Education - Ethnic Differences In Educational Achievements

Question 1

Provide trends indicating ethnic differences in achievement.

Answer 1

• Chinese, Indian, and Bangladeshi pupils do better than the average
• White pupils are completely average
• Black Carribean and Pakistani students do worse than average

Question 2

What are the 3 external explananations for ethnic underachievement in education?

Answer 2

• Cultural deprivation
• Material deprivation
• Racism in wider society

Question 3

What are the three aspects of cultural deprivation theory?

Answer 3

• Intellectual and linguistic skills
• Attitudes and values
• Family structure and parental support

Question 4

Outline the intellectual argument of cultural deprivation theory.

Answer 4

Many black children from low-income families are understimulated, without enriching environment, leaving them ill-equipped without reasoning and problem solving skills.

Question 5

Bereiter and Engelmann (1966) and language:

Answer 5

Language used in low-income black American families is ungrammatical, disjointed and incapable of expressing abstract ideas, leaving black children ill-eqipped to express and even understand the same concepts as white pupils.

Question 6

How do the attitudes and values some black children are socialised into leave them ill equipped for education?

Answer 6

Rather than being socialised into the mainstream culture of ambition and competitiveness, some black children are socialised into a fatalistic and present time oriented culture that devalues education, possibly due to inadequate family structures.

Question 7

Moynihan (1965) and black matrifocal families:

Answer 7

There are two effects of 51% of black families being singularly matriarchal: the children are deprived of adequate education because the mother struggles financially and the young boys lack an adequate role model of male achievement.
This is a cycle.

Question 8

Who agrees with Moynihan?

Answer 8

The New Right and Murray (1984)

Question 9

Pryce (1979) and colonialism:

Answer 9

Pryce argued that black Caribbean culture was less resistant to racism and provides less self-worth than Asian culture, causing black pupils to underachieve. This is due to the devastating effects of colonialism and slavery on Black language, religion and family structure.

Question 10

Sewell (2009) and street gangs:

Answer 10

Many young black boys seek the “tough love” (respectful and non-abusive discipline) that they do not get from patriarchs, in street gangs that offer “perverse loyalty and love”. These groups often view speaking in Standard English and doing well in school as selling out to the white authority and so pressure members to not.

Question 11

Give a criticism of Sewell (2009) including a theorist.

Answer 11

Gillborn (2008): it is institutional racism that systematically produces the failure of large numbers of black boys.

Question 12

Lupton (2004) and Asian families:

Answer 12

The authority of adults in Asian families reflects that of teachers in schools, Asian students are pre-disposed to this system so are rewarded.

Question 13

What did Lupton (2004) say was the difference between W/C white and BAME parents’ views on education?

Answer 13

White W/C parents have a negative attitude
BAME W/C parents are more likely to view it as “a way up in society”.

Question 14

How has cultural deprivation attemptedly been solved?

Answer 14

Compensatory education programmes

Question 15

Summarise ‘Sure Start’

Answer 15

3,500 local Sure Start children’s centres in the most deprived areas providing integrated education, care, family services, etc. to promote the physical, intellectual, and social development of the babies. Austerity has led to the underfunding or foreclosure of most centres.

Question 16

Give three criticisms of cultural deprivation theory (including theorists)

Answer 16

Driver (against Moynihan): lone mother creates positive matriarchal figure for young black girls
Lawrence (against Pryce): racism not low self-esteem
Keddie: BAME children are “culturally different not deprived” and are punished by the ethnocentric white culture favouring system

Question 17

Why don’t critics like compensatory education and what are the alternatives?

Answer 17

They see it as imposing the dominant white culture onto children with their own.
- Multicultural education that recognizes and values minority cultures
- Anti-racist education that challenges prejudice in the system

Question 18

Give 3 of Palmer’s (2012) examples of BAME material deprivation.

Answer 18

• ethnic minority children are 2x as likely to live in low income housing (1/2 vs. 1/4)
• ethnic minorities are 2x as likely to be unemployed
• ethnic minority households are 3x more likely to be homeless
• Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers are 2x as likely to earn less than £7/hour (1/2 Vs. 1/4)

Question 19

Give two reasons why ethnic minorities may be at greater risk of material deprivation.

Answer 19

• Asylum seekers may not be allowed to work
• Cultural factors like Purdah which prevent women from working
• Foreign qualifications that are not recognised by Uk employers

Question 20

Summarise Wood et al’s (2010) experiment on racism and employment.

Answer 20

Fictitious, near-identical applications to 1000 job vacancies; 1/3 appearing white, 2/3 appearing to be from BAME.
- 1/16 BAME applicants offered an interview as against 1/9 white applicants

Question 21

According to Gillborn and Mirza (2000), what was the difference in black children’s achievement in one LA on entering primary compared to GCSE.

Answer 21

20 percentage points above local average on entry.
21 percentage points below average on GCSEs, the worst of any ethnic group.

Question 22

Strand (2010) and progress of black pupils:

Answer 22

Black carribean boys not entitled to FSM made less progress than white pupils.

Question 23

Gillborn and Youdel (2000) and labelling of black pupils:

Answer 23

Teachers expect black pupils to present more discipline problems.
They discipline black pupils quicker and more harshly, largely disproportionately.
This has multiple consequences, all of which lead to black pupils struggling:
- Higher rate of official exclusion (Bourne (1994))
- Higher rate of internal exclusion (Osler (2011))
- Higher rate of referral

Question 24

How does streaming disproportionately affect black pupils? How is it cyclical?

