Cultural Deprivation Flashcards
3 factors why ethnic groups underachieve
- Intellectual and linguistic skills
- Attitudes and Values
- Family Structure and Parental Support
Why do cultural deprivation theorists see the lack of intellectual and linguistic skills as a major cause of underachievement for many minority children?
- They argue that many children from low-income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences and this leaves them poorly equipped for school because they have not been able to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills
How do Bereiter and Engelmann see the language spoken by low income black American families?
- as inadequate for educational success
- see it as ungrammatical, disjointed and incapable of expressing abstract ideas
Why do cultural deprivation theorists see attitudes and values as a major cause of the failure of many black children?
they argue that some black children are socialised into a subculture that instils a fatalistic, ‘live for today’ attitude that does not value education and leaves them unequipped for success (lacks motivation)
What does Daniel Moynihan argue?
- because many black families are headed by lone mothers, their children are deprived of adequate care because she has to struggle in the absence of a male breadwinner
- the lack of father means that boys lack an adequate role model of male achievement
What does Ken Pryce argue?
- he claims Asians are higher achievers because their culture is more resistant to racism
- he argues black Caribbean culture is less cohesive and less resistant to racism
- this leads to many black pupils having low self esteem
What does Sewell argue?
- the lack of fatherly ‘tough love’ results in black boys finding it hard to overcome the emotional and behavioural difficulties of adolescence e.g. looking for role models in street gangs
According to Sewell, What is the barrier black boys face?
- pressure from other boys
- those who did well in school and spoke standard English was viewed as ‘selling out’ to the white establishment from other peers
Why do black students do worse than asian kids according to Sewell?
- because of cultural differences in socialisation and attitudes to education
- black students are being nurtured by MTV and asian students revise
- black students need to have greater expectations placed on them to raise their aspirations
Why does Gillborn criticise Sewell?
Gillborn argues it is not peer pressure but institutional racism within the education system itself that systematically produces the failure of large numbers of black boys
In Sewell’s view, why do Indian and Chinese students succeed?
due to supportive families that have an Asian work ethic and place a high value on education
What does Ruth Lupton argue?
- adult authority in Asian families is similar to authority in schools
- found that respectful behaviour towards adults was expected from children
- asian parents were likely to be supportive of school behaviour policies
In a survey of 16,000 pupils, what did Andrew McCulloch find?
-ethnic minority pupils are more likely to aspire to go to university than white British pupils
What did Lupton find?
- teachers reported poorer levels of behaviour and discipline in the white working class schools despite having fewer children on free school meals
- teachers blamed this on lower levels of parental support and the negative attitude white-working class parents had towards education
What does Gillian Evans argue?
- street culture in white working class areas can be brutal so young people have to learn to handle intimidation and to intimidate others
- school becomes a place where the power game that young people engage on the street in brought to school and brings disruption making it hard for pupils to succeed