2.2 differential educational attainment - ethnicity Flashcards
Which ethnic groups performed the highest in GCSEs in 2013/2014?
- Chinese and Indian
Which ethnic groups performed the lowest in GCSEs in 2013/2014?
gypsy/roma and black Caribbean
What ethnic group performed the highest in GCSEs in 2015/2016?
Chinese
What ethnic groups performed the highest in GCSES in 2021/22?
Chinese and Indiam
What ethnic group performed lowest in GCSEs in 2021/22?
Gypsy/Roma
How can cultural deprivation explain differences in educational attainment with different ethnicities?
- low income black families lack intellectual stimulation, fail to develop reasoning and problem solving skills
- children who don’t speak English at home may be held back educationally
What is a criticism of children who don’t speak English at home’s low attainment?
the Swan Report (1985) = language isn’t a major educational factor
What does Bereiter and Engelmann (1966) argue about cultural deprivation?
the language of poorer black American families is ungrammatical and disjointed
- their children are unable to express abstract ideas, thus there is a major barrier to educational success
BUT this is outdated and harmful
What other cultural deprivation arguments are there?
- the subculture into which some black children are socialised is fatalistic
- the lack of a male role model for some African or Caribbean boys - encourages an anti-educational macho gang culture
- high rates of lone parenthood + lack of positive role models leads to the underachievement of Black Caribbeans
What did Moynihan (1965) argue about differential educational attainment?
- the culture of poverty:
- the absence of a male role model produces inadequately socialised children
- then they become inadequate parents themselves
- perpetuates a culture of poverty
What did Pryce (1979) argue about differential educational attainment?
- the impact of slavery:
- Black Caribbean culture is less resistant to racism because of the experience of slavery
- many black people have low self-esteem and underachieve
What did Khan (1979) argue about Asian families?
- the Asian family is an obstacle to achievement especially for girls, because it takes a controlling attitude towards them
- as a result they do less well than boys
What are some criticisms of Khan?
- some Asian familes have more positive attitudes towards their education and that adult authority in them is similar to that in school
- Asian parents are more likely to support the school’s behaviour policies
What are some criticisms of Khan?
- some Asian familes have more positive attitudes towards their education and that adult authority in them is similar to that in school
- Asian parents are more likely to support the school’s behaviour policies
What did Stephen Strand find in his analysis of data from the 2004 Longitudinal Study of Young People?
- Indian students are the ethnic group:
- most likely to complete homework 5 times a week
- less likely to truant
- less likely to be excluded
- parents were more likely to say that they knew where their children were
- this suggests that higher parental and student aspirations offset the disadvantaging effects from social and economic factors
What did Stephen Strand find in his analysis of data from the 2004 Longitudinal Study of Young People?
- Indian students are the ethnic group:
- most likely to complete homework 5 times a week
- less likely to truant
- less likely to be excluded
- parents were more likely to say that they knew where their children were
- this suggests that higher parental and student aspirations offset the disadvantaging effects from social and economic factors
What did Francis and Archer (2005) argue about British Chinese students and parents?
- the high value placed on education by parents, coupled with a strong cultural tradition of respect for one’s elders, which facilitates the transmission of high educational aspiration from parents to children, and that students derive positive self-esteem from constructing themselves as good students
What does Lupton (2004) argue about WC white pupils?
- teachers reported poorer levels of behaviour and discipline in the white working class schools
- they linked this to lower levels of parental support
What did Evans(2006) argue about white WC pupils?
- street culture in white areas can be brutal and can be brought into school
- the result is a strong pressure to reject education
What does Martin Mac an Ghail argue about white WC boys?
- there is a crisis in masculinity with white WC boys
- loss of jobs in a post-Fordist society due to globalisation, there was a loss of jobs previously seem as ‘masculine’ to other countries
- leaves some boys with lower aspirations, no hopes, no future and underachieve at school
What did Paul Willis find?
- the white WC ‘lads’ living in deprived council estates, seek status through the gang of lads -> anti-school subculture
What policies were introduced to try to combat cultural deprivation?
- Operation Head Start
- Sure Start centres
- the EMA
- Pupil Premium
- Tony Sewell’s Generating Genius programme
What are some criticisms of cultural deprivation?
- victim blaming
- cultural exclusion
- cultural domination of white MC culture
- Keddie= minority ethnic groups are culturally different, not culturally deprived
How can it be argued that material deprivation leads to differential educational attainment between ethnicities?
- for many minorities e.g. Pakistani and Bangladeshi, unemployment is higher, pay is lower and overcrowding in the home is more likely
- Indian families are more likely to be wealthier and therefore more likely to pay for tuition
- white MC are more likely to go to university
- Black Caribbean lone parent families only have one salary
What is an argument against material deprivation?
- Chinese students on FSM still perform higher than other ethnic minorities not on FSM
What is an argument against material deprivation?
- Chinese students on FSM still perform higher than other ethnic minorities not on FSM
What are some internal factors that affect ethnic differences?
