This research takes place in a comprehensive metropolitan high school with 841 students, 84% of students are from backgrounds other than English. 66% of the student population is male. This action research cycle is centred on students' interclass relations. The project plans an intervention that seeks to address students' frequent use of racist comments and jokes in their daily interactions. The project team design and implement a Year 10 history unit that focuses particular attention on the manifestations of racism in modern history.
The project team investigate the question: Can the explicit teaching of causes and effects of racism in the context of a history class influence students interclass relations and in particular reduce racist name calling behaviours? Project team members systematically observe student classroom dynamics and interactions throughout the project and undertake focus group interviews to evaluate the success of this intervention.