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This fascinating case study, first published in 1990, of how policies work out in a real school setting is placed in the context of the wider debate about multi-cultural, anti-racist education. This book also makes suggestions for the shaping of future policy. This book should be of interest to lecturers and students of education and sociology.

In this introductory text the authors look closely at widely held assumptions about ‘race'and schooling in Britain, and evaluate the role of the school in a multi-ethnic society. Focusing on contemporary issues and concerns, they consider such controversial questions as: Is the education system rigged against black pupils? Is ‘tolerance'really a characteristic of the British? The volume provides a detailed analysis of the Education Reform Act (1988) and the debate surrounding the National Curriculum, and asks whether these new initiatives do truly open the doors of opportunity for all children.

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.