An exploration of African-Caribbean boys underachievement and boys' stories of schooling: their own worst enemies?

The alarming underachievement of African-Caribbean boys in British schools and abroad in comparison to other ) groups is highlighted in this book. The author adopts and historical perspective to compare West Indian children who arrived in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s (many labelled as ESN) (Coard 1971) to the problems faced by black boys in today's classroom. Janet Graham also explores the impact of globalisation, population movement, government policies and diversity on black boys' education provision in inner city schools in Britain. She investigates masculinity, subcultures, peer group pressures and exclusion from school and their impact on black boys education. The institutional focus study provides a perspective from voices of black boys in one inner London school to find out what they think about school, learning, subcultures, peer group pressures and teachers. This book will be of interest to educationalists, teachers, students, parents, school management and government bodies interested in race, diversity, achievement and want to bring about change to improve life chances.