Ethnic differences in achievement - INTERNAL Flashcards
Internal Differences in Achievement
Internal factors such as labelling, pupil identities, pupil subcultures and ethnocentricity and institutional racism
What does Labelling of Ethnic minorities lead to?
Treat ethnic minority pupils differently by bring about a self fulfilling prophecy that leads to their underachievement.
Black Pupils (Gillborn and Mirza)
Gillborn and Mirza found that in one area black children were the highest achievers on entering primary school, yet by GCSE they had fallen to 21 points below average. This suggests schooling is to blame.
Black Pupils - Gillborn and Youdell
- Found teachers had ‘radicalised expectations’ about black pupils and expected more discipline problems and saw their behaviour as threatening.
- Pupils felt their teachers underestimated their ability and picked on them. Conflict between white teachers and black pupils stems from racist stereotypes teachers have.
- Can cause underachievement as it leads to higher levels of exclusions for boys and black pupils being placed in lower sets or streams.
Asian Pupils- Wright
Wright found that Asian primary school pupils were stereotyped by their teachers and treated differently.
- Teachers would assume children had a poor grasp of English so used a simple language speaking to them. They mispronounced children’s names and say them as a problem they could ignore.
- As a result Asian pupils were prevented from participating fully affecting self esteem.
Connolly (Asian pupils)
- Connolly found primary school teachers saw Asian pupils as passive and conformist.
- Both teachers and pupils saw Asian boys as more vulnerable and less able to protect themselves.
Pupil Subcultures
Pupils react in different ways to racist labelling including forming subcultures.
- Sewell found that black boys adopted a range of responses to teachers racist labelling of them as rebellious and anti-school.
- He also argues that factors external to school are more important in producing underachievement than internal factors. Subcultures include: Conformists, innovators, retreatists and rebels.
Conformists
Were the largest group. They were keen to succeed accepted the school’s goals and had friends from different ethnic groups.
Innovators
Were the second largest group. They were pro-education but ant-school. They valued success but not teachers approval.
Retreatists
Were a tiny minority of isolated individuals disconnected from both the school and black subcultures outside it.
Rebels
Were a small but visible minority of black pupils. They rejected schools rules and conformed to the stereotype of the ‘black macho lad’. Their aim was to achieve the status of ‘street hood.’
Rejecting Negative Labels
Studies show that not all minority ethnic pupils who are negatively labelled accept and conform to the label. Some may remain committed to succeeding. This includes Fullers and Mac an Ghaills study.
Year 11 Black Girls - Filler
Studied these girls in a London comprehensive the girls maintained a positive self image by rejecting teachers stereotypes of them.
- They were determined to succeed and didn’t seek teachers approval.
Black and Asian Students - Mac An Ghaill
Studied these students at a sixth form and found they did not necessarily accept teachers negative labels.
Black Girls Strategies - Mirza
Found their strategies for dealing with teachers racism was not asking for help which restricted opportunities. Even though they didn’t accept labels
Institutional Racism
Sociologists say we must focus on institutional racism discrimination against ethnic minorities that is built into the way institutions (e.g. schools) operate
What does the Critical Race Theory see institutional racism as?
CRT sees institutional racism as deep-rooted ‘locked in’ feature of the education system. CRT see the education systems as institutionally racist in several ways.
What is the ethnocentric curriculum?
Attitude or policy which gives priority to the culture and viewpoint of one ethnic group (dominant culture)
Troyna and Williams
Argue that the ethnocentric curriculum gives priority to the white culture and English language.
David (1993)
Argues that National Curriculum is a ‘specifically British’ curriculum that teaches the culture of the ‘host community’.
Ball (1994)
Sees the history curriculum in schools as recreating a mythical age of empire and past glories ignoring black and Asian people’s history.
Coard (1971;2005)
Ethnocentric curriculum may cause underachievement.
- Teachings of colonialism may make black people feel inferior and undermines their self esteem leading to their failure.
Selection and Segregation - Gillborn
Argues that marketization gives schools more scope to select pupils negative stereotypes can influence decisions about admissions.
89[pCriticism of the ethnocentric curriculum
Whilst it ignores Asian culture, Indian and Chinese pupils achievement is above average.
Gilborn (2008) - Assessment
Argues that assessment is rigged to validate the dominant white cultures superiority.
- Replacement of the baseline assessments in primary schools to the foundation stage profile led to black pupils now appearing to do worse than white pupils.
What does Gilborn argue that the change ion assessment has shown two institutional racism factors?
- The FSP is based entirely on teacher’s judgement, whereas baseline assessments often used written tests too.
- Change in timing: the FSP is completed at the end of the reception year, whereas baseline assessments were done at the start of primary schools.
- Both factors increase risk of teachers stereotyping.
Two points for Access to Opportunities
- Gifted and Talented programme
- Exam tiers
Gilborn (2008) - Access to Opportunities
Whites are twice as likely to be identified as gifted and talented than black pupils.
Tikly and Strand - Access to Opportunities
Found blacks were more likely to be entered for lower tier exams because of teachers expectations and as they were in lower sets.
The New IQism
Secondary schools are increasingly using old style intelligence (IQs) to allocate pupils to different streams on entry.
- Black pupils are more likely to be placed in lower streams as a result.
Criticisms of Gillborn (2 issues)
- The underachievement of some minority groups such as black boys
- The ‘overachievement’ of Indian and Chinese pupils.
What do critical race theorists such as Gilborn argue that institutional racism is the main cause of?
Under-achievement.
- They argue that internal factors within the education system, such as assessment and setting, systematically produce the failure of large numbers of ethnic minority pupils, especially black boys.
Why does Sewell reject the view that institutional racism is the main cause of underachievement of black boys?
Argues that we need to focus on external factors such as boys’ anti-school attitudes, the peer group and the nurturing role of the father.
What do critics of the critical race theorists argue?
If these Chinese and Indian pupils do so well, how then can there be institutional racism in education
How dos Gilborn (2008) responds to critics and prove that the education system is institutionally racist?
- Argues that the image of Indians and Chinese as hardworking ‘model minorities’ performs an ideological function.
How does Gilborn argue that image of Indians and Chinese as hardworking ‘model minorities’ performs an ideological function? 3 points.
- It makes the system appear fair and meritocratic - that Indians and Chinese succeed because they make the effort and take advantage of the opportunities offered to them.
- It justifies the failure of other minorities, such as blacks - that they fail because they are unable or unwilling to make the effort, due to their ‘unaspirational’ home culture.
- It ignores the fact that ‘model minorities’ still suffer racism in schools. E.g., Chinese students report similar levels of harassment to Black Caribbeans.
Evans (2006) - Ethnicity, class and gender
- Claims that in examining black children’s achievement, sociologists tend to look at their culture and ethnicity, but rarely at their class.
What did Connolly’s (1998) study of kids in a primary school find?
- Teachers saw black boys as disruptive under-achievers and controlled them by punishing them more and by channelling their energies into sport.
- Asian boys as passive, conformist, keen and academic; when they misbehaved, they were seen as immature rather than threatening.
- Both teachers and pupils saw Asian boys as more ‘feminine’, vulnerable and in need of protection from bullying