Answer 24

Stereotyping and teacher racism => black pupils are placed in lower sets => black pupils struggle to achieve academically in the A-C economy => teachers feel vindicated in their racism and stereotypes

Question 25

Wright (1992) and labelling of black and asian pupils:

Answer 25

• Black pupils are seen as a threat and dangerous, as such they are punished harshly and disproportionately.
• Asian pupils are seen as a problem, but passive and ignorable, as such they are mistreated in a more naturalized manner - mispronouncing names, open mockery, etc.

Question 26

Archer (2008)’s 3 pupil identities:

Answer 26

The ideal: a heterosexual white middle-class masculinised identity;
- achieves the ‘right’ way, through natural ability and initiative

The pathologised: an asexual or sexually oppressed Asian feminised identity;
- ‘conformists’ who achieve the ‘wrong’ way, hard work over natural ability

The demonised: a black or white W/C hyper sexualised identity
- doesn’t achieve due to unintelligence

Question 27

Archer and Francis (2007) and ‘negative positive stereotypes’, and its implications:

Answer 27

Teachers view the success of Chinese students as due to passive, hardworking conformism rather than natural talent, as wrong.

If you fail, the racists were right about you.
If you succeed, you did it wrong and aren’t deserving of reward.

Question 28

What are the implications of Fuller (1984) and Mac an Ghail (1992) on pupil response to teacher racism?

Answer 28

Students may still succeed even if they refuse to conform (such as by befriending those in lower streams) and negative labelling does not always lead to failure.

Additionally, how students respond will be depend on factors like previous education.

Question 29

Mirza’s (1992) 3 main types of teacher racist:

Answer 29

• Colour blind: believes all pupils are equal but does not challenge racism
• Liberal chauvinists: believes black pupils are culturally deprived and doesn’t expect much
• Overt Racists: believes black pupils are inferior and actively discriminates

Question 30

What is the difference between the group of ambitious black girls in Fuller (1984) and Mirza (1992)?

Answer 30

Fuller’s girls successfully subverted the system and were able to succeed, their strategies for avoiding racism worked.
Mirza’s girls were put at a significant disadvantage by their strategies - choosing specific staff members for help and not choosing options that were taught by racists.

Question 31

Give a criticism of labelling theory.

Answer 31

There is a danger of removing the agency of BAME pupils, whereas, as is shown in Fuller (1984), it is possible to beat the system.

Question 32

Define ‘Locked-in inequality’.

Answer 32

A system is so historically and deeply discriminatory that inequality is perpetuated without the need for anyone to consciously discriminate.

Question 33

Give five ways the education system is institutionally racist.

Answer 33

• Marketisation
• The Ethnocentric Curriculum
• Assessment
• Access to Opportunities
• The ‘New IQism’

Question 34

According to Gillborn (1997), how does marketization increase inequality?

Answer 34

Schools are given more freedom to select pupils => stereotypes and racism leads to less BAME students getting into better schools => more difficulty later in life

Question 35

What is meant by an ‘ethnocentric curriculum’?

Answer 35

The education system disregards and refuses to accommodate any culture that is not the dominant European (usually British) culture.

Question 36

How does Coard argue that ethnocentric curriculum lead to underachievement?

Answer 36

Black and brown pupils are taught that the British brought ‘civilisation’ to the ‘primitive’ people they colonised. This can undermine their self esteem or create anti-school sentiment, both of which lead to underachievement.

Question 37

How does Ball (1994) criticise how history is taught in the National Curriculum.

Answer 37

He argues it promotes ‘little englandism’ and ignores ethnic diversity, for example, by glorifying empire and ignoring its negative effects on Black people.

Question 38

Give a criticism for the negative effects of the ‘ethnocentric curriculum’

Answer 38

• It ignores Asian cultures and yet Indian and Chinese pupils regularly achieve above the national average.
• Stone (1981): black children do not suffer from low self-esteem.

Question 39

Why does Gillborn (2008) call ‘the assessment game’ rigged?

Answer 39

If black children succeed as a group, ‘the rules will be changed to re-engineer failure’.

Question 40

What assessment for primary school pupil was switched to in 2003 that disproportionately affected black pupils?

Answer 40

Baseline assessments were switched to ‘foundation stage profiles’

Question 41

How did the change from baseline assessments to FSP make it appear as if Black pupils were suddenly doing much worse?

Answer 41

Black pupils in one LA went from being 20% above average (the highest achievers), to lower than white pupils.

Question 42

Why did the change from baseline assessments to FSP make it appear as if Black pupils were suddenly doing much worse?

Answer 42

FSP is mostly based on teacher judgement and happens later in education. As such, teacher racism, labelling and stereotyping is given more time to take effect and now has more of a consequence.

Question 43

Sanders and Horn (1995) and asessment:

Answer 43

When more weighting is given to tasks asessed by teachers rather than asessments, the gap between ethnicities grows.

Question 44

Why do Gifted and Talented Programmes create racial educational inequality?

Answer 44

Because of Archer’s (2008) ‘ideal pupil’, Gillborn notes that white pupils are 2x as likely to be identified as ‘gifted and talented’.

Question 45

Why do exam tiers disproportionately hurt black pupils?

Answer 45

Black pupils are more likely to be placed in lower sets and be entered for lower tier tests. No matter how bright they are, they cannot achieve more than a C.

Question 46

Gillborn (2008) and ‘New IQism’:

Answer 46

Teachers and policymakers make false assumptions about pupils ‘potential’ (a fixed quality that can be measured and acted upon). This is stupid, a test can do nothing more than tell you what a person has already learned, not what they are capable of learning.

Question 47

Gillbourn and Youdell (2001) and IQ tests:

Answer 47

Secondary shools are increasingly using IQ tests to stream pupils

Question 48

Give two criticisms of the education system as institutionally racist.

Answer 48

• Sewell argues that the school system is not racist enough to prevent individuals from succeeding.
• If racist, why Indians and Chinese pupils succeeding?