ethnicity and achievement

Question 1

internal

Answer 1

Ethnocentric curriculum and school organisation
The term describes an attitude that gives priority to the culture and viewpoint of one particular culture and ethnic group whilst disregarding others. In this country, the curriculum favours white British knowledge and traditions over other cultures
Ethnic minority students feel like they’re not recognised or valued which can lead to underachievement
For example, in subjects such as English Lit and History there is an ethnocentric curriculum, the focus on these subjects has tended to be the achievement of White Christian peoples and the National Curriculum doesn’t include the history of black people and ignores non-European languages, music and culture .
This could make ethnic minority students feel isolated and ignored which could lead to underachievement due to anger and rebellion
Schools can also be organised along ethnocentric lines for example: Holidays are centered around the Christian calendar and school meals may not cater for the needs of minority faiths

Question 2

external

Answer 2

The idea that some people lack the ‘right’ norms, values or attitudes needed to succeed, the cultural deprivation theory sees the underachievement of some ethnic groups as the result of inadequate socialisation in the home
An example of this is EAL, language skills can be a barrier for some children from immigrant families when they first arrive in the UK
Around 13% of pupils in secondary schools did not have English as their first language and some argue that this puts these students at a disadvantage, as they are not using the additional language enough to a level to improve it to a level required for high achievement
For example, family unable to speak English at home is a barrier as students may be unable to get help with homework from non-English speaking family members
Language differences may also cause difficulties in communicating with predominantly white, m/c teachers who label language difficulties as for a lack of ability and have lower expectations

Question 3

in a03

Answer 3

A03: However, our curriculum may largely ignore Asian culture, but Indian and Chinese pupils’ achievement is above national average. Therefore, the ethnocentric curriculum is unlikely to make any sort of significant difference

Question 4

ex a03

Answer 4

A03: Gillborn, points out that the very high attainment of Indian pupils suggest that EAL is often not a barrier to success. Evidence from DfE showed pupils who speak another language, outperformed their english classmates in the EBacc