Ethnic Differences Flashcards
There is a number of factors differential achievement amongst ethnic groups. List these factors.
Cultural deprivation Material deprivation Attitudes and values Family structures and parental support Labelling and racism Rejection of labels
How does cultural deprivation lead ethnic minorities into underachievement?
Students from low income afro-Caribbean families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences which leaves them poorly equipped for school due to the lack of reasoning and problem-solving skills.
Language is a part of cultural capital. How does language used by blacks “inadequate”?
Engelmann saw language spoken by blacks as inadequate for educational success as it is ungrammatical, disjointed and incapable of expressing abstract ideas.
What values held by blacks lead them to be unequipped for success in education?
Black culture socialises children into fatalistic ‘live for today’ attitudes that don’t value education and leaves the group “unequipped”
How do family structures affect educational achievement?
Underachievement is indirectly caused by lone parenthood in which there is a lack of a positive male role model. Sewell argued that the lack of adequate discipline is what leads to underachievement. Black boys are led to think that speaking standard English and doing well at school should be viewed with suspicion.
Palmer argues that material deprivation in ethnic backgrounds leads to educational underachievement. Why is this?
Almost a half of ethnic minority children live in low-income households and these are more likely to be unemployed compared to whites. They are at a greater risk of material deprivation because they live in economically depressed areas with high unemployment and low wage rates.
Gillborn and Youdell argued that afro-Caribbean students are the highest achieving in primary schools, however, during GCSEs they are the worst out of any ethnic group. Why is this?
This is due to labelling and racism. Interactionists argue that attaching definitions such as ‘threat to authority’ or ‘underachiever’ changes the the interaction with the person and leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What evidence did Gilborn and Youdell base their findings on labelling on?
They found that teachers are quicker to discipline black pupils for the same behaviours as whites because they are seen to have discipline problems and their behaviour is interpreted as threatening.
Gilborn and Youdell argued that black pupils are viewed as undisciplined and their behaviour is threatening. How were they labelled? Compare this to labels placed on Asians.
Black pupils are labelled as a ‘challenge to authority’ which leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy of the label being acted out. In contrast, Asian students often speak in simplified English and are thus seen as not having elaborate language skills, therefore are often left out of discussions.
Teachers view students based on their identity and this then influences their interaction with them. Outline the three types of student, ideal, pathologised and demonised.
The ideal student identity is a white, middle-class masculine heterosexual that achieves through natural ability and initiative. The pathologised identity is the feminised, asexual Asian pupil that over-achieves through hard work rather than natural ability. The demonised pupil is the black hyper-sexualised black or white working class student that is unintelligent and culturally deprived.
People respond to labels in different ways, for example, some are disruptive or withdrawn while other reject the label and prove it wrong. Negative labels do not always lead to self-fulfilling prophecies. Outline Fuller and Mac an Ghaill’s findings.
Fuller and Mac an Ghaill studied a group of year 11 girls in London and found that instead of accepting negative labels, they used their anger to strive for educational success. They did not seek approval from the racist teachers and instead had positive attitudes towards academic success whilst displaying a lack of concern for the school routines.
What do Fuller and Mac an Ghaill findings imply about labelling?
Students can succeed without conforming and negative labels do not always lead to failure. The girls in Fuller’s study were able to stay determined to succeed without forming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Mac an Ghaill also studied black and Asian A-Level students and found that students that recognised labelling did not accept it.
Girls in the sixth-form that came from an all-girls school felt that they have been prepared for academic commitment which helped them overcome negative labels. Negative labels therefore do not always lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Mirza studied ambitious black girls that faced racism and found that racist teachers discourage black pupils through advice about career option choices. Outline the three types of racist teachers.
The colour-blind teachers believed that all students are equal but did not challenge racism themselves.
The liberal chauvinists believed that black students are culturally deprived and had low expectations of them because of this.
The overt racists were the ones that believed that blacks were inferior and actively discriminated against them
The absence of fathers influences peer groups and street culture which affect black boys in their achievement. Sewell argues that there four responses that affect achievement. Outline these.
The rebels conform to anti-authority, anti-school, ‘black macho lad’ stereotypes and are most visual and influential.
The conformists are keen to succeed and do not belong to subcultures and are anxious about being labelled.
The innovators are pro-education but anti-school in that they value success but don’t conform to standards.
The retreatists are isolated and disconnected from the school and subcultures.
