"Only the wind hears you..." The experiences of PakistanI young people in a primary school: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

The purpose of this study is to increase understanding about the experiences of a group of Pakistani young people in a primary school. The literature revealed that there are significant differences between different ethnic groups in terms of attainment levels, social background and levels of special educational need. My aim was to include, specifically, the voice of Pakistani young people and their experience of school. I am approaching this research from a feminist perspective with the aim of uncovering marginalized voices and hidden experiences. In view of previous research which has focussed on the experience of school: my research question is: How do Pakistani young people interpret their experiences of school?
I carried out semi-structured interviews with six primary school pupils from Pakistani backgrounds from year six, aged between 10 to 11 years old from the same school. The epistemology underpinning the research is critical realism, which emphasises the personal and social contexts within which people experience what is “real”. I analysed the narratives from these interviews using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). IPA is an interpretative, idiographic approach to methodology which is used to generate super-ordinate and sub-ordinate themes. The analysis found seven super-ordinate themes: the emotional experience of learning, the cultural impact of the school curriculum, the importance of enduring friendships, the impact of the segregation between communities, the impact of gendered power struggles, the impact of bullying and the impact of cultural identity.
The possible implications for school staff focused on understanding the benefits of the curriculum, the cultural differences experienced in the school, ethos and anti-racist/sexist programmes. For Educational Psychologists, implications focused on awareness-raising and work with young people from different communities. Recommendations for future research are also discussed including the usefulness of IPA for drawing out rich and detailed narratives providing depth in the analysis.