this sense, I take these two contexts to form a total locale which shapes notions and ideologies and generates concealed boundaries within the all-encompassing nature of a middle-class white bubble