Ethnicity

Question 1

Statistics

Answer 1

+ chinese outperform academically compared to everyone else
+ gypsy/Roma and Irish travellers perform worse (external factors like continuous travelling, focus on work rather than school -> material deprivation)
+ mixed black Caribbean does worse than mixed black African children

Question 2

Ethnic diffs in achievement

Answer 2

+ black and pakistani students do the worst, chinese and indians do the best
+ white pupils are very close to the national average, they form the great majority of the school pop.

Question 3

Internal factors

Answer 3

pupil teacher interactions (ethnocentricity and institutional racism)
pupil subcultures
labelling

Question 4

Labelling

Answer 4

black pupils are often seen as disruptive and asian pupils as passive, these negative racist labels cause teachers to treat ethnic minority pupils differently, this discourages them and brings a self fulfilling prophecy that leads to their underachievement

Question 5

Strand - black boys

Answer 5

begin school as highest achievers and leave as the lowest achievers, this challenges the assumption that black children enter school underprepared
-> suggests that internal factors play a big part in producing ethnic differences in achievement (labelling, teacher racism, pupil identities and pupil responses and subcultures)

Question 6

Gilborn and Youdell - impact of labelling black pupils

Answer 6

+ teachers are quicker to discipline black students (racialised expectations) -> causes students to react negatively feel underestimated and picked on
-> conflict between white teachers and black pupils is due to racial stereotypes rather than the pupils behaviour

Question 7

Bourne - exclusions

Answer 7

Schools tend to see black boys as a threat and label them negatively which leads to exclusion
- exclusions affect achievement 1 in 5 excluded pupils achieve five GCSEs

Question 8

Wright - study of multi ethnic primary school

Answer 8

• shows asian pupils can also be victims of labelling, teachers assumed they would have a poor grasp of english and left them out of class discussions or used simplistic language when talking to them
• students felt isolated when teachers expressed disapproval of their culture or mispronounced their names, didn’t see them as a threat but as a problem they could ignore

Question 9

Archer

Answer 9

According to teachers’ dominant discourse (way of seeing something) defines ethnic minority pupils’ identities as lacking the favoured identity of the ideal pupil
ideal/pathologised/demonised pupil identity
Sees black students as loud, challenging and with aspirational home cultures
Sees asian girls as quiet, passive

Question 10

Ideal pupil identity

Answer 10

white, mc, male, heterosexual (natural ability and initiative)

Question 11

Pathologised pupil identity

Answer 11

asian, ‘deserving poor’, female, either asexual or with an oppressed sexuality (a slogger who succeeds through hard work and not natural ability

Question 12

Demonised pupil identity

Answer 12

black/white, wc, hypersexualised (seen as unintelligent, culturally deprived underachiever)

Question 13

Demonised pupil identity

Answer 13

black/white, wc, hypersexualised (seen as unintelligent, culturally deprived underachiever)

Question 14

Shain

Answer 14

asian girls challenge stereotype of being quiet by misbehaving, they are often dealt with more severely than other pupils

Question 15

Fuller - study of black girls in yr 11

Answer 15

• girls were untypical as they were high achievers in a school where most black girls were placed in low streams
• instead of accepting negative stereotypes the girls channelled their anger about being labelled into the pursuit of educational success (didn’t seek approval of teachers) There was no self fulfilling prophecy
  1. Students may still succeed even when they refuse to conform
  2. Negative labelling doesn’t always lead to failure

Question 16

Mac an Ghaill - study of black and asian A level students

Answer 16

• students who believed teachers had labelled them negatively didn’t accept the label
• some girls who attended an all girls school believed that it gave them a greater academic commitment that helped them overcome negative labels

Question 17

Mirza - ambitious black girls who faced teacher racism

Answer 17

• racist teachers discouraged black pupils from being ambitious by discouraging them from aspiring to professional careers
  Colour blind teacher - believes all pupils are equal but in practice allow racism to go unchallenged
  Liberal chauvinists teachers - believe black pupils are culturally deprived and have low expectations of them
  Overt racist teachers - believe black pupils are inferior and actively discriminate against them

