Ethnic differences in achievement Flashcards
1
Q
What do cultural deprivation (external factor) theorists say about ethnic underachievement?
A
- cultural deprivation theorists see ethnic underachievement as the result of inadequate socialisation in the home
- three main areas: intellectual and linguistic skills, attitudes and values, family structure and parental support
2
Q
How do intellectual and linguistic skills (external factor) contribute to low achievement and who is affected the most by this?
A
- many children from low income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences which leaves them poorly equipped for school as they have not been able to develop reasoning and problem solving skills
3
Q
What did Bereiter and Engelmann say about intellectual and linguistic skills affecting achievement?
A
- they argue that the language spoken by low income black american families is inadequate for educational success
4
Q
What did Bowker say about intellectual and linguistic skills affecting achievement?
A
- identifies that a lack of standard english is a major barrier to progress in education and integration into wider society
5
Q
What difficulties do EAL students (english as an additional language) face in a British Education System? [1]
A
- british students are brought up and socialised into the mainstream culture and are fully understanding of the societal norms and values whereas EAL students do not have this and uphold different attitudes towards society and education
6
Q
What is a strength of intellectual and linguistic skills affecting EAL students from achieving? [1]
A
- evidence to support this: afro carrie an students do worse in average in GCSE’s who speak Patois at home
7
Q
What is a limitation of intellectual and linguistic skills affecting EAL students from achieving? [2]
A
- this may not be a factor as exam boards may allow pupils to complete exams in different languages
- chinese and indian pupils do better in GCSE’s despite english being their second language
8
Q
How do attitudes and values (external factor) contribute to low achievement and who is affected the most by this / why?
A
- cultural deprivation see a lack of motivation as a major cause of the failure of many black children
- most children are socialised into the mainstream culture which instils ambition and willingness to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve long term goals which equips them for success in education
- cultural deprivation theorists argue that some black children are socialised into a subculture that instils a fatalistic, ‘live for today’ attitude which does not value education and leaves them unequipped for success
9
Q
What is another factor within attitudes and values that contributes to low achievement of Bangladeshi and Pakistani children?
A
- the amount of time they spent at the mosque studying the qur’an
10
Q
What is a limitation of attitudes and values affecting black students from achieving?
A
- suggests that all black people are the same
11
Q
How does family structure and parental support (external factor) contribute to low achievement?
A
- cultural deprivation theorists argue that failure to socialise children adequately is the result of a dysfunctional family structure
12
Q
What did Moynihan say about family structure and parental support?
A
- Moynihan claims that because many black families are headed by lone mothers, their children are deprived of adequate care as they have to struggle financially in the absence of a male breadwinner
- the fathers absence also means that boys lack an adequate role model of male achievement
13
Q
How does Moynihan view cultural deprivation?
A
- Moynihan see’s cultural deprivation as a cycle where inadequately socialised children from unstable families go on to fail at school and become inadequate parents themselves who will raise children that will also underachieve
14
Q
What did Murray say about family structure and parental support?
A
- Murray argues that a high rate if lone parenthood and a lack of positive role models lead to the underachievement of some minorities
15
Q
What did Scruton say about family structure and parental support?
A
- Scruton see’s the low achievement levels of some ethnic minorities as resulting from failure to embrace mainstream British culture
16
Q
What is a limitation of family structure and parental support affecting black students from achieving?
A
- assumes that all black families have the same culture which they do not
17
Q
What is a strength of family structure and parental support affecting black students from achieving?
A
- supported with statistics
- afro caribbean perform the least well in gcse’s
18
Q
What is The Swann Report?
A
- this report suggested that the tightly king asian family structure might be responsible for the higher levels of achievement amongst some asian groups compared to black caribbean
- there are fewer single mothers of southern asian origin compared black caribbean families and increasingly so amongst white families
19
Q
What did Driver and Ballard say about The Swann Report and Asian families?
A
- they claim that asian families not only encourage children to work hard at school but they have generally been prepared to give considerable support to their children’s efforts to gain further qualifications
20
Q
What did Lupton say about The Swann Report and Asian families?
A
- Lupton claims that the adult authority in asian families reflects the model that operates in school, this created respectful children and the parents were supportive of the school’s strict behaviour policies
21
Q
What did McCulloch say about the underachievement amongst white working class families? [3]
A
- found the ethnic minorities are more likely to aspire to go to universities than white british
- ethnic minority parents were more likely to see education as ‘a way up in society’
- low level of aspiration and achievement in white working class may be a result of lack of parental support
22
Q
What did Evans say about the underachievement amongst white working class families? [2]
A
- argues that street culture in white working class areas can be brutal and so young people learn how to withstand intimidation and individuate others
- schools can become a place where the ‘power games’ are played out again, bringing disruption and making it hard for pupils to succeed
23
Q
How does fathers, gangs and culture proposed by Sewell (external factor) contribute to low achievement?
A
- Sewell disagrees with Murray about an absent father leaving young black boys without a make role model
- he identifies that young fatherless boys lack the ‘tough love’ of a father which causes them to turn to gangs made up of other fatherless boys
- these gangs offer a replacement of ‘tough love’ and provide black bots with perverse loyalty and love
- the gang is a formation of an anti school subculture which is more focused of deviancy and achieving status by misbehaving rather than academically
- Sewell argues that black peer pressure is the biggest barrier facing young black boys
24
Q
What is a strength of fathers, gangs and culture affecting black students from achieving?
A
25
What is a limitation of fathers, gangs and culture affecting black students from achieving?
26
What is material deprivation?
- material deprivation explains educational failure as resulting from factors such as substandard housing and low income
27
Who is affected the most by material deprivation?
- ethnic minorities
28
What did Palmer say about ethnic minorities being affected by material deprivation? [3]
- almost half of all ethnic minority children live in low income households compared to a quarter of white children
- ethnic minorities are almost twice as likely to be unemployed compared to white people
- ethnic minority households are around three times as likely to be homeless
29
What did Modood find about the effects of low income effecting pupils?
- the effects of low income had more severe effects on white pupils than on other ethnic groups
- for example in 2011, 86% if chinese girls on free school meals achieved 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE’s compared to 65% if white girls who were not receiving free school meals
30
What are the reasons why there are differences in educational achievement between ethnic groups? [4]
- many live in economically depressed areas with high
unemployment and low wage rates
- cultural factors such as the tradition of purdah some Muslim households prevents women from working outside the home
- a lack of language skills and foreign qualifications not
being recognised by UK employers
- racial discrimination in the labour market and housing market
31
What are the limitations of the material deprivation theory? [2]
- material deprivation cannot be the only factor affecting educational achievement as Indian and Bangladeshi pupils suffer higher than average levels of poverty yet do better than average in education
- social class cannot explain ethnic differences in underachievement because black MC pupils do not perform better than white working class or white and Asian middle class pupils (Gillborn and Mirza)
32
What are the strengths of the material deprivation theory?
33
What is meant by racism in wider society? (external factor)
- some sociologists argue that poverty itself is the product of another factor, racism
34
What does Mason say about racism in wider society?
- Mason claims that ‘discrimination is a continuing and persistent feature of the experience of britain’s citizens of minority ethnic origin’
35
What did Rex say about racism in wider society?
- Rex argues that racial discrimination leads to social exclusion which worsens poverty
36
What did Rex say about housing and racism in wider society?
- in housing, discrimination means that ethnic minorities are more likely to be forced into substandard accommodation than white people of the same class
37
What did Rex say about employment and racism in wider society?
- in employment, ethnic minorities face extensive discrimination in job opportunities which explains why members of ethnic minority groups are more likely to face unemployment and low pay
38
What is labelling and an example? (internal factor)
- to label someone is to attach a meaning or definition of them
- for example, teachers may label a pupil as a troublemaker or diligent or lazy
39
How does labelling and teacher racism (internal factor) contribute to low achievement and who is affected the most by this?
- when looking at ethnic differences in achievement, teachers give pupils from different ethnic backgrounds lacked which are often negative
40
What have studies into teacher labelling shown about teacher racism?
- studies have shown that black pupils are often seen as disruptive and asian pupils as passive, suggesting that teachers often see them far from the ideal pupil
41
How might negative labels affect education achievement of different ethnic groups?
- if an individual is given a negative label, they may live up to this expectation (self fulfilling prophecy)
- a negative label may cause the individual to lack motivation for the lesson and cause them to underperform
42
What did Gillborn and Youdell find about labelling and teacher racism?
- they found that teachers were quick to discipline black pupils more than other groups for the same behaviour as a result of ‘racialised expectations’
- they found that teachers expected black pupils to present more discipline problems and misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening or challenging to authority
- when teachers acted on this, the pupils responded negatively which lead to further conflict
- as a result, black pupils felt that teachers underestimated their ability and picked on them
43
What is Gillborn and Youdell’s educational triage?
- where teachers base their judgements of pupils’ abilities on the perception of their abilities in the process of streaming
- as a result, negative stereotypes about black pupils’ ability means they are more likely to be placed in lower streams
44
What did Foster say about teacher labelling of black pupils?
- Foster found that teachers stereotyping black pupils as badly behaved results in them being places in lower sets more than other pupils of similar behaviour
45
What did Wright find about teacher labelling when studying a multi ethnic primary school?
- Wright found that asian pupils can also be victims of teachers negative labelling
- found that teachers displayed ethnocentric biases by leaving asian pupils out of class discussions or using childish language when communicating with them as they assumed their english would be poor
- they considered asian pupils (especially girls) as a problem they could ignore
- as a result, pupils became marginalised and were prevented from pull participation in lessons
46
How might marginalising pupils lead to their educational underachievement? [4]
- participation in lessons
- educational opportunities
- teacher support
- self esteem
47
What did Archer say about pupil identities? (internal factor)
- Archer claims that teachers construct three different types of pupil identities
- as a result of this, they treat pupils from different ethnic groups more of less favourably
48
What is Archer’s idea of ‘the ideal pupil identity’?
