Exploring the Importance of Teachers’ Institutional Contexts in Developing Ethnic Stereotypes: A Case Study of Teachers’ Ethnic Stereotypes in Belgium and England

While there has been considerable research on racism and discrimination in schools, most of these studies remain descriptive in their analysis and focus mainly on face-to-face interactions between students and staff. This article suggests the usefulness of employing an embedded context or ecological approach in studying expressions and perceptions of (teacher) racism in schools. Observation and interview data from case-study research involving one Flemish (Belgian) and one English secondary, multicultural inner-city school is used to investigate the importance of particular institutional characteristics in developing teachers’ ethnic stereotypes of Turkish speaking minority students. The analysis suggests that differences between Flemish and English teachers’ perceptions of Turkish minority students are informed by nationally specific regulations governing teachers’ power to evaluate students, a nationally specific policy on ethnic minority cultures and needs, the ethnic composition of the school’s student and staff population and the enforcement of an inclusive school policy by the school’s senior management. The conclusions discuss implications for further research on racism and discrimination in schools