‘But you don’t look Irish’: identity constructions of minority ethnic students as ‘non-Irish’ and deficient learners at school in ireland

Abstract

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“The School for the Travellers and the Blacks”: Student and Teacher Perspectives on “Choosing” a Post-Primary School with a High Concentration of Disadvantage

“…Deficit racialized constructions of minority ethnic students are commonly reported in Ireland [19][20][21] and internationally [22,23]. Research from the international context has shown teachers frequently view students from marginalised and minority groups through a "cultural deficit lens" [24] often perceiving minority students to be weaker students [23], and holding low expectations based upon assumptions of Black inferiority [22].…”

“…Frequently, such negative constructions of minority ethnic students' ability are related to perceptions of English language proficiency and (perceived) related language support needs [31,32], as for many students of immigrant "origin" in schools, English is an additional language. For example, Ní Dhuinn and Keane [19] reported that their (migrant) minority ethnic participants' academic ability was constructed by their teachers in deficit terms, connected to (usually incorrect) assumptions about their proficiency in English. Further, many of the participants reported not being encouraged to progress to higher education.…”

“…Further, it has been found that minority students are viewed as undesirable learners by their peers [21], resulting from their construction as "other" with respect to their skin colour, cultural background, and/or first language and related perceived language "deficits" [3,17,21]. Additionally, students of migrant origin frequently have their "Irishness" questioned and experience challenges in their understanding and presentation of self in terms of their identity [19,21,37]. Ní Dhuinn and Keane [19] found that despite explicitly self-identifying as Irish (and in some cases having Irish citizenship), their migrant minority ethnic participants were positioned by their White Irish peers as not Irish, particularly where their skin colour was other than White.…”

“…Additionally, students of migrant origin frequently have their "Irishness" questioned and experience challenges in their understanding and presentation of self in terms of their identity [19,21,37]. Ní Dhuinn and Keane [19] found that despite explicitly self-identifying as Irish (and in some cases having Irish citizenship), their migrant minority ethnic participants were positioned by their White Irish peers as not Irish, particularly where their skin colour was other than White. In this regard, they emphasised (White) Irish students' exclusionary constructions of Irish identity.…”

“…Typically, these schools are under-subscribed and have a significant concentration of students from disadvantaged backgrounds [10]. As noted by Ní Dhuinn and Keane [19], in part this is a result of school enrolment policies which disadvantage newly arrived and Traveller families with respect to access to schools.…”