Education - Ethnicity & Achievement (External Factors) Flashcards
What are the 3 main external factors?
Cultural deprivation
Material deprivation
Racism in wider society
What are the 3 main aspects of cultural deprivation?
Intellectual & linguistic skills
Attitudes & values
Family structure & parental support
How does intellectual & linguistic skills affect achievement in ethnic minorities?
Children from low-income families are said to lack intellectual stimulation & enriching experiences so they are ill-equipped for school (as they havent been able to develop reasoning or people skills)
SOCIOLOGISTS: What did Bereiter & Engelmann say about Intellectual & linguistic skills?
They consider the language spoken by low-income black American families as inadequate for educational success - seen as ungrammatical, disjointed & incapable of expressing abstract ideas
Evaluation: What is the view of Gillborn & Mirza related to Intellectual & Linguistic skills?
They note that Indian pupils do well in terms of educational achievement despite not having English as a 1st/home language
How does attitudes & values affect educational achievement?
Lack of motivation among black children is seen as a major cause of their educational failure.
Sociologists argue that black children are socialised into a ‘live for today’ culture that doesnt value education & leaves them unequipped for success (+ deviates from mainstream culture - instils competitiveness, ambition etc.)
How is family structure & parental support seen to influence educational achievement?
It is argued that the failure to socialise children adequately results in a dysfunctional family structure - has a negative effect on achievement
SOCIOLOGIST: What does Moynihan say about family structure & parental support?
Argues that as many black families are led by a single mother, her children are deprived of adequate care (she has to financially struggle - no breadwinner) so this absence of a father means boys lack a male role model for achievement
This cultural deprivation ends up being a cyclical process where these inadequately socialised children from unstable families go on to fail and end up as inadequate parents themselves.
SOCIOLOGIST: What did Pryce say about the underachievement of black Caribbean pupils & Asians
Said that family structure contributes to the underachievement of black Caribbean pupils in the UK
Claims that Asians are more resistant to racism (as they have a greater sense of self worth) & argues that black Caribbeans are less cohesive & resistant to racism (causes low esteem & underachievement) + argues that the difference is the result of the impact of colonialism on the 2 groups as slavery was culturally devastating (black people lost their language, religion etc.) whereas colonial rule didn’t destroy Asian family culture
SOCIOLOGIST: What did Sewell say about fathers, gangs & culture?
Argues that it isnt the absence of fathers as role models that leads to the underachievement of black boys it is that there is a lack of fathers nurturing ‘tough love’ which results in boys looking to street gangs for ‘perverse loyalty & love’. This presents boys with an inspired role model of anti-school black masculinity and leaves them subject to anti-educational peer pressure (many of black boys interviewed said the biggest barrier was other black boys)
+ said that black students do worse than their Asian counterparts is due to cultural differences in education - 1 group are nurtured by MTV another are clocking up the educational hours
SOCIOLOGIST: What did Sewell concluded needed to happen so they can achieve better in education?
Black children (particularly boys) need to have greater expectations of them so they can raise their expectations & ultimately achieve higher
Evaluation: What did Gillborn say in response to Sewell’s theory?
Argue that peer pressure doesn’t produce failure but the institutional racism does
SOCIOLOGIST: What is Sewell’s view on Asian families?
Argue that Indian & Chinese pupils benefit from supportive families with an ‘Asian work ethic’ that places a high value on education
SOCIOLOGIST: What did Lupton say about Asian families?
Argued that authority in Asian households works similarly to the model that operates in schools and found that respectful behaviour towards adults was expected of them. This has a knock-on effect in schools as parents are more likely to be supportive to the school’s behaviour policies
SOCIOLOGIST: What did McCulloch’s survey of 16000 pupils find?
Ethnic minorities are more likely to aspire to go to university than white British pupils
STUDY: What was the study conducted by Lupton & what were the findings?
Studied 4 mainly working class schools - 2 predominantly White, 2 largely Pakistani & 1 mixed ethnicity
Found that teachers reported poorer levels of of behaviour & discipline in the white working class schools (even though there were fewer children on free school meals = lower poverty)
STUDY: What did the teachers blame the findings on in Lupton’s study?
The lower levels of parental support & negative attitude that white working class parents have towards education - ethnic minority parents are more likely to see it as a ‘way up in society’
Evaluation: What did Evans say which criticises Lupton’s study?
Argues that street culture in white working class areas can be tough & this means that young people have to learn to withstand intimidation & intimidate others - this means that school can become a place where these power games erupt & it makes it harder for them to succeed & brings disruption
What is compensatory education?
The main policy that has been adapted to tackle cultural deprivation & operation head start in the USA was to compensate children for there perceived cultural deprivation they are said to suffer from due to coming from deprived backgrounds
Evaluation: What are criticisms of cultural deprivation theory?
Driver -> ignores the positive effects of ethnicity on education (black Caribbean families provide girls with positive role models of strong independent women -> explains why black girls tend to succeed more than the boys)
Lawrence -> challenges Pryce’s view & argues black pupils under achieve due to racism
Kedwell -> sees cultural deprivation as a victim-blaming explanation & argues that ethnic minority children are culturally different not deprived and underachieve as most schools are ethnocentric and are biased in favour of white culture.
Why are ethnic minorities more likely to experience material deprivation?
Ethnic minorities are more likely to suffer from factors e.g. substantial housing which produces educational failure
SOCIOLOGIST: What does Palmer say about material deprivation and ethnicity?
- Ethnic minorities almost 2x likely to be unemployed compared to whites.
- Ethnic minority households are around 3x likely to be homeless.
SOCIOLOGIST: What does Palmer say that are the reasons for ethnic minorities to be more likely to suffer from cultural deprivation?
- Lack of language skills & foreign qualifications not being recognised by UK employers – more likely to affect recently arrived groups (many refugees) – most members of established minority groups are fluent in English
- Many live in economically depressed areas with high unemployment & low wage rates
How are these inequalities reflected?
The proportion of children from ethnic minority groups who are eligible for FSM
