160 pages
250mm x 168mm
ISBN-10: 1 85856 181 7
ISBN-13: 978 185856 181 3
January 2003

TES BOOK OF THE WEEK

The Schooling and Identity of Asian Girls challenges western misconceptions and stereotypes of young 'Asian' women. Through the analysis of Asian girls' experiences, it reassess the role that schooling can play in shaping the identities of young people.
The book draws on an empirical study with Muslim, Hindu and Sikh schoolgirls of Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi descent in two regions of England and the strategies they employ to deal with the experiences of schooling. It demonstrates that they are far from being passive victims of static cultures but are instead actively involved in creating and recreating identities that re-work both the residual cultures of the 'home' and the regional cultures they now inhabit.

The analytical framework that Farzana Shain develops here captures the complex reality of the lived experiences of Asian girls in contemporary Western society. She provides teachers with alternative ways of conceptualising what it is to be an Asian schoolgirl and suggests how teachers can use their new understandings to improve their professional practice - and the academic attainment of their students.
Dr Farzana Shain is a Lecturer in Education at the University of Keele.

Farzana Shain has written an excellent book that has relevance for schools in a number of 'multicultural' societies other than Britain. She provides a good balance between theoretical arguments and respectful analyses of the voices of young Asian women, as well as offering suggestions for the way forward. I would strongly recommend this book to all those interested in issues of racism in schools. - Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education

Shain's work is a powerful challenge to mainstream representations that position Asian girls as timid, passive, and as victims of an oppressive culture. Instead, the author demonstrates the heterogeneity of the girls' identities and communities through an exploration of the coping mechanisms the girls employ to deal with the experiences of racism at secondary school. This book is accessible for both students and researchers, and is relevant to those working within education and also more broadly within the social sciences. -Gender and Education.