Belonging in England today: Schools, race, class and policy

Drawing on theorized notions of belonging and understandings of citizenship which stress the everyday and affective, I consider aspects of the relationship between educational institutions and belonging through a discussion of two recent research projects. One explores the educational strategies of Black middle-class parents, and the second teachers’ responses to the recent requirement that they promote government-identified national values (the ‘fundamental British values’) in the classroom. I argue that both projects shed light on the differentiated experience of belonging and non-belonging in England today. I conclude by arguing for an understanding of the school as a shared public institution. This understanding highlights the potential of developing in all members of a school community, including parents, a sense of both belonging to the institution and being perceived by others as belonging, as well as a recognition of the legitimacy of claims to belong from ‘other’ students and families. Fostering such mutual recognition can be seen as a ‘quiet’, but potentially powerful, politics.