- white middle class, masculine identity, achievement through natural ability and initiative
49
What is Archer’s idea of ‘the pathologised pupil identity’?
- asian, ‘deserving poor’, likely to achieve through hard work only
50
What is Archer’s idea of ‘the demonised pupil identity’?
- a black or white working class, unintelligent, peer led, culturally deprived underachiever
51
What does research suggest about pupil responses to teacher racism and subcultures? (internal factors)
- research evidence suggests that pupils can respond to teacher racism in a variety of ways
- for example they may become disruptive or withdraw
- alternatively they may refuse to accept the label and even decide to prove it wrong by working extra hard to achieve academic success
- this shows that negative labelling does not automatically lead to self fulfilling prophecy and underachievement in school
52
What did Fuller’s research find about pupil responses and subcultures to labelling?
- studied a group of black girls in year 11 of a london comprehensive school where most black girls were placed in low streams
- they were high achievers despite their allocation in low streams
- the girls did not accept their negative labels, instead they channelled their energy into educational success
53
What did Mac an Ghaill’s research find about pupil responses and subcultures to labelling?
- studied a group of black and asian A level students in sixth form
- those who believed teachers label negatively didn’t necessarily accept them
- responses to labels depended on ethnic group, gender and previous school experiences
- Mac an Gahill found negative labels doesn’t inevitably result in self fulfilling prophecy
54
What did Mirza find when studying ambitious black girls who faced teacher racism?
- found that teachers discouraged them from being ambitious through the advice they gave them about careers and option choices which generally discouraged them for aspiring to professional careers
55
What three main types of teacher racism did Mirza identify?
- the colour blind
- the liberal chauvinists
- the overt racists
56
What is Mirza’s idea of ‘the colour blind’ in teacher racism (internal factor)?
- teachers who believe all pupils are equal but in practice allow racism to go unchallenged
57
What is Mirza’s idea of ‘the liberal chauvinists’ in teacher racism (internal factor)?
- teachers who believe black pupils are culturally deprived and have low expectations for them
58
What is Mirza’s idea of ‘the overt racists’ in teacher racism (internal factor)?
- teachers who believe black pupils are inferior and actively discriminate against them
59
What are Sewell’s four different types of boys’ responses to racist stereotyping by teachers?
- the rebels
- the conformists
- the retreatists
- the innovators
60
What does Sewell mean by ‘the rebels’?
- small minority of visible and influential black pupils, often excluded from school, anti school subculture, conform to stereotype ‘black macho lad’
61
What does Sewell mean by ‘the comformitists’?
- largest group of black pupils, keen to succeed, pro school subculture, friends from other ethnic groups, anxious tone stereotyped
62
What does Sewell mean by ‘the retreatists’?
- small minority of individuals who were disconnected from both school and black subculture, despised by the rebels
63
What does Sewell mean by ‘the innovators’?
- second largest group, pro education but anti school subculture, value success but don’t seek approval from teachers
64
one strength for labelling theory
- supporting evidence from Archer highlighted teacher racism occurring and its negative impact
65
66
3 limitations of labelling theory
- contradictory: evidence from Fuller demonstrates that labelling doesn’t always lead to SFP
- ignores the possibility of pupils own personal situations and behaviour
- institutional racism
67
What did Gillborn say about institutional racism?
- Claims that ethnic inequality in education is “so deep rooted that it has become a practically inevitable feature of the education system “
68
What does Gillborn argue about marketisation and institutional racism?
- marketisation gives schools more scope to select pupils, it allows negative stereotypes to influence decisions about school admissions / compete against one another
69
What does Gillborn argue about the ethnocentric curriculum?
- Gillborn argue schools are institutionally racist due to streaming uncertain groups being placed into lower stream due to teacher labelling
70
What does Gillborn argue about assessments in schools and institutional racism?
- Gillborn argues GCSE’s are the main underlying reason for the ethnic differences in achievement
- Different GCSE tiers main students sit different papers based on perceived ability
- Those with English as a second language are automatically at a disadvantage
71
What does Gillborn argue about access to opportunities and institutional racism?
- Black peoples are placed in lowest set due to teach labelling so they can only gain a C at most
- Research shows that black pupils were more likely than white to be entered into lower tiers for GCSE’s
72
What is the ‘new IQ-ism’
- teachers and policy makers make false assumptions about the nature of peoples identity or potential
- secondary schools are increasing in using IQ tests to allocate pupils into different streams
73
two limitations of institutional racism theory
- evidence such as GCSE result shows that some ethnic (eg indian and chinese) perform better than the white majority, this means that institutional racism isn’t the main factor that affects achievement of ethnic minority groups
- Sewell claims that it is not powerful enough to prevent some students from succeeding in education, argues that there are other factors that are more important such as the lack of a male role model
