Ethnic differences in achievement (E) Flashcards
1
Q
What are the ethnic differences in achievement?
A
- Asian pupils do better than other ethnic groups
- white and Asians do better than black people
- class differences white w/c boys do worst than any other ethnic group
2
Q
What are the 3 external factors that affect ethnic differences in achievement?
A
- cultural deprivation
- material deprivation
- racism in wider society
3
Q
What are the three aspects of the cultural deprivation explanation?
A
- language
- attitudes and values
- family structure & parental support
4
Q
How has language affected ethnic differences in achievement?
A
- cultural deprivation theorists see lack of linguistic skills as a major cause of underachievement for some minority ethnic groups which leaves them poorly equipped for school
- Bereiter & Engelmann claimed that language spoken by low income black families is inadequate for educational success (ungrammatical & disjointed) >(linked to restricted code, elaborated code used in education system)
- parents have few qualifications so unable to use language that challenges children & enhance cognitive performance
5
Q
Evaluation of the view that language has affected ethnic differences in achievement
A
- Baker-Bell> sees these views as an example of anti-black lingusitic racism which labels black speech as inferior and white speech as superior > white mainstream english dominates in society= lingusitic volencce
- students who speak a language other than English perform well academically > language differences alone do not explain disparities
6
Q
How has family structure & parental support amongst black families affected ethnic differences in achievement?
A
- Moyinhan> black families are headed by lone mothers, thus children are deprived of adequate care because of struggles with finances as well as lack a adequate male role model> unstable families ultimately leads to failure at school (New right)
- Sewell> sees problem as a lack of fatherly love e.g. ‘tough love’ that leads to black boys underachieveing > street gangs thus offer fatherless boys this ‘preserve loyalty & love’ which present boys with a media inspired role model of an anti-black masculinity
- black boys are also subjected to anti-educational peer pressure from other boys as they would be seen as sell outs if they conformed to achieveing educationally
7
Q
Evaluation of the Moynihan & Sewells view on black families
A
- Driver > ignores the positive effects of black family structures & achievemnt e.g. the effect it has on black girls who achieve academically from female posiitve role models
- downplays impact of racism > Gillborn argues that it is institutional racism in the education system that produces failure of black boys e.g teacher bias & expectations
- underestimates the role of material & cultural resources in shaping acheievement> those with higher cultural capital tend to provide more educational support
8
Q
How has family structure & parental support amongst Asian familiees & white w/c families affected ethnic differences in achievement?
A
- Sewell> Asian pupils e.g. Indian & Chinese benefit from supoortive families that have an asian work ethic & place a high value on education
- Lupton > adut authority in schools is similar to the model that operates in schools, parents also more supportive of schools behavioural policies
- Lupton> Lack of parental support in white w/c families led to poorer levels of behaviour & discipline in white w/c schools
9
Q
Evaluation of Sewell’s and Lupton’s view on Asian families
A
- overlooks school influences e.g. Asian students may benefit from positive stereotyping by teachers (‘model minority’ myth) which can lead to higher expectations
- Perspective treats Asian families as an homogeneous group, ignoring differences between subgroups e.g. Indian , Pakistani, Chinese families etc Indian & Chinese outperform their peers
10
Q
What policy has been introduced to tackle cultural depriavtion?
A
- compensatory education e.g. aiming higher scheme focused on increasing participation of ethnic minorities in higher education
11
Q
Evaluation of the cultural deprivation theory as a whole that has not already been mentioned
A
- Keddie> sees cultural deprivation as a victim blaming explanation, EM children are culturally different not culturally deprived > achievement due to the fact that schools are Eurocentric which can alienate students from EM backgrounds
12
Q
How does material deprivation affect ethnic differences in achievement?
A
- material deprivation explanation sees educational failure as resulting from factors such as substandard housing & low income
- minority ethnic groups are more likely to face these problems
- Palmer > almost half of all children from MEB live in low-income households
- 3x more likely to be homeless
- likely to engaged in shift work
13
Q
How does racism in wider society affect ethnic differences in achievement?
A
- some sociologist argue that poverty is a result of racism
- Rex shows how racial discrimination leads to social exclusion and how this worsens the poverty faced by MEG e.g. minorities are more likely to be forced into substandard accommodation than white people of the same class
14
Q
How does labelling and teacher racism affect achievement?
A
- interactionists studies show that teachers often label black & Asian pupils as being far from ‘the ideal pupil’ e.g. black people seen as disruptive & Asian students seen as passive
- these labels may lead teachers to treat children from MEB differently
15
Q
How do Gillborn & Youdell show the impact of labelling on black pupils?
A
- they found that teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils than others for the same behaviour
- they argue that this is as a result of teachers ‘racialised expectations’
- found that teachers expected black pupils to present more discipline problems & misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening or challenging authority
- pupils responded negatively, leading to further conflict (exclusions)
