Ethnic differences in Achievement (internal) Flashcards
Gillborn and Youdell (2000)
Labelling and Teacher Racism
> In their study, they found that teachers were more likely to have negative expectations of black pupils in their classes.
> Teachers held racialized stereotypes of black pupils. They expected them to present more discipline problems.
> Black pupils claimed that teachers ‘picked on them’, Gillborn and Youdell believed that instead of black pupils behaving badly, it was teachers being less tolerant of them.
This may lead to why the exclusion rate is so much higher amongst black pupils. Black boys are less likely to be given a second chance.
EVALUATION:
> Better teaching training on equality problems may mean that the issues identified are no longer as prevalent as they once were.
> Would teachers really be selectivey racist?
Its unclear why teachers have racialized expectations of black pupils and not other ethnic minority groups.
Louis Archer (2008)
Teachers perceptions and pupils’ identities
She identifies three main ways in which being at school shapes the identities of ethnic minority students, and how this can sometimes influence whether or not they achieve:
> ‘ideal pupil identity’- typically refers to white, middle-class students who are considered by teachers to be high achieving, and receive positive body language and positive reinforcement.
> ‘Pathologised pupil identity’- involves teachers regarding the passive, quiet characteristics often exhibited by Asian girls as ‘abnormal’ and as a ‘cause for concern’. Teachers’ perceptions often see Asian girls as oppressed by strict home life, and work-focused at such an extreme that they fail to fully embed themselves into wider school life.
> ‘Demonised pupil identity’- involves black or white working-class pupils, overly sexualized, peer-led, and culturally deprived underachievers.
Stereotypes often focus on boys mostly as they are seen as ‘trouble’ and lacking the required aspiration to succeed.
EVALUATION:
> The characteristics above are somewhat simplistic, and it isn’t clear what hard evidence archer used to make these three distinctions.
Pupil subcultures
Once a negative label has been placed on someone, a master status can take hold, wheby the label becomes a definign feature of the persons identity. Thisd can lead to a self fulfillinf prophecy, which leads to the label becoming very real. As pupils recognise that others are in a similar psition to themselves, anti-school subcultures can form and result in underachievement.
Tony Sewell (1998)
rebles, conformists, retreatists, innovators
In his study, he examined ways in which black pupils coped with negative labeling and teacher racism. He found that teachers held a view of ‘black machoism’ which sees all black boys as rebellious and anti-school.
The boys in his study responded in 4 ways:
> The ‘rebels’ rejected everything that the school stood for. They embraced black masculinity and felt that ‘womanizing’ and being ‘macho’ were desirable ways of behaving.
> The conformists- many black boys continue to follow the rules and work hard. They had friends from different ethnic groups and were anxious to avoid the negative labeling from teachers.
> The retreatists: They were isolated individuals, who didn’t have many friends at all. They withdrew from school, keeping their heads down.
> The innovators: Most of the black pupils in his study fell into this group. They were pro-education, but anti-school. They weren’t interested in impressing teachers but wanted to do well for themselves.
EVALUATION:
> Research such as this easily creates an impression that all teachers are racist, and that all teachers negatively label black boys.
> These studies possibly overestimate the impact that teacher labeling has on student achievement, ignoring other factors that may be occurring.
Mary Fuller (1984)
Fuller’s study shows how pupils can reject negative labeling.
> She studied a group of girls in year 11 at London comprehensive and found that they were high achievers.
> Instead of accepting the negative label, the girls in her study channeled their anger at being labeled into their work. They were not interested in impressing teachers but would ‘prove themselves’ by becoming academically successful.
EVALUATION:
> It isn’t clear what evidence the girl had for negative labeling they received, and her study is now rather dated.
> It does prove useful in showing how labeling theory is deterministic in assuming that, once a label is applied, a self-fulfilling prophecy is inevitable.
Ethnocentric curriculum/ schooling
An ethnocentric curriculum is one which gives priority to the culture and the viewpoint of one particular ethnic group and so ignores cultural diversity and ways of helping to make everybody feel included.
Evidence of the curriculum being ‘ethnocentric’ might include:
> The school year is calendered around Christian festivals and celebrations.
School uniform requirements clash with cultural expectations on how to dress.
Subject content e.g. history, focusing on white British experiences
Canteen food, not canteens for cultural tastes e.g. halal meat.
EXAMPLE:
> A university of Leicester study has found that black students often have to work harder than their peers to connect to assessments and curriculum content.
EVALUATION:
> The education system has worked hard to make the curriculum more culturally inclusive, especially in schools where pupils are predominantly mixed race.
> if this factor was a real issue, wouldn’t we expect to see Indian and Chinese pupils underachieving too, this is not the case.
> White working-class boys underachieve the most in the education system. How is this to be understood using the ethnocentric curriculum argument?
Institutional Racism
The term institutional racism refers to discrimination that is built into the way institutions such as schools operate.
> Schools that fail to tackle racist bullying or have policies in place to help students learn English are seen as institutionally racist.
> Some research highlights that discrimination is so historically deep-rooted in society, that it forms what is referred to as a ‘lock-in equality’.
> Changes in the way that schools assess pupils are seen to have been rigged against black pupils. ‘ baseline test was introduced to highlight any concerns about pupils, however, when these tests were replaced by tests based entirely on teachers, a problem of black underachievement instantly appeared.
> Teachers’ judgments and perceptions about ability are taken as the main factor in deciding how sets, streams, exam tiers, and entry to the ‘gifted and talented’ program are made. This is referred to as the ‘ The new ‘IQism’.
Marketization, selection, and segregation
> Some sociologists claim that, with the increasing marketization of schools, there is much greater scope for schools to select pupils. This can put ethnic minorities at a disadvantage.
> Many black pupils are seen as ‘problem pupils’, which means that schools often try to resist offering them a place.
EVALUATION:
> It would be very difficult for school departments to get away with selection by ethnicity in todays society.
>Social class, rather than ethnicity, may have more of an impact in determining who is and isn’t offered a place at the school of their choice.
