Education: Ethnic differences in achievement (external factors) Flashcards
What are the 3 reasons why some ethnic groups underachieve in society due to cultural deprivation?
- intellectual and linguistic skills
- attitudes and values
- family structure and parental support
How does intellectual and linguistic skills cause some ethnic groups to underachieve in education?
Engelmann et al- language spoken by poor black american families is ungrammatical, disjointed and doesn’t express abstract ideas.
there’s concern that EAL pupil may be held back educationally.
Evaluate intellectual and linguistic skills
indian pupils do well despite english not being their first language.
How does attitudes and values cause some black pupils to underachieve in education?
cd theorists see lack of motivation cause the failure of many black children.
some black children are socialised into a subculture instilling a fatalistic attitude and present time orientation- not value education, unequipped for success.
by contrast, most children are socialised into a mainstream culture, instils ambition, competitiveness and willingness to make the sacrifices for long term goals, equipping them with educational success.
How does family structure and parental support cause some black pupils to underachieve in education?
Moynihan argues that many black families are headed by a lone mother they are financially deprived causing problems for their educational achievement.
the lack of a male role model means that black boys don’t have a positive role model of male success.
How does family structure and parental support cause some ethnic groups to underachieve in education? - New Right
Murray argued that a high rate of lone parenthood and a lack of positive role models leads to the underachievement of some minorities.
How does family structure cause some ethnic groups to underachieve in education? - Ken Pryce
from a comparison of black and asian pupils, he claims that asians are higher achievers because their culture is more resistant to racism, gives them self worth.
black caribbean culture is less resistant to racism. causing low self-esteem and underachievement.
this is due to the impact of colonialism. the experience of slavery destroyed black culture e.g. lost their language, religion and entire family system.
by contrast, asian culture remained largely intact.
How does family structure and parental support cause some ethnic groups to underachieve in education? - Sewell
Sewell argued that the absence of fathers as role models leads to black boys underachieving.
a lack of fatherly nurturing or ‘tough love’ (firm, fair, respectful and non-abusive discipline).
resulting in black boys finding it hard to overcome the emotional and behavioural difficulties of adolescence.
What happens in the absence of the restraining influence of a nurturing father?
street gangs of other fatherless boys offer black boys ‘perverse loyalty and love
these present boys with a media inspired role model of anti-school black masculinity
Arnot describes as ‘the ultra-tough ghetto superstar’ constantly reinforced through rap lyrics and MTV videos
Black boys and peer pressure in education
Sewell found academic black boys are labelled ‘sell outs’ and subject to peer pressure by the gangs
How do black students do worse than asian students?
Sewell argues that black students do worse than asians because of cultural differences in socialisation and attitudes to education.
he says while one group is being nurtured by MTV, the other is clocking up the educational hours. Sewell concluded that black children- especially the boys need to have greater expectations placed on them to raise their aspirations.
How would critical race theorists criticise sewell?
Gillborn argues that it is not peer pressure but institutional racism within the education system itself that systematically produce the failure of a large number of black boys.
How does family structure and parental support cause Asian pupils to outperform other ethnic groups in education? - Sewell’s
While many black families have absent fathers in Sewell’s view indian and chinese pupil benefit from supportive families that have an ‘Asian work ethic’ and place a higher value on education.
How does family structure and parental support cause Asian pupils to outperform other ethnic groups in education? - Lupton
Lupton argues that adult authority in asian families is similar to the model that operates in school. She found that respectful behaviour towards adults was expected from children. This had a knock-on effect in school, since parents were more likely to be supportive of school behaviour policies.
