ethnic differences in achievement Flashcards
Tony Lawson and Joan Garrod (2000)
define ethnic groups as ‘people who share common history, customs and identity, as well as, in most cases, language and religion, and who
see themselves as a distinct unit’. In other words, we are talking about culture – that is, about all those things that are learned, shared and valued by a social group.
evidence of ethnic differences in achievement
- whites and aisans do better than blacks
- indians do better than pakistanis and bangladeshis
-gypsy/roma and traveller children girls do better than boys - white pupils are very close to national average , largest group
-many working class white pupil do worse than any other ethic group
intellectual and linguistic skills
cultural deprivation theorists argue that many children from low income black families lack intellectual stimulating experiences and this is a problem in schools as it doesn’t make them ready for problem solving and developed reasoning
engelmann
says that low income black families language is inadequate for school success. they see it as ungrammatical
and incapable of of expressing abstract ideas
kids who don’t speak english at home
gillbourn and mirza 2000
there is a concern that children who speak another language may be held back .However , gillbourn and mirza note that Indian pupils do very well despite not having english as a first language
attitudes and values
cultural deprivation theorists see a lack of motivation from black pupils which might be a major reason to why they fail.
-they also say that black pupils are socialised to ‘live for today ‘ mindset that doesn’t value education and leave them unprepared for success
family structure and parental support
cultural deprivation theorists argue
that the failure of socialising children correctly is a result of dysfunctional family structure
moniyhan 1965
argues that many black families are lead by a lone parent which is most likely the mother therefore the parents are not socialised adequately because the mother has to be the main breadwinner and because they struggle financially as the male role model is absent and due to this they have a lack of knowledge of male achievement. moniyhan thinks this is a cycle as the kids will also do the same to their kids and so on.
murray 1984
high rate of lone parenthood and lack of male role models lead to under achievement of some minorities
scruton 1986
he see the low achievement of ethnic minorities as as resulting to from failure of embracing mainstream british culture
pryce 1979
sees family structure as contributing to the underachievement of black carribean pupils in britain. also says asians are greater in academics because their culture is more resistant to racism , as a result many black pupils have low self esteem and underachieve .He also says the difference in colonialism has also impacted their education as blacks have lost their language tradition due to slavery and asians have not.
sewell 2009
argues that the absence of black family role models have lead to their underachievement . this is because of the lack of tough love (respectful,discipline) and which leads to the lack of control fo black difficulties of behavioural issues through adolesence.
absence of restraining influence
street gangs of fatherless boys offer black boys perverse loyalty and love ,these present boys with media inspired role models of anti school black masculinity whose ideal chris arnot 2004 says ultra tough ghetto superstar which is reinforced in rap lyrics.
successful black boys in schooling
sewell states a great barrier to ucces is pressure from other boys as speaking standard english and doing well in school was stated by other kids as selling out to the white establishment
- he also says the difference between asian and black pupils is that asians are clocking up educational hours and blacks are nurtured by mtv and need greater aspirations placed on them
gillbourn 2008 critical race theorist
he says its not peer pressure but institutional racism within the educational system itself
