Educational Achievement with Ethnicity

Question 1

What ethnic groups outperform and underperform Their White counterparts

Answer 1

Indian and Chinese pupils outperform whilst African-Carribean and Pakistani underperform

Question 2

In all ethnic groups which gender performs better

Answer 2

Girls outperform boys

Question 3

Why is measuring the relationship between ethnicity and educational attainment difficult

Answer 3

Because classifications such as ‘Asian’ are too generalised and do not take into account the fact that this group is made up from people in very different cultures and religions.

Question 4

How do Ethnicity and Social class Interlink

Answer 4

There are social class differences within and across ethnic groups, for example, pupils of Indian origin are more likely to live in middle-class families while pupils from Pakistani origins are more likely to live in households characterised by poverty

Question 5

What does Platt say about material factors

Answer 5

That ethnic minorities, especially Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Black African backgrounds, have much higher levels of unemployment and poverty and much lower levels of income than White people, which means that they are unable to afford to invest in educational support for their children

Question 6

What does Modood claim about material factors

Answer 6

That many ethnic minority parents, particularly those from India, compensate for their poverty by passing on cultural capital, especially high aspirations, to their children.

Question 7

What did Archer and Francis find in their study about cultural factors

Answer 7

They carried out a small-scale study of Chinese parents and pupils and found that Chinese parents invested considerable time, energy and money into the education of their children. The parents if they are well-of or poor, always had high aspirations for their children

Question 8

What did Strands study find about cultural factors

Answer 8

His longitudinal surgery of over 1,500 young people found that many ethnic minority parents constantly encouraged their children to achieve as they saw education as a way out of poverty

Question 9

What did some studies suggest about ethnic children being educationally disadvantaged

Answer 9

Because for most English is their second language and find it hard to understand.

Question 10

What does Sewell observe about cultural factors

Answer 10

That a high number of Black boys are often raised by single mothers. He claims most of these mothers put a lot of effort into their boys education but that the boys are disadvantaged by the lack of positive adult male role model in their lives.

Question 11

What is Dustmann’s critic about second languages

Answer 11

He found that children from ethnic minority groups who did not speak English at home often caught up with White pupils as they progressed through school

Question 12

What do some researchers say about ethnic minorities and school factors

Answer 12

That pupils from different ethnic minorities are disadvantaged by institutional racism within the education system which treats pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds less favourably than pupils from White British backgrounds

Question 13

Why does institutional racism occur in schools

Answer 13

It occurs because of the systems, cultures, policies and/or structures of the organisations themselves. This results in schools failing to provide the same quality of service and opportunity to all ethnic groups.

Question 14

What is an Ethnocentric curriculum

Answer 14

The organisation of knowledge and teaching so that it reflects the culture of the dominant ethnic group and marginalises the cultures of less influential ethnic groups

Question 15

What is another aspect of institutional racism

Answer 15

The unwitting and often unconscious prejudice and stereotyping of ethnic minority pupils practised by some teachers while interacting in the classroom with ethnic minority pupils

Question 16

What did Gillborn and Youdell’s study claim

Answer 16

The research of two London comprehensive schools claimed teachers subscribed to racialised expectations of different groups. They acknowledge that most teachers avoid being openly ragout because they subscribe to high standards of professionalism and overt racism is a dismissible offence

Question 17

What do Gillborn and Mirza (2000) claim

Answer 17

That Black students are more likely to be harshly disciplined compared with White or Asian children. Classroom interaction between Black youth and White teachers was often characterised by conflict and confrontation

Question 18

What did the negative labelling of Black children by White teachers lead to

Answer 18

The emergence of deviant or anti-school behaviour which are radically exclusive, thus contributing further to racial tensions that might exist between ethnic minority culture and White teachers

Question 19

What is Mirza’s study and what did it find

Answer 19

Study of Black girls in two London comprehensives found that girls believed that teachers had low expectations of them. However, these girls had confidence in their abilities and resisted teacher judgements. The Black girls were anti-school but pro-education

Question 20

What does Mac an Ghaill’s research suggest

Answer 20

That ethnic minority pupils use a variety of survival strategies to resist racialised teacher expectations.

Question 21

What do Foster, Gomm and Hammersley claim

Answer 21

That the research of Gillborn and Yodel has failed to provide evidence of racial discrimination against ethnic minority pupils

Question 22

What do other sociologists argue about the differences in achievement in schools

Answer 22

That race cannot be divorced from social class.
Although the quality of schooling is significant social background is of much greater influence. Research found that children from better-off ethnic minority families are three times more likely than their poorer classmates to gain five good GCSES