Exploring the lived experience of Black students in a predominantly White secondary school in the United Kingdom

Aim: This study explored the contemporary lived experiences of Black students[1] in a predominantly White secondary school (PWSS) in the UK. A key aim includes understanding the participants’ educational experiences and informing positive changes for Black students in similar educational environments. Method: Data from nine semi-structured interviews were analysed via Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), underpinned by a social constructivist and transformative epistemology. Findings: Findings suggest that Black students experienced difficulties with their identity due to negative societal discourses around Blackness, affecting their sense of belonging. Racial injustice was routine, resulting in self-governing behaviours to avoid judgement from White staff and students. Emancipatory in nature, the findings outlined how PWSSs could embody cultural sensitivity, with specific external factors identified as facilitators of a positive educational experience, rendering Black students vulnerable should they dissipate. Limitations: The qualitative and therefore subjective nature of this research consists of a number of limitations. Whilst this was a small-scale study, the sample size of nine participants lies comfortably within parameters of IPA research. Further, it is notable that seven out of the nine participants were of Nigerian heritage which prompts questions on whether a more diverse Black participant sample would have yielded different results. Conclusions: Critical Race Theory, the Social Graces framework and the Ecological model enabled theoretical understanding of the findings whereby difference, systematic racism and power differentials led to environmental overwhelm, negatively impacting the participants’ experiences as Black students in a PWSS. Implications for schools and Educational Psychologists include the need to garner a greater understanding of ethnic difference. The Embodied Cultural Sensitivity Conceptual Framework is proposed to help professionals improve social, emotional and academic experiences for Black adolescents navigating race identity in PWSSs.