Ethnic differences in achievement

Question 1

Patterns of ethnic achievement

Answer 1

patterns of ethnic achievement are complex, cross-cut by gender and social class.
for example:
black and Pakistani pupils do worst- Chinese and Indians do best
white pupils are very close to the national average as they form the great majority of the school population.

Question 2

External factors and ethnic differences

Answer 2

external factors being:
cultural deprivation 
material deprivation 
class
racism in wider society

Question 3

Ethnic differences: cultural deprivation

Answer 3

cultural deprivation theory claims the under-achievement of some ethnic group is caused by inadequate in the home .
two main aspects of this include:
1. intellectual and language skills
2. attitudes, values and family structures.

Question 4

cultural deprivation: intellectual and language skills

Answer 4

children from low- income black families lack intellectual stimulation- as a result they fail to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills.
BEREITER and ENGELMANN claim that the language of black American families is ungrammatical and disjointed.- they believe children are unable to express abstract ideas.
other claim that children who do not speak English at home may be held back educationally.

Question 5

cultural deprivation: attitudes values and family structure

Answer 5

differences in attitudes and values towards education may be the result of differences in socialisation.
1. fatalism and immediate gratification: cd theorists claim the way some black children are socialised is fatalistic & focused on immediate gratification- result in lack of motivation to succeed
2. lack of a male role model: lack of Male role model for many African- Caribbean boys may encourage them to turn to an anti-educational macho “gang culture”.
- New right MURRAY(1984) argues that the high rate of lone parenthood leads to under-achievement of minority pupils
3. culture of poverty: high rate of lone parent hood produces inadequately socialised children who fail school and become inadequate parents themselves and perpetuate a culture of poverty.
4.impact of slavery: black Caribbean culture is less resident to racism because of the experience of slavery - black pupils have low self esteem and under-achieve.
5. asian families: SEWELL(2009) argues that Chinese and Indian pupils benefit from supportive families with an ‘asian work ethic’
6. fathers, gangs and culture: SEWELL argues that lack of fatherly nurturing leads to black boys underachieving.
street gangs offer them alternative loyalty and Love.
academically successful black boys felt the greatest barrier is peer pressure.

Question 6

white working-class pupils

Answer 6

white working-class pupils also under-achieve.
they may have lower aspirations than many other ethnic groups.
LUPTON(2004) studied four mainly working-class schools with different ethnic compositions. teachers reported poorer levels of behaviour and discipline in the white working-class schools linked to lower levels of parental support.
EVANS(2009) argues that street culture in white working-class areas can be brutal- this is brought into school
as a result it is a strong pressure to reject education

Question 7

Compensatory education

Answer 7

compensatory education is an educational policy that aims to counter the effects of cultural deprivation e.g:

1. operation head start: OHS was established in the USA to compensate children for the cultural deficit they suffer due to deprived backgrounds.
2. sure start: in the uk aims to support the development of pre-school children in deprived areas.

Question 8

Criticisms of cultural deprivation

Answer 8

victim blaming: keddie argues minority ethnic group children are culturally different not culturally deprived. they underachieve because schools are ethnocentric (biased In favour of white culture)
cultural exclusion: ball argues minority ethnic group parents are at a disadvantage as they don't know how to negotiate the British education system. school application forms are an example of cultural exclusion practices in come schools.
cultural domination: compensatory education imposes dominant white middle-class culture on minority ethnic group pupil's culture.