This research explores the concept of race in the\ud
construction and penetration of educational arrangements\ud
for Afro-Caribbean children. Existing research during the\ud
1960s and 1970s on multiculturalism fails to acknowledge\ud
the educationai mandate offered by the coercive power of\ud
race in the construction of Afro-Caribbean children's\ud
identity ln schools. In this thesis, the concepts of\ud
disconnection, reconstitution, affirmation and contested\ud
legitimacy provide a theoretical framework for\ud
understanding the educational marginalisatlon of Afro-\ud
Caribbean pupils.\ud
Part I establishes the context of marginalisation\ud
through competing conceptions of race. The concept of\ud
disconnection Is applied to review formulations of race\ud
which endow it with an all-embracing power so that it\ud
neutralises all other ideological forces. Part I provides\ud
the framework for examining the scope of race in defining\ud
the educational agenda and the mechanisms for disseminating\ud
racial forms of education.\ud
Part II and Part III trace the mechanisms which\ud
promote the objectification of race in education. It\ud
examines the early context of the racial objectification in\ud
education policy for children of New Commonwealth origin\ud
drawing upon the literature on race and official government\ud
reports to assess the impact of the politicization of race\ud
in education. The concept of reconstitution is used to\ud
analyse the dominant cultural deficit models which serve as\ud
an explanation of the position of Afro-Caribbean pupils in\ud
the education system. Reconstitution refers to the process\ud
by which race is converted into culture and the\ud
stigmatisation of culture is used to explain the under\ud
achievement of Afro-Caribbean children in school. In Part\ud
III the concept of affirmation is also developed in an\ud
empirical analysis of LEA policy documents in the early\ud
1980's, which aim to institutionalise particular racial\ud
forms of education.\ud
Part IV addresses the nature of the consensus,\ud
contestation and legitimation of racial forms of education.\ud
The politics of LEAs are examined in terms of their\ud
attempts to structure new modes of consensus through\ud
multiculturalism and anti-racism. The debate between\ud
multicultural and anti-racist education and the challenge\ud
of the New Right are analysed using the concept of\ud
contested legitimacy
