cultural heritage and his understanding of himself as an individual seem interchangeable. was moved back towards, er like multiculturalism again it was like yes ‘I like, loads if different people here. Erm, this feels more like we’ve got me’ (170-172) is where you come from this is your roots, this is where you come from ‘this and I think it really does benefit your whole sort of, view on life’ (480-482) cultural identification appears to move beyond or mixed culture. Henry’s ‘Black’ Whilst he identifies himself as mixed (382), the significance of ‘being race’ culture to Henry appeared to be an affinity with in the form of ‘multiculturalism’, varying alternatives to Whiteness as a cultural-political group. Higher Order Theme 2A: Mixedness as Challenging Constructions. Mixedness was covered in depth by all participants. Analysis demonstrated mixedness as a construct as something that could be challenging, confusing and uncomfortable to try and make sense of, by participants, and those around them. Participants were often trying to navigate their way through understanding themselves as mixed individuals in a context where race and culture are constructed on the basis of Blackness and Whiteness. Mixedness appeared as a challenge to the dominant constructs of race and culture which participants were exposed to and a part of. At times, participants appeared to be struggling with constructions of them in this managing others’ Black-White way. At others, participants themselves appeared to be placing
cultural heritage and his understanding of himself as an individual seem interchangeable. ‘I was moved back towards, er like multiculturalism again it was like yes we’ve got like, loads if different people here. Erm, this feels more like me’ (170-172) ‘this is where you come from this is your roots, this is where you come from and I think it really does benefit your whole sort of, view on life’ (480-482) Henry’s cultural identification appears to move beyond ‘Black’ or mixed culture. Whilst he identifies himself as ‘being mixed race’ (382), the significance of culture to Henry appeared to be an affinity with ‘multiculturalism’, in the form of varying alternatives to Whiteness as a cultural-political group. Higher Order Theme 2A: Mixedness as Challenging Constructions. Mixedness was covered in depth by all participants. Analysis demonstrated mixedness as a construct as something that could be challenging, confusing and uncomfortable to try and make sense of, by participants, and those around them. Participants were often trying to navigate their way through understanding themselves as mixed individuals in a context where race and culture are constructed on the basis of Blackness and Whiteness. Mixedness appeared as a challenge to the dominant constructs of race and culture which participants were exposed to and a part of. At times, participants appeared to be struggling with managing others’ constructions of them in this Black-White way. At others, participants themselves appeared to be placing
Exploring%20the%20childhood%20and%20educational%20experiences_Final.docx