ethnicity and differential achievement Flashcards
patterns of ethnicity and achievement
- Chinese and Indian pupils outperform the white majority
- Pakistani, Black Caribbean and Gypsy children do the worst
- white w/c boys do worse than any other group
- girls and m/c outperform regardless of ethnicity
strengths (evidence) for ethnic minorities experiencing material deprivation
- Flaherty - Pakistani and Bangladeshis are 3x more likely to be in poorest 1/5 of the population
- unemployment 3x higher for African and Pakistani/Bangladeshi families than whites
- 15% of minorities likely to live in overcrowding housing compared to 2% of whites
- many Muslim families do not have dual incomes as women do not work
- Swann Report suggests 50% of achievement difference based on ethnicity are to do with class as ethnic groups that do the worst are from the lowest classes
weaknesses (evidence against) ethnic minorities experiencing material deprivation
- still differences when comparing pupils of same class but different ethnicities (86% Chinese girls on FSM got 5 A-C GCSEs compared to 65% of white girls on FSM)
- ignores factors such as cultural deprivation or language barriers
Murray - black SPFs (New Right)
believes black children fail in education because they are more likely to be from a SPF, so the lack of a positive male role model for black boys leads them to underachieve
Sewell - black boys ‘tough love’
black children have an overly feminised upbringing and lack ‘tough love’ or fatherly nurturing and loyalty to street gangs offer an alternative to this, as well as allowing them to conform to the stereotype of anti-school black masculinity
Pryce - resistance to racism
black culture is less resistant to living in a racist society due to the legacy of slavery, whereas Chinese and Indian culture was not stripped by slavery so they are more resistant and more likely to succeed
Taylor - importance of primary socialisation
Afro-Caribbean parents lack an understanding of the importance of play and interaction in early years of development, and children may often be placed with low quality childminders who stunt their educational development
Driver and Ballard - attitude of Asian parents
being a member of an Indian community is an advantage in educational achievement due to the supportive nature of their communities
Lupton - family differences
- Indian/Chinese families have strong respect for adults and place a higher value on education
- Pakistani/Bangladeshi families’ gender roles may require female children to help with domestic tasks and their aspirations may be marriage and childcare
- teacher put down white w/c children’s misbehaviour on a lack of parental interest and attitude and few aspired to go to university
Evans - white w/c street culture
white w/c children’s tough street culture includes learning how to intimidate others and withstand intimidation and this may be disruptive at school, leading to failure
evidence for language barriers causing underachievement
- DfES pointed out when standard English was an additional language children have lower attainment
- Bereiter found the dialect of English by black American families left them unprepared for the m/c English they experience in the classroom
evidence against language barriers causing underachievement
- Driver and Ballard found that Asian children whose main home language was not English were at least as competent in English as their English classmates
- DfES report showed that differences in attainment were visible at KS1 and a majority have since disappeared
strengths of cultural deprivation theory
- official statistics support that almost half of Afro-Caribbean families are SPFs and over 90% are headed by women
- lots of evidence that English is not the first language of ethnic minority groups (ONS - 54.1% of pupils in inner London were EAAL)
weaknesses of cultural deprivation theory
- some descriptions of ethnic groups are just stereotypical images
- ignore internal factors
- does not take into account improved multi-culturalism
examples of internal factors influencing patterns of attainment and ethnicity
- labelling and teacher racism
- setting and streaming and racism
- pupil responses and subcultures
- institutional racism - ethnocentric curriculum
Gilborn and Youdel - black students and labels
teachers saw Afro-Caribbean behaviour as threatening even when this was not intended, meaning they often be punished for things that would go unnoticed by white children, leading to lower self esteem and conflict within school
Wright - Asian students and labels
Asian children would receive the least attention in school as teachers assumed they were not confident or could not speak enough English, as well as disapproving of their customs and mispronouncing names which left them feeling isolated, leading to underachievement due to marginalisation
Sewell - black male subcultures
studied Afro-Caribbean boys in a single-sex comprehensive and identified 4 main responses:
- rebels (18%) were the most visible group and had a black macho aggressive masculinity, seeing themselves as superior to other groups
- conformists (41%) accepted the values of schooling and conformed to them
- innovators (35%) accepted education was the root to success but rejected schooling and were anti-school but tried to stay out of trouble
- retreatists (6%) loners who kept themselves inconspicuous and many were SEN children
Mac an Ghaill - why black lads form subcultures
students are aware that teachers treat them differently and they suspect racism, leading them to feel marginalised and could lead them to anti-school subcultures and acting out a self-fulfilling prophecy
Mirza - black female subcultures
many A-C girls are pro-education and are determined to succeed but their educational achievements are underestimated, so they maintain a low profile with teacher to maintain self-respect, but this can lead to them not totally fulfilling their potential
Archer - labelling and identity
teachers hold stereotypical labels that they place upon ethnic minority students
- ideal pupil identity - a white m/c heterosexual identity who achieves through a combination of ability and initiative
- pathologists pupil identity - Asian pupils, feminised asexual or oppressed sexuality, will achieve through conformity rather than ability
- demonised pupil identity - w/c white or black, underachieving, hypersexual, challenging behaviour, unintelligent and peer led
strengths of labelling and subcultural theory
- avoids blaming home external home factors
- avoids stereotyping about minority culture but does demonstrate teachers’ stereotypes can affect achievement
weaknesses of labelling and subcultural theory
- ignores external factors
- overly deterministic of self fulfilling prophecy
- does not take into account wider internal factors (institutional racism, ethnocentric curriculum etc)
institutional racism
racial discrimination is built into the way schools and colleges operate
