An explorative study of ethnic minority students' strategies in response to racism in Cyprus

Considerable sociological research has focused on the nature, occurrence and consequences of racism in education, particularly in the UK. Most of these studies apply a social-constructivist approach and focus mainly on students’ experiences of ethnic stereotyping and discrimination, teachers’ stereotypes of ethnic minority students and the processes and effects of selection, the distribution of classroom resources, and the nature of the knowledge and values taught and sanctioned in schools (for a review, see Stevens 2007). However, little systematic research has been carried out on describing and explaining variability in students’ strategies in response to racism. This is an important area of research as student’s coping strategies in response to racism in school and society can have an important impact on their social and economic success. This study uses data collected from qualitative interviews with Turkish Cypriot ethnic minority students in a Greek Cypriot secondary schools in the Republic of Cyprus. The analysis first describes the nature of students’ experiences with racism and their strategies in response to such incidents. Subsequently, the analysis focuses on the factors and processes that seem to explain students’ decisions to opt for particular strategies, including structural, cultural and physiological barriers and opportunities, the nature of experienced racism and students collective identities. The conclusions discuss the implications of this study for social policy and future sociological research on racism in schools