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
