Experiences of Schooling 1 EXPERIENCES OF SCHOOLING OF STUDENTS WITH FORMER YUGOSLAV ETHNIC BACKGROUND IN A WESTERN AUSTRALIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL Tomaž Lašič BEd

4Chapter 1 – Introduction5Chapter 2 – Towards critical multiculturalism of hybridity23Chapter 3 – Student experiences73Chapter 4 – Discussion102Chapter 5 – Conclusion124Appendix A131Appendix B132References133 Experiences of Schooling 4Abstract Ethnicity is an important social construct mobilised in the discourses of multiculturaleducation. At present, little research exists on the way ethnicity impacts on theschooling experiences of students with former Yugoslav background (SFYB) inAustralia. This qualitative study looks at the daily realities of twelve SFYB at a WesternAustralian government secondary school. Particular attention is paid to themanagement of their ethnic identities to achieve their educational, social and othergoals. Data gathered from the twelve in-depth, guided interviews with SFYB is analysedthrough the lens of critical multiculturalism, posited as one of several notions ofmulticulturalism and one with a specific social justice agenda. Theories of hybriditydeveloped by Homi Bhabha and Stuart Hall are translated into the criticalmulticulturalist framework and provide a further development of the analysis of thedata in which hybridity is seen as both experiences and enactments. The study findings suggest that these SFYB embody the principles of criticalmulticulturalism as skilful managers of contingencies of ethnic identities, aspirationsand challenges they encounter at the school. The study also proposes that thenotion of critical, power-conscious hybridity could be useful as a conceptual tool inthe future work of critical multiculturalists.