Over the past decade, cohesion and integration have been a key concern for policymakers in countries across Europe and North America. The rapid increase in immigration, coupled with the perception of rapid social change and instability, is seen to have presented communities and governments with a range of ‘new’ challenges. In the attendant debates, schools are often presented as part of the solution to these challenges, but much remains unknown about the relationship between schools and community cohesion. This article therefore explores the role of schools as a site of socialisation for children and young people and their role in fostering the attitudes, behaviours and norms that are typically associated with citizens in a cohesive society. This article focuses in particular on the role of school demographics and school climate and uses longitudinal data from students in England to examine these relationships.
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