George Skinner – författare

Many schools in developed countries have children and adolescents from a variety of ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural backgrounds. They relate to each other in various degrees of encounter that range from harmony to hostility. The issue of how a school can foster inter-ethnic relationships and challenge the manifestations of bad relationships cannot of course be divorced from tensions and inequalities in the wider society. This book focuses on ways in which schools might make a difference to the quality of such relationships within their walls. It has sought to do this by studying nine secondary schools in some depth: their organisation, structures and interactive processes: and the experiences, attitudes and behaviour of students and their teachers. The research on which the book is based has also yielded data on the influence of policy and procedure in schools on relationships.

Many schools in developed countries have children and adolescents from a variety of ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural backgrounds. They relate to each other in various degrees of encounter that range from harmony to hostility. The issue of how a school can foster inter-ethnic relationships and challenge the manifestations of bad relationships cannot of course be divorced from tensions and inequalities in the wider society. This book focuses on ways in which schools might make a difference to the quality of such relationships within their walls. It has sought to do this by studying nine secondary schools in some depth: their organisation, structures and interactive processes: and the experiences, attitudes and behaviour of students and their teachers. The research on which the book is based has also yielded data on the influence of policy and procedure in schools on relationships.

First published in 1999, this book is based on several years work in Hong Kong and Britain, both before and after the absorption of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong into the People’s Republic of China in 1997. The initial chapters review the history of Chinese people in Britain; specific aspects of Chinese culture and personality; Chinese educational systems; and the recent history of migration from Hong Kong to Britain. The central part of the book compares three samples of adolescents (about 350 in each of the three cultures): Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong; Chinese adolescents in Britain, with sub-divisions of those who have grown up in Britain and those recently arrived; and Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. All of the 1,050 respondents completed measures of self-concept, identity, educational aspirations and views about the family, society and the future. The final part of the book contains extended qualitative accounts from personal interview with a sub-sample of Chinese adolescents in Britain and concludes with proposals for educational and policy changes which can accommodate the aspirations of Chinese adolescents in the British educational system.