Education-ethnic differences

Question 1

on average who does better?

Answer 1

• whites and Asians

Question 2

what are external factors and ethic differences in achievement?

Answer 2

• cultural deprivation
• material deprivation
• racism in wider society

Question 3

what is cultural deprivation?

Answer 3

• intellectual and linguistic skills, attitudes and values, family structure

Question 4

what is an affect on cultural deprivation?

Answer 4

• many children in low income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences.
• leaving them poorly equipped for school

Question 5

Bereiter and Englemann on cultural deprivation?

Answer 5

• consider the language spoken by low income black American families as inadequate for educational success
• acts as a barrier to progress

Question 6

attitudes and values as a cause of failure?

Answer 6

• lack of motivation for many black families

- black children are socialised into a ‘live for today’ attitude that doesn’t value education

Question 7

Driver and Ballard (1981) on attitudes and values

Answer 7

• Asian parents have more positive attitudes towards education and have higher aspirations

Question 8

criticism of cultural deprivation?

Answer 8

Geoffrey Driver (1977), it ignores the positive effects of ethnicity on achievement
- e.g. black Caribbean family provides girls with positive role models of strong independent women

Question 9

what is material deprivation?

Answer 9

• a lack of physical necessities that are seen as essential for life in today’s society
• W/C are more likely to face poverty and material deprivation

Question 10

stat for material deprivation?

Answer 10

• 15% of ethnic minority households live in overcrowded conditions

Question 11

what are internal factors?

Answer 11

• labelling
• pupil subcultures
• institutional racism

Question 12

what is labelling?

Answer 12

• attach a meaning or definition to someone

- teachers often see black and Asian pupils as being far from the ‘ideal pupil’

Question 13

Gilborn and Youdell (2000)

Answer 13

found that teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils than others for the same behaviour
- black pupils feel they’d be underestimated on their ability

Question 14

how may pupils respond to negative labels?

Answer 14

• by becoming disruptive

- may refuse to accept the label and even decide to prove it wrong

Question 15

Mary Fuller (1984) on rejecting negative labels?

Answer 15

• study a group of black girls in year 11
• they were high achievers
• they channelled their anger about being labelled into the pursuit of educational success

Question 16

evaluation of labelling and pupil subcultures?

Answer 16

• labelling theory shows teachers’ stereotyping can be a cause of failure
• there’s a danger of believing that once labelled they fall victim to the self fulfilling prophecy, however Mirza proves this wrong

Question 17

what is the ethnocentric curriculum?

Answer 17

• describes an attitude or policy that gives priority to the culture and viewpoint of one particular ethnic group

Question 18

Miriam David (1993) on the ethnocentric curriculum

Answer 18

• describes the national curriculum as ‘specifically British’ curriculum that teaching British culture and ignoring non European culture

Question 19

what can the ethnocentric curriculum be seen as?

Answer 19

• institutional racism

Question 20

David Gillborn (1997) on selection and marketisation

Answer 20

• argues marketisation has given schools greater scope to select pupils and this puts some ethnic minority pupils at a disadvantage.