Question 18

Sewell - effect of racist stereotyping on black boys achievement

Answer 18

Rebels - most visual and influential group, often excluded from school (anti school).believe in their own superiority,they were contemptuous of white boys, dismissive of conformist black boys
Conformists - keen to succeed, accepted school goals and had friends of different ethnicities, not part of a subculture and were anxious to avoid being stereotyped by teachers/peers

Question 19

Institutional racism

Answer 19

institutions operate on a routine or even unconscious bias, rather than conscious intentions of individual teachers

Question 20

Critical race theory (CRT)

Answer 20

sees institutional racism as a deep rooted feature of the education system

Question 21

Ethnocentric

Answer 21

refers to an attitude or policy that prioritises the culture of one particular ethnic group while disregarding/downgrading others

Question 22

The ethnocentric curriculum

Answer 22

Troyna and Williams - priority to white culture and English language
David - national curriculum is ‘specifically British’
Ball - history curriculum ignores other history or focuses on the negative whilst British schools are recreating a ‘mythical age of empire and past glories’

Question 23

Examples of institutional racism

Answer 23

selection and segregation
assessment
access to opportunities
the new IQism

Question 24

Selection and segregation

Answer 24

negative stereotypes can influence decisions about admissions, Moore and Davenport’s american research shows how selection procedures can lead to ethnic segregation

Question 25

Assessment - Gillborn

Answer 25

argues that assessment is rigged to validate the dominant white culture’s superiority
baseline assessments showed that black pupils were ahead of white was replaced by foundation stage profile (based on teachers judgements as a result black pupils appeared to be doing worse)

Question 26

Access to opportunities

Answer 26

Strand found that black pupils are more likely to be entered for lower tier exams, often because they are placed in lower sets due to teacher’s expectations, leading to self fulfilling prophecy

Question 27

The new IQism

Answer 27

IQ tests are taken upon entry in secondary schools, tests to allocate pupils into different streams, black pupils are likely to be placed in lower streams as a result

Question 28

External factors

Answer 28

culdep, matdep, class and racism in wider society

Question 29

Cul dep

Answer 29

underachievement of some ethnic groups is the result of inadequate socialisation at home:
- intellectual and linguistic skills
- attitudes and values
- family structure and parental support

Question 30

Intellectual and linguistic skills

Answer 30

children from low income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences, children who don’t speak english at home may be held back educationally
Berreiter and Engelmann - language spoken by low income black American families is inadequate for educational success.

Question 31

Attitudes and values

Answer 31

lack of motivation is a major cause of failure in many black children, some black children are socialised into a subculture that instills a fatalastic “live for today” attitude and doesn’t value education and leaves the unequipped for success

Question 32

Family structure and parental support

Answer 32

failure to socialise children adequately is the result of a dysfunctional family structure
Daniel Moynihan - many black families are headed by a lone mother, their children are deprived of adequate care. Father absence also makes boys lack a role model of male achievement, see cultural deprivation as a cycle children become inadequate parents themselves

Question 33

Mat dep

Answer 33

Almost half of all ethnic minority children live in low income households as against to ¼ of white children
- ethnic minorities tend to live in poorer areas
- ethnic minorities are almost twice as likely to be unemployed
- asylum seekers may not be allowed to work
Some Indian and Chinese pupils who are materially deprived still do better than most, chinese girls on free school meals still outperform white girls who are not receiving free school meals

Question 34

Racism

Answer 34

Majority white teachers
Racism against chinese people - ostracisation (temporary) victim blame, seen as good workers because they do well academically (stereotyping)
Racism against black people - affects opportunities (systemic), labelled and then they go through self fulfilling prophecy
Racism against indian people - mocking and stereotyping, doesn’t stop work but stops them from integrating into western society (culture isn’t lost) strong communities that can take backlash