This study examines how primary school pupils expect and perceive ethnic discrimination in teachers’ allocation of educational resources using a mixed-methods design. Participants were 265 children from the first to the sixth grade across five primary schools in Flanders, Belgium. Quantitative data reveal a nuanced understanding of discrimination, with an age-related trend indicating that younger pupils exhibit more explicit ethnicity bias in their expectations of teacher behaviour. As pupils grow older, this bias diminishes and even reverses, suggesting an evolving understanding of and negative attitude towards discrimination. Qualitative data highlight children’s ability to discern both overt and subtle forms of discrimination, influenced by personal experiences and socialisation processes in school. The results discuss implications for social policy, theory, and practice.
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