This thesis is primarily concerned with immigrant pupils and their identity formation in primary schools. In particular, the research advances understanding about the experiences of pupils in non-urban settings and their educational experiences. It charts how narrative pathways of identities are unpredictable and charged with affectivities, emotions and power flows. The nuanced interrelationships are revealed between: wider policy contexts, school level processes, and the identity categories around which educational inclusions, exclusions and inequalities orbit. The research paradigm drew on a Deleuzian philosophical approach and also took into consideration learning from Critical Race Theory (CRT). The former provided a conceptual framework which facilitated a discussion of bounded potentialities which were open to reinterpretation and future creativities – things do not have to be as they are. While the latter perspective helped to explain the ways in which inequalities were replicated in the researched settings. The findings indicate that, for the pupils concerned, policy formations and their interpretations within schools have profound implications for pupils’ experiences by assigning pupils to particular spaces within classrooms. In turn, these spaces begin to assume meanings that impact on the formation of personal and educational identities. To some extent, spaces are charged with racial and ethnic significance. Overall, the school arena is one which responds to a wider drive towards standardisation and, as such, it was challenging for the schools involved to incorporate individual cultural and linguistic differences, though this varied according to setting. The findings have relevance for teacher education and for how the professional and cultural identities of teachers also influence the wider possibilities for cultural and linguistic inclusion and creativity within schools.

Throughout the English-speaking world, minority language children (LMC) or children who speak English as an additional language (EAL) are being educated in mainstream classrooms where they have little or no opportunity to use their mother tongue. This study investigates how educators at primary schools in Merseyside, where English is usually the only language in the classroom, respond to the educational and academic needs (linguistic, cognitive) of LMC/EAL children. It addresses socio-linguistic issues, teaching strategies and instructional approaches related to linguistic development and academic achievement of LMCIEAL pupils. It outlines the background to policy and practice in relation to LMCIEAL pupils in Britain. School districts across the United Kingdom are serving increasing number of children from varied cultural and social-linguistic backgrounds in mainstream classrooms. While the population of LMC/EAL will continue to increase, the majority of teachers and those in teacher programs are mainly from a white British background with limited awareness, knowledge and understanding of linguistic needs of LMC/EAL children in mainstream classrooms. Thus, a major challenge for educators is to develop and provide resources that enable teaching such diverse populations to become more effective. The research investigates in particular, how well local authorities and schools can raise standards for all learners in mainstream primary classrooms and examines the ways in which mainstream educational policy and practice has attempted to adapt in recognising that linguistic diversity is the norm rather than the exception in modem British society. The research focuses on what instructional strategies that schools employ in order to provide the best support for language minority children in the classroom in term of the individually focused approaches to learning, closer link between school and home and resources available for schools serving LMC/EAL pupils. The focus of this research is on the experience of staff from 20 primary schools within two local authorities in Merseyside. Questionnaires, semi-structured interviews with the primary schools staff and local authority advisers and government/school policy documents were used as data sources. The results of the study showed that the institution and community (use of first language) play a role in academic achievement of LMC/EAL pupils. The study revealed that teachers within mainstream classrooms recognise the importance of bilingualism, but due to the lack of resources and support, they found it hard to put it into practice. The results indicated that most participants were from a dominant language (English) background, which lack the awareness and experience needed to be effective in multi cultural classrooms. Suggestions are made for improved content delivery and further research including bilingualism as a teaching approach should become a legitimate topic for discussion and further research.