Sharing Student Projects

In education, literature suggest that strong relationships between teachers and pupils are seen as essential for academic progress. However, often the way in which these relationships are formed or the power dynamic of these relationships are ignored. As long as academic success is achieved, the goal has been reached. Often, pupil perceptions or experiences are used as a surveillance and check box tool disguised as pupil voice, rather than listened to. Yet, it is these pupils who schools and teachers have the purpose to serve. This paper aims to fill a gap in the discourse, identifying the issues surrounding relationships between Pakistani and Bengali pupils and White British teachers, from the perception of the pupil. Through the use of a case-study approach, by using a focus group interview of 7 Pakistani and Bengali pupils at a Northern English Academy, this study listens to the voices of the pupils to understand their perceptions of their experiences and how their perceptions effect relationships with White British teachers. The study found that pupils defined the strength of their relationships with their teachers based on how the time with the teacher was spent and when the time was given. Pupils felt that teachers who did not have strong knowledge about their heritage or religion often made stereotypes and assumptions about them, leading to weakened teacher pupil relationships. As well as this, the findings suggested that pupils felt confused by their identity and the lack of teacher knowledge further fuelled insecure feelings.

Visual depiction of impact is provided: