6. Educational Attainment And Ethnicity Flashcards
What is the link between attainment and ethnicity
- functionalists view ethnic minorities as pre-disposed to fail in school and look for cultural and genetic explanations
- Marxists are concerned with class so they overlook ethnicity
- interactionists turn to labelling and blame teacher racism and institutional racism as being the cause of school under-attainment
- feminists suggest that girls from ethnic minorities have double the disadvantages eg: racism and sexism
- the new right agree with functionalism but are concerned with the failure of boys and state that the cause of under-attainment in Indian boys is due to single parenting due to the lack of male role models.
What is ethnic attainment in education
Some ethnic groups over attain while others under attain suggesting there’s serious issues with culture and the education system. However the most significant impact is the low socio-economic status and social disadvantage ethnic minorities face eg: racism.
How do genetic theories link to attainment with ethnicity in education
There’s little evidence to support the idea that some ethnic backgrounds are more intelligent than others, this was an Idea put forward by new right thinkers Murray and Herrnstein.
This theory suggests that intelligence tests are a valid measure of ability, this is no longer seen as valid.
Another criticism is that Black African children over achieve whereas Black Caribbean children under achieve
How does poverty and class affect attainment with ethnicity in education
Strand in 1999 found that in london primary and secondary schools both black and white children from poor backgrounds failed to meet expectations. However, chinese and Indian pupils over achieved.
It is suggested that ethnic children tend to attend under performing schools and have low expectations placed on them. However the worst performing ethnic group are white traveller groups and white working-class groups.
This suggests that while racism is evident it’s not the full reason why children from ethnic groups under attain.
How does having English as an additional language link to attainment with ethnicity in education
Government data suggests that 10% of English schools have English as an Additional language.
50% of Bangladeshi children have EAL
Whereas only 7% of Caribbean students have EAL.
EAL links to under attainment as children will have language barriers with teachers who may an elaborated code (use wider vocabulary) causing them to be behind compared to peers who have English as a first language as these groups will have a restricted code. These codes are talked about by Bernstein
Crozier (2004) found that Pakistani and Bangladeshi parents ‘kept their distance’ from their children’s schools because they trusted the professionals to do their jobs; they lacked confidence in use of English and there were no translators.
How does cultural differences affect attainment with ethnicity in education
Traveller children shows that culture can impact educational attainment as these groups tend to be from the most disadvantaged families.
Studies show that more traveller children attend primary school than secondary schools suggesting that parents don’t register their children at school.
However, chinese children are the highest attaining children and is though that Chinese parents encourage attainment.
At GCSE Chinese children performed better than the national average for pupils.
Chua described Chinese parents as “tiger parental who cannot accept failure
How is racism linked to attainment with ethnicity in education
The swan report of 1985 recommended that schools should promote the idea of a multicultural Britain due to institutional racism.
Sociologists such as Gilroy and Mirza have pointed out the racist attitudes among schools and teachers. Wright in 1992 found that although teaching staff opposed racism they still have stereotypical views.
She states that Asian girls were seen as submissive and therefore overlooked whereas Caribbean boys where seen of low academic potential which caused poor behaviour due to the label
Childline in 2013 reported 1400 children reported incidents of racism in schools, this increased by 802 the next year.
Stuart hall suggested that racism in schools led to a rejection of schooling by black Caribbean boys which he later called a culture of resistance.
The ethnocentric curriculum can also link to underattainment, this theory outlined by ball can suggest that ethnic minorities will view themselves as inferior as they’re blamed for things in history lessons and their benefits will be overlooked
What is an ethnocentric curriculum
The Uk can be seen to have an ethnocentric curriculum and is the view that one’s culture is central to understanding the world
How does the ethnocentric curriculum link to attainment with ethnicity in education
Sociologists claim that the national curriculum is ethnocentric and overlooks the contribution of non-white groups to British history.
When black people are considered it is often in the view of a negative stereotype such as slavery.
This results in the damage of self-esteem of non white pupils and bullying from white pupils.
David (1993) describes the National Curriculum as a ‘specifically British’ curriculum that largely ignores non-European languages, literature and music.
Ball (1994) argues that the National Curriculum ignores ethnic diversity as it promotes an attitude of ‘little Englandism’ - criticising the subject History
How does single parenthood link to attainment with ethnicity in education
African Caribbean communities tend to have a higher rate of single parent families. Meaning they can face financial challenge leading to low attainment.
New right criticise single motherhood and they see it as contributing to social problems such as violence due to a lack of male role model
Wright and others have pointed out that single mothers can be positive role models for girls allowing them to perform better in education knowing that they might raise a family of their own
This can account for the high attainment of Caribbean girls compared to Caribbean boys.
