ethnicity and