Urban girls' ‘race’ friendship and school choice: changing schools, changing friendships

Abstract

This paper arises out of a longitudinal study, which provides an in‐depth exploration into the emotional and social dynamics of pre‐adolescent girls' friendship groups as they relocate from their inner‐city state primary school to their secondary schools (R. George & N. Browne [2000] Are you in or are you out? A study of girls' friendships in the primary phase of schooling, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 4(4), 289–300). The girls in this larger study encompass the diversity of ethnicities found in large urban communities, and how two of the girls manage and negotiate their friendships across ethnic divisions after school transfer from the primary to the secondary phase of education is the focus of this paper. Through discussion, interviews with the two girls, the girls' mothers and their teachers plus journal entries made by the girls, critical moments in the girls' schooling are analysed to explore how cultural shifts impact upon existing power relations amongst the girls, their teachers and their friends.

Acknowledgements

I thank John Clay and Heather Mendick, who read this paper and gave me constructive feedback. Thanks also to the two anonymous reviewers for their comments.

Notes

1. The girls' names and the names of the schools have been altered to protect their anonymity.

2. The General Certificate of Education (GCSE) is a national examination taken by students at the age of 16 years. Although the examination result is graded on an A–E scale, each school's success is measured by the number of students awarded a grades in the A–C category.