- labelling
- pupil subcultures
- institutional racism
How have Gillborn and Youdell (2000) argued that labelling affects attainment?
- teachers had racialised expectations about black pupils and expected more discipline problems and saw their behaviour as threatening
- black pupils were more likely to be punished than others for the same behaviour
- black boys were 7 times more likely to be excluded
What did Wright (1992) argue about Asian primary kids and labelling?
- they were treated differently, assumed that they would have a poorer grasp of English and use simplistic language
- teachers mispronounced children’s names
- the girls were marginalised and prevented from participating fully, affecting their self-esteem
What did Sewell (1998) argue about pupil subcultures?
- conformists = keen to succeed, accepted the school’s goals
- innovators = pro-education but anti-school, valued success but not teacher’s approval
- retreatists = disconnected from school and black subcultures outside of it
- rebels = very small, aim to achieve status of ‘street hood’, rejected school rules, this was how most teachers saw all black boys, despite this group being the smallest
What did O’Donnell and Sharpe (2000) find about Asian subcultures?
- found a macho ‘warrior’ response similar to the rebels among some Asian boys who despised more conformist Asian youths as ‘weaklings’
What did Fuller (1984) find about black girls?
- black girls in year 11 of a London comprehensive
- they maintained a positive self-image by rejecting teachers’ stereotype of them
- didn’t seek the teachers’ approval, and they maintained friendship with black girls in lower streams
What did Mac an Ghail find about labelling?
- black and Asian a-level students at a sixth form college did not necessarily accept teachers’ labels
- using participant observation
What did Mirza (1992) argue about black girls’ strategies for dealing with teacher labelling?
- black girls’ strategies for dealing with teachers’ racism sometimes restricted their opportunities e.g. not asking certain staff for help
- as a result, even though they did not fulfil the prophecy to accept the labels, they were still disadvantaged
What different types of teacher did Mirza identify?
- the colour blind = claim to believe all pupils are equal but in practice left racism unchanged
- the liberal chauvinists = see black students as culturally deprived and have low expectations of them
- the overt racists = see black pupils as inferior and treat them differently
How does critical race theory see racism?
- as ingrained in society
- there is locked in inequality in the structures of society i.e. the education system
What did Gillborn (2008) argue about assessment?
- the ‘assessment game’ is rigged so as to validate the dominant culture’s superiority
- if black children succeed as a group ‘the rules will be changed’
- e.g. in the past, primary schools used baseline assessments which tested pupils when they started school but this was replaced in 2003 with the Foundation Stage Profile + overnight, black pupils now appeared to be doing worse
- the FSP was based entirely on teachers’ judgements which increased the risk of teachers stereotyping students
How did restricted access to opportunities affect attainment?
- Gillborn points out that official statistics show that white students were over twice as likely as Black Caribbean students to be identified as Gifted and Talented and five times more likely than Black African pupils
How do exam tiers cause differential educational attainment?
- Tikly (2006) = in 30 schools taking part in the ‘Aiming High’ initiative to raise Black pupils attainment, black students were still more likely than white students to be entered for the lower tier exams - often because the black students were in lower sets
How have Troyna and Williams argued that the curriculum is ethnocentric?
- the ethnocentric curriculum gives priority to white culture and the English language, literature and music
How did David argue that the curriculum is ethnocentric?
- the national curriculum is a ‘specifically British’ curriculum that teaches the culture of the ‘host community’
How did Ball argue that the curriculum is ethnocentric?
- sees the history curriculum in British schools as recreating a ‘mythical age of empire of age and past glories’
- while at the same time ignoring the history of black and Asian people
What is the problem with an ethnocentric curriculum?
- minority ethnic group pupils feel that they and their culture and identity are not valued in education and this diminishes their sense of self-esteem which has a negative effect on their educational achievement
Evaluation of the ethnocentric curriculum
- although the school curriculum largely ignores Asian culture, Indian and Chinese pupils’ achievement is still above average
- Stone argues that there is no evidence that black pupils actually suffer from low self-esteem due to the ethnocentric curriculum
How does setting and streaming affect attainment?
- The Commission for Racial Equality (1992) study of ‘Jayleigh’ school found that Asian pupils were consistently placed in lower sets than their ability warranted and were less likely to be entered for GCSE exams
- similarly, the working of the A*-C economy meant that black pupils were placed in lower sets
How did Hatcher (1996) argue that governing bodies affect attainment/
- found that schools’ governing bodies:
- gave low priority to ‘race’ issues
- failed to deal with racist behaviour
- and often lacked formal channels of communication with ethnic minority parents
What did the Commission for Racial Equality (1993) find about schools admissions procedures?
- there was a lack of information or application forms in minority languages
- there was bias in entrance interviews
What did Gerwitz find about self-segregation?
- found that Asian parents made active choices to avoid ‘rough’ schools with a reputation for racism
- opting instead for ones they perceived as ‘safe’ and with firm discipline
