The Unheard Voices of Black Caribbean boys on Education

Black Caribbean boys appear to be on the same level academically with their peers from other ethnic groups at the Primary School stage.

However evidence shows that when they are in Secondary School, they are underachieving compared to their peers from other cultural and ethnic groups.

This gap persists into achievement at university and in employment statistics (Rhamie & Hallam, 2002; Johnson-Ahorlu, 2012).

Therefore, the current thesis sought to find out what factors impact on the underachievement of these boys, whilst examining those boys who are achieving and comparing both groups.

A systematic review investigated what factors influence the academic attainment of different ethnic minority pupils.

Ten studies were identified which identified ethnic minority pupils in primary and secondary mainstream schools in the UK and highlighted that a combination of factors impacted on academic attainment e.g. teacher perceptions, socioeconomic status, cultural and religious differences, gender, etc.

The empirical paper adopted a qualitative approach using thematic analysis via semi-structured interviews, to explore the views of Black Caribbean boys in UK Secondary Schools and their academic achievement and underachievement.

Pupil voice was the driving force behind this research in line with current legislation and the SEN Code of Practice.

Key themes were identified and the findings highlighted that all participants thought that education was important, have some sort of motivation to succeed and aspirations for the future.

The findings also indicated that peers and teachers impacted on their attainment, especially the underachieving group. The achieving group appeared to value family more when it came to various aspects of their education.

The findings were further discussed with reference to relevant literature, limitations of study and avenues for future research.