Ethnic Differences In Achievement Flashcards
Describe the trend of the % of students who achieve 5+ A*-C at GCSE
Chinese - 79%
Indian - 78%
Bangladeshi - 62%
Black African - 61%
White British - 60%
Pakistani - 55%
Black Caribbean- 53%
Gypsy/Roma - 13%
Name the factors of cultural deprivation (external)
Intellectual and linguistic skills
Attitudes and values
Family structure and parental support
Describe the following aspect of cultural deprivation: intellectual & linguistic skills
Children from low income black fams lack an intellectually stimulating home environment due to a lack of educational toys, meaning they’re less intellectually developed when they start school.
Who argued black children don’t speaking standard English causing them to underachieve? (CD - intellectual and linguistic skills)
Bereiter & Englemann
Give evaluation points for intellectual and language skills being a cause of CD
British Indian pupils do well despite often speaking a different language at home - suggesting language doesn’t have a significant impact on achievement.
Low income black fams may not be able to afford educational toys for their children showing that material dep is the real cause of their underachievement
Describe the following aspect of cultural deprivation: Attitudes and values
Black children are socialised into a live for today attitude that doesn’t help them do well in school
Give evaluation point for Attitudes and value being a cause of CD
Keddie- EMs aren’t culturally deprived but culturally different to the education system which is ethnocentric- this is why they underachieve (cultural difference hypothesis)
Describe the following aspect of cultural deprivation: Family structure and parental support
As black ethnic groups have a higher level of single parenthood that other ethnic groups , Moynihan argues this leaves children (especially boys) w/o a positive male role model and that SPF are ineffective at socialising children properly - underachievement as they don’t have the right values to do well in school
Give evaluation point for family structure and parental support being a cause of CD
Female headed SPFs provide a positive role model for bald girls and this may be why black girls do better than black boys
Describe the trend of the % of children entitled to free school meals by ethnic groups in 2011: Bangladeshi, Black African, Pakistani, Black Caribbean, Indian, White British
Bangladeshi- 44%
Black African - 35%
Pakistani - 30%
Black Caribbean - 23%
Indian- 9%
White British - 11%
Give evaluations for the idea that material deprivation causes ethnic differences
+ EM parents are more likely to suffer racism in housing and employment -> poorer homes + low paid jobs/unemployed -> MD
- Chinese girls who receive FSM do better than white girls who don’t - suggests there are other influence on ethic differences in achievement as well as social class
Give the internal factors of ethnic differences in achievement
Labelling and teacher racism
Pupil subculture
Assessment
Institutional racism
Describe Gillborn & Youdell’s argument surrounding labelling and teacher racism (internal)
Teachers expected half students to be disruptive and misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening.
When teachers acted on these ideas, black pupils responded negatively causing conflict with teachers.
Black pupils felt picked on -> SFP -> underachieve due to the ideas teachers held of them.
Describe Wright’s argument surrounding labelling and teacher racism (internal)
Teachers assumed Asian primary schools students would have a poor grasp of English and so left them out of class discussions.
Also, teachers would disapprove of some aspects of Asian culture and mispronounce student names making them feel isolated -> marginalised
Give a criticism of labelling theory (internal)
Fuller- studied a group of black girls in year 11 at a London comprehensive school .
The girls rejected labels from teachers and formed a subculture which tried to succeed causing them to achieve highly.
This study shows that negative labelling doesn’t always cause underachievement and that subculture is formed due to negative labelling don’t always underachieve.
This shows that labelling theory is true deterministic and doesn’t take into accounts the free will people have.
Who argued that black boys have 4 responses : rebels, conformists, retreats & innovators, to teacher labelling
Sewell
Describe pupil subcultures- Rebels (internal)
Most visible and influential group but only a small minority.
Often excluded from school and rejected the rules of it.
Express the opposition to school through conforming to a stereotype of an antiauthority, anti-school ‘black macho lads ‘ .
Believed in their own superiority based on the idea that black men are sexually desirable.
Saw white boys as effeminate and were dismissive of black conformist boys.
Describe pupil subcultures- Conformists (internal)
largest group
keen to succeed, accepted school goals and had friends from other ethnic groups
weren’t part of a subculture and were anxious to avoid being stereotype by their teachers and peers
Describe pupil subcultures- retreatists (internal)
A tiny minority of isolated individuals who are disconnected from both school and black subcultures and were despised by the rebels
Describe pupil subcultures- innovators (internal)
Second largest group
like Fuller’s girls they were pro education but anti-school
value success but didn’t seek the approval of teachers and only confirmed in terms of schoolwork itself
This distanced them from the conformist and allow them to maintain credibility w/ the rebels while remaining positive about academic achievement
What did sewell’s study conclude (internal)
Only a small minority fit the stereotype of the ‘black macho lad’ but teachers tend to see all black boys in this way which contributed to their underachievement regardless of their attitude of school.
Furthermore, many of the negative attitudes are themselves due to this racism.
Describe assessment (internal)
In the past primary schools used baseline assessments which tested students when they started compulsory schooling.
They were replaced in 2003 with the foundation stage profile. Since this change black pupils now appear to be doing worse than white pupils. In 2000, in one local authority black children had been the highest achievement on entry - w/ the intro of FSP they became the lowest achievers.
This suggests how students are assessed will affect their achievement and there may be cultural bias in some forms of assessment.
Describe the forms of institutional at school racism (internal)
Marketisation
Ethnocentric curriculum
Not serving halal and kosher foods
Banning religious clothing e.g hijabs , kippurs
Not dealing w/ racism incidents such as bullying
Describe how marketisation can be institutionally racist (internal)
A US study found ethnic minority students were less likely to get into good secondary schools.
Primary school reports were used to screen out students w/ lang difficulties and the application process was difficult for non-English speakers to understand.
similar studies in the UK = similar findings.
