Diversity As Problem-Diversity As Solution: Qualitative Insights from Two Secondary Schools in England

During the last decades we have witnessed an overflow of celebratory rhetorics around ‘diversity’. The mainstreaming of diversity discourses occurs in a seemingly paradoxical context marked by the rise of new nationalisms, the return to nation-state boundaries (ie. Brexit) and policy hostility towards immigration. The aim of the paper is to look into this landscape, focusing on discourses of diversity as they play out in education settings.

I start by providing a brief overview of the evolution of the concept of diversity drawing on critical theory and research. I discuss initial ideas of diversity as closely linked to anti-discrimination, anti-racism and affirmative action. I identify a shift towards universal conceptualisations and an emphasis on 'diversity management'.

I then focus on educational contexts, using empirical data from two secondary schools in England, which were collected as part of a large EU-funded project. I draw on semi-structured interviews with teachers in two case-study schools: one based in an urban, highly multi-cultural area and one based in a rural, white, working class area. I critically examine how diversity is evoked and how its is operationalised in these two very different school contexts. Working from the standpoint of Foucauldian traditions, I discuss the findings in parallel, exploring the workings of diversity discourses in the everyday school lives, along with their normalising effects.