ethnic differences in achievement Flashcards
trends in ethnic differences in achievement
black and pakistani do worst
chinese and indians to best
two main aspects of cultural deprivation of ethnic groups?
intellectual and language skills
attitudes, values and family structure
how do intellectual and language skills cause underachievement in some ethnic groups?
children from low income black families lack intellectual stimulation, so fail to develop reasoning and problem solving skills
some claim that children who don’t speak English at home may be held back educationally, but statistics show that this is not a major factor
how do attitudes and values cause underachievement in some ethnic groups?
black children socialised into fatalistic attitude, lack of ambition and motivation, so unequipped for success
not socialised into mainstream culture which instills ambition, competitiveness and differed gratification
how does family structure cause underachievement in some ethnic groups?
Murray says many black families are headed by a lone mother, a high rate of lone parenthood and a lack of positive male role models leaves to the underachievement of some minorities
what does Sewell say about underachievement in black boys?
disagrees with Murray, says that the problem is a lack of fatherly nurturing or ‘tough love’
street gangs offer them alternative reverse loyalty and love
academically successful black boys felt the greatest barrier to success was peer pressure
what does Sewell say about asian families?
Indian and Chinese pupils benefit from supportive families that have an ‘asian work ethic’ and place a high value on education
Lupton says adult authority in asian families is similar to schools, respectful behaviour was expected at home which had a knock on effect in school
what are criticisms of cultural deprivation theory for ethnic differences in achievement?
kiddie says it is a victim-blaming explanation, minority ethnic group children are cultural different, not culturally deprived
how does material deprivation lead to ethnic differences in achievement?
half of ethnic minority children live in low-income households
ethnic minorities are twice as likely to be unemployed
how does racism in wider society affect education outcome?
material deprivation may be the product of racism in wider society
members of minority ethnic groups face direct and indirect discrimination at work and in the housing market e.g. wood et al sent job applications
as a result they are more likely to have low pay or be unemployed which affects children’s educational opportunities
what are internal factors that affect ethnic differences in achievement?
labelling
pupil subcultures
ethnocentricity and institutional racism
what are the main pupil identities?
Archer
ideal pupil identity: white, middle class, seen as achieving in the right way through natural ability and initiative
pathologised pupil identity: asian, deserving poor, over achiever who succeeds through hard work rather than natural ability
demonised pupil identity: black or white working class, culturally deprived under achiever
how are ethnic minorities labelled?
black pupils seen as disruptive
asians seen as passive
what did Gillborn and Yodel say about black pupils and discipline?
they found teachers expected black pupils to present more discipline problems and misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening
when teachers acted on this misperception, pupils responded negatively and further conflict resulted
this may explain higher levels of exclusions from school of black boys
criticisms of Gillborn and Yodel
how can they be sure that the behaviour was only interpreted as problematic and wasn’t in fact misbehaviour
what were the responses of black boys to teacher’s racist labelling?
Sewell (CIRR)
conformists: keen to succeed, accepted school’s goals and had friends from different ethnic groups
innovators: pro-education but anti-school, valued success but not teachers approval
retreatists: disconnected from both school and black subcultures
rebels: rejected schools goals and rules, aimed to achieve status of ‘street hood’
pupils rejecting negative labels
fuller found black girls maintained a positive self-image by rejecting teachers stereotypes of them, recognised value of education and were determined to succeed, but didn’t seek teachers approval
(use to criticise labelling as deterministic)
what is institutional racism?
discrimination against ethnic minorities that is built into the way institutions operate on a routine or unconscious basis
how does institutional racism affect ethnic differences in achievement?
ethnocentric curriculum
selection and segregation
assessment
features of ethnocentric curriculum?
languages, literature and music: don’t teach asian languages compare to European languages, ignores non-europeans languages, literature and music
history: Ball says national curriculum ignores ethnic diversity and promotes ‘little englandism’, ignores history of black and asian people
how does the ethnocentric curriculum cause underachievement?
image of black people as inferior undermines black childrens self-esteem and leads to their failure
ethnic minority pupils become disengaged from their work, not motivated to work hard to achieve good grades
how does selection and segregation cause underachievement?
Gillborn says marketisation gives schools more scope to select pupils, negative stereotypes can influence decisions about admission, so ethnic minorities don’t get into good schools
how does assessment cause underachievement?
Gillborn says assessment is rigged to validate dominant white culture’s superiority
e.g. baseline assessments in primary showed black pupils ahead of white was replaced in 2003 by foundation stage profile which is based on teachers judgement thus gives scope for stereotyping so black pupils appeared to be doing worse than whites
what is the ethnocentric curriculum?
curriculum largely teaches about white, western culture and disregards black and asian cultures
