African Caribbean educational experiences in Preston: A case study

Abstract

The research is informed by the post-modernist theoretical framework. This framework is chosen because of its dynamic and eclectic epistemology which allows the study to identify the experiences of a group of African Caribbean people within the British education system. It also explores the patterns of experiences among three African Caribbean generations in Preston. The study seeks to explain the relative success of minority African Caribbean people in the education system. Data was
gathered from questionnaire, interviews along with ethnographic observations from local secondary school and participation in seminars and conferences. The tools used to analyse the data employs the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) is used to analyse the survey data while Nvivo is used to analyse the interviews conducted. Both packages yielded significant results. The research concludes that while racism remains a widespread educational experience among the three generations of African Caribbean people studied, a great disparity of achievement also exists at different levels of educational success. While the second generation tops the success rates of educational attainment, the third generation fared abysmally.
The research found that the length of African Caribbean peoples' stay in Britain does not correlate with their educational success. There is a social stratum within the African Caribbean community which mimics the host society; those from the middle class families tend to account for the largest rate of educational success in the English education system. The research also concludes that whilst living in semi urban environments does not guarantee educational success, in comparison it is even far worse for African Caribbean people living in deprived inner city council estates to achieve success in the educational system. The research proposes significant recommendations for policy makers, Local Education Authorities, schools, teachers, and the African Caribbean community especially parents to work together to promote educational success among African Caribbean people.