Education - Ethnic Differences in Achievement

Question 1

What do Cultural Deprivation theorists think about the underachievement of some ethnic groups?

Answer 1

They see it as a result of inadequate socialisation in the home. The explanation has three aspects:
- Intellectual and linguistic skills
- Attitudes and values
- Family structure and parental support

Question 2

Why are a lack of Intellectual and Linguistic skills seen as a major cause of underachievement for minority families?

Answer 2

It is argues that children from low income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences. This leaves them poorly equipped for school because they have not been able to develop reasoning and problem solving skills

Question 3

Why are Attitudes and Values seen as a cause of underachievement for minority families?

Answer 3

CD theorists see lack of motivation as a major cause of the failure of many black children. Most children are socialised into the mainstream culture , which instils ambition, competitiveness, and willingness to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve long term goals, equipping them for educational success. By contrast , CD theorists argue some black children are socialised into a subculture that instils a fatalistic “live for today attitude” attitude which doesn’t value education.

Question 4

Why is Family Structure and Parental Support seen as a cause of underachievement for minority families?

Answer 4

CD theorists argue that the failure of adequate socialisation comes down to dysfunctional family structure. Daniel Moynihan (1965) argues black families suffer academically because they are headed by a lone mother, who doesn’t provide adequate care as she struggles financially without a male breadwinner, which also leaves the children without a male role model.

Question 5

What does Ken Pryce (1979) argue about family structure and underachievement?

Answer 5

He sees black Caribbean family structure as a contributing factor to their underachievement academically. In comparison, he claims Asian pupils are higher achievers because their culture is more resistant to racism and gives a greater sense of self worth. As a result many black students underachieve due to low self esteem. He also argues this is a result of colonialism destroying black languages, religion and culture, whereas Asians were not affected by this.

Question 6

What 3 aspects of life do Tony Sewell (2009) argue affect black achievement?

Answer 6

Fathers, gangs , and culture

Question 7

How do fathers affect black underachievement? (Sewell)

Answer 7

Not only do absent fathers in general cause big issues, but specifically with the absence of “tough love” , which is needed as boys struggle to overcome emotional and behavioural difficulties of adolescence.

Question 8

How do Gangs affect black underachievement? (Sewell)

Answer 8

Without a father figure in these boy’s lives, street gangs of other fatherless boys offer black boys “perverse loyalty and love”, which presents boys with a media inspired role model of anti-black masculinity.

Question 9

How does culture affect black underachievement?

Answer 9

Sewell argues black students do worse than their asian counterparts due to cultural differences in attitudes to education. Sewell concludes that black children need to have greater aspirations.

Question 10

What does Sewell say about Asian families?

Answer 10

He says that Asian families benefit from a supportive families that have an “Asian work ethic” and place a high value on education.

Question 11

What does McCulloch’s (2014) research say about White working class families?

Answer 11

McCulloch (2014) found from a survey of 16,000 pupils that ethnic minority pupils are more likely to aspire to go to university than white British pupils

Question 12

What does Lupton’s (2004) research say about White working class families?

Answer 12

Lupton studies four working class schools. Two mostly white, one predominantly Pakistani, and the fourth being very diverse. She found that the teachers reported poorer levels of behaviour and discipline from white working class pupils. Teachers blame it on lower levels of parental support and the negative attitude which white working class parents had towards education. Whereas ethnic minority parents saw it as a “way up in society”.

Question 13

What is compensatory education?

Answer 13

A policy implemented to help tackle cultural deprivation by compensating children for the cultural deficit they are said to suffer because of deprived backgrounds.

Question 14

Criticisms of Cultural Deprivation theory - Geoffrey Driver (1977)

Answer 14

He criticises the CD theory for ignoring the positive effects of ethnicity on achievement, like black girls being provided strong independent role models. He argues this is why black girls achieve higher than black boys.

Question 15

Criticisms of Cultural Deprivation theory - Errol Lawrence (1982)

Answer 15

Lawrence believes that black students underachieve not because of “weak culture” or low self esteem, but because of racism

Question 16

Criticisms of Cultural Deprivation theory - Keddie

Answer 16

She sees CD theory as a victim blaming explanation. She argues ethnic minority are not culturally deprived, just culturally different, and that they underachieve because schools are ethnocentric.

Question 17

What is multicultural education?

Answer 17

A policy that recognises and values minority cultures and includes them in curriculum

Question 18

What is anti-racist education?

Answer 18

A policy that challenges the prejudice and discrimination that exists in schools and wider society

Question 19

What is material deprivation?

Answer 19

A lack of those physical necessities that are seen as essential or normal for life in today’s society.

Question 20

What does Guy Palmer (2012) say about ethnic minorities and Material deprivation?

Answer 20

-Almost half of all ethnic minority children live in low-income households
-Ethnic minorities are almost twice as likely to be unemployed compared with whites
-Ethnic minority households are around three times as likely to be homeless
-Almost half of Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers earned under 7 pounds an hour, compared with only a quarter of white British workers

Minority workers are also more likely to engage in shift work, and Bangladeshi and Pakistani women are more likely to than others to be engaged in low paid homeworking

Question 21

Does deprivation and class override ethnicity?

Answer 21

Generally evidence would suggest not, as Indian and Chinese pupils who are materially deprived still do better than most. For example in 2011, 86% of Chinese girls who received FSM achieved five or more higher GCSEs compared to only 65% of white girls who were not getting FSM.

Question 22

What did David Mason (2000) say about racism in wider society?

Answer 22

‘Discrimination is a continuing and persistent feature of the experience of Britain’s citizens of minority ethnic origin’

Question 23

What did Wood et al’s (2010) study show about institutional racism and material deprivation?

Answer 23

He sent three closely matching job applications to each of almost 1000 vacancies. All 3 applicants came from different ethnic backgrounds - 1 white , 2 ethnic minorities. Wood et al found that only one in 16 ethnic minority applicants were offered an interview compared to one in nine white applications. This helps explain how ethnic minorities are more likely to face unemployment and material deprivation as a result.

Question 24

What did Gillborn and Mirza (2000) find about black children in Primary schools?

Answer 24

They found in one local education authority that black children were the highest achievers on entry to primary school, yet by the time it came to GCSEs they had the worst results of any ethnic group - 21 points below the average.

Question 25

What does Gillborn and Mirza’s research about black children in primary schools show about internal factors?

Answer 25

If a group can begin their schooling as the highest achievers and yet finish it as the lowest achievers, this challenges the assumption made by CD theorists that black kids enter school unprepared. It shows that internal factors are likely a major factor in producing ethnic differences in achievement.

Question 26

What did Gillbourn and Youdell (2000) find about black pupils and discipline?

Answer 26

They found that teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils than others for the same behavior. They also found that teachers expected black pupils to have more disciplinary problems, and then misinterpret their behavior as threatening or challenging authority. When teachers acted on this misperception, the students reacted negatively and further conflict resulted. They concluded that most white teacher - black student conflict stems from racial stereotypes and not their actual behavior. This correlates with Jenny Bourne’s (2004) research which showed that black students are seen by schools as a threat and tend to label them negatively, leading to exclusion which affects achievement. Only 1 in 5 excluded pupils achieve 5 GCSEs.

Question 27

Black pupils and streaming?

Answer 27

Negative stereotypes about black pupils which teachers may hold could lead to them being placed in lower sets or streams due to schools focusing on league table as establish in the Gillbourn and Youdell’s “A to C economy”. Similarly, Peter Foster (1990) found that teachers’ sterotypes of black pupils as badly behaved could result in being placed in a lower set than students of similar ability.

Question 28

Asian Pupils - Cecil Wright (1992)

Answer 28

Wright’s study of multi-ethnic primary schools shows that Asian students can also be victims of labelling. She found that despite the school’s effort for equal opportunities, teachers held ethnocentric views. This affected how they relate to Asian pupils. Teachers assumed they had little grasp of English and tended to leave them out of advanced conversation or used simplistic terms when speaking to them. Generally teachers saw them not as a threat, but a problem they could ignore.

Question 29

What are Archer’s (2008) three pupil identities which stem from teacher’s view of certain backgrounds and ethnic groups?

Answer 29

-The ideal pupil
-The pathologized pupil
-The demonised pupil

Question 30

What is the ideal pupil identity - Archer (2008)

Answer 30

A white, middle class , masculinised identity with a normal sexuality. This pupil is seen as achieving in the ‘right’ way, through natural ability and initiative.

Question 31

What is the pathologised pupil identity - Archer (2008)

Answer 31

An Asian, ‘deserving poor’, feminised identity , either asexual or with an oppressed sexuality. This pupil is seen as a plodding conformist and culture bound ‘over achiever’, a slogger who succeeds through hard work rather than natural ability

Question 32

What is the demonised pupil identity - Archer (2008)

Answer 32

A black or white , working class , hyper sexualised identity. This pupil is seen as an unintelligent , peer-led, culturally deprived under-achiever.

Question 33

Chinese pupils - Archer (2008)

Answer 33

Archer argues minority pupils who do perform well can still be seen as abnormal (pathologised) by teacher. For example Chinese pupils were simultaneously praised and viewed negatively by teachers :
‘homogenous’ , ‘passive’ , ‘too quiet’ , ‘not properly masculine (when referring to boys) by virtue of their passivity, quietness and hard work.’

Question 34

What did Mirza (1992) find about teachers and racist attitudes?

Answer 34

He found that racist teachers discouraged black pupils from being ambitious through the kind of advice they gave them about careers and option choices. For example teachers discouraged them from aspiring to professional careers.

Question 35

What 3 types of teachers did MIrza identify in his study?

Answer 35

-The colour blind teacher
-The liberal chauvinists
-The overt racist

Question 36

What is ‘the colour blind’ teacher? - Mirza (1992)

Answer 36

Teachers who believe all students are equal but in practice allow racism to go unchallenged

Question 37

What is the ‘liberal chauvinist’ teacher? - Mirza (1992)

Answer 37

Teachers who believe blacks are culturally deprived and have low expectations of them

Question 38

What do Troyna and WIliams (1986) argue?

Answer 38

They argue that in order to explain ethnic differences in achievement we must go beyond examining individual teacher racism and we must distinguish between:
-Individual racism that results from prejudiced views of individual teachers and others
-Institutional racism - discrimination that is built into the way institutions such as schools and colleges operate.

Question 39

What is Critical Race theory?

Answer 39

CRT sees racism as an ingrained figure in our society. This means it involves not just intentional individual acts of racism, but also institutional racism. According to two founders of the Black Panther party in the USA, Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton (1967) , institutional racism is
‘less overt , more subtle, less identifiable in terms of specific individuals committing the acts… it originates in the operation of established and respected forces in society’

Question 40

What is ‘locked in inequality’ ?

Answer 40

For critical race theorists such as Daria Roithmayr (2003) institutional racism is a ‘locked-in inequality’: The scale of historical discrimination is so large that there no longer needs to be any conscious intent to discriminate - the inequality becomes self perpetuating: it feeds on itself. Gillborn (2008) applies this concept to education. He sees ethnic inequality as “so deep rooted and so large that it is a practically inevitable feature of the education system”.

Question 41

What does Gilborn (1997) argue about marketisation and segregation?

Answer 41

He argues that because marketisation gives schools more scope to select pupils, it allows negative stereotypes to influence decisions about school admissions. This view is supported by Moore and Davenport’s (1990) American research. They show how selection procedures lead to ethnic segregation, with minority pupils failing to get into better secondary schools due to discrimination. For example they found that primary school reports were used to screen out pupils with language difficulties, while the application process was difficult for non- English speaking parents to understand,

Question 42

What does ethnocentric curriculum do to educational institutions?

Answer 42

Many sociologists see the ethnocentric curriculum as a prime example of institutional racism because it builds a racial bias into the everyday workings of schools and colleges. Examples of this arguably are present in languages , literature and music, as the curriculum is described as ‘specifically British’ that largely ignores non-European languages, literature and music. History is also largely criticized for being mostly focused on Britain.

Question 43

What does Bernard Coad (1971) argue about ethnocentric curriculum and underachivement?

Answer 43

He argues that the ethnocentric curriculum may produce underachievement. For example in history the British may be presented as bringing civilisation to the ‘primitive’ peoples they colonised. He argues this image of black people as inferior undermines black children’s self esteem and leads to their failure.

Question 44

What does Gillborn (2008) argue about assessments?

Answer 44

He argues that assessments are rigged in order to favour the success of the dominant culture. If black children succeed as a group, “the rules will be changed to re-engineer failure”. For example primary schools used ‘baseline assessments’ which tested pupils when they started compulsory schooling . However these were replaced in 2003 by a new way of measuring pupils’ abilities , the foundation stage profile. This resulted in black students appearing to perform worse than white pupils. In one authority where black children in 2000 had been the highest achievers on entry to school, by 2003 the new FSP had black children ranked lower than whites across all 6 developmental areas that it measured.

Question 45

What do Official Statistics show about ‘Gifted and talented’ programmes?

Answer 45

Despite these programmes initial creation being to meet the needs of more able pupils in inner city schools, which seemingly sounds beneficial to bright pupils of minority groups. However Gillborn (2008) points out that official statistics show whites are over twice as likely as black Caribbeans to be identified as gifted and talented, and five times more likely than black Africans.

Question 46

Which two criticisms of Gillborn are commonly highlighted?

Answer 46

Criticisms of Gillborn’s view that ethnic differences in achievement are the result of institutional racism focus on two issues:
-The underachievement of some minority groups such as black boys
-The ‘overachievement’ of Indian and Chinese pupils

Question 47

Criticisms of Gillborn - Black Boys’ underachievement

Answer 47

Critical race theorists like Gillborn argue that institutional racism is the main cause of underachievement. They argue internal factors like assessment and setting systematically produce the failure of large numbers of ethnic minority pupils , especially black boys. However sociologists like Sewell reject this view, and think we need to focus on external factors such as boys’ anti-school attitudes, the peer group and the nurturing role of the father.

Question 48

Criticisms of Gillborn - Model Minorities: Indian and Chinese achievement

Answer 48

Critics of the idea of institutional racism in the education system point to the fact that as well as underachievement of groups such as black boys, there is also ‘overachievement’ by other ‘model minorities’. For example Indian and Chinese students perform better than the white majority. Gillborn (2008) responds by arguing the image of Indians and Chinese as hard working ‘model minorities’ performs an ideological function. It conceals the fact that the education system is institutionally racist. It makes the system appear as ‘fair’, it justifies the failure of other minorities like blacks and the they fail because they are unable or unwilling, and it ignores the fact that ‘model minorities’ still suffer racism in schools.