ERIC Number: EJ1053537
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Mar
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1381-2890
EISSN: N/A
How Tracking Structures Attitudes towards Ethnic Out-Groups and Interethnic Interactions in the Classroom: An Ethnographic Study in Belgium
Van Praag, Lore; Boone, Simon; Stevens, Peter A. J.; Van Houtte, Mieke
Social Psychology of Education: An International Journal, v18 n1 p165-184 Mar 2015
The influence of the ethnic composition of schools on interethnic relations and attitudes has been studied extensively and has received ample interest from policy makers. However, less attention has been paid to the structures and processes inside schools that organize interethnic relations and attitudes. In Flanders (Belgium), secondary education is organized by grouping students in different tracks, which are hierarchically ordered and prepare students for different futures. Tracking in Flanders is intended to group students according to their abilities but together with this, students are grouped according to their ethnic and socioeconomic background. In the present study, the interethnic relations and attitudes in each track will be explored, based on ethnographic observations and semi-structured interviews in three multi-ethnic secondary schools in one city. Our findings suggest that different patterns occur across three groups of tracks: the most appreciated fields of study in academic, the intermediary (less appreciated fields of study in academic and technical tracks) and vocational tracks. According to the relative sizes of ethnic groups and track specific characteristics, interethnic relations were characterized respectively by ethnic segregation, positive experiences of interethnic contact or ethnic conflict/tensions. The ethnic composition of classrooms seemed to matter for students' ethnic in-group identifications and evaluations and perceived out-group threats.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Track System (Education), Secondary School Students, Ethnic Groups, Intergroup Relations, Attitudes, Ethnography, Semi Structured Interviews, Secondary Schools, School Demography, Conflict
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Belgium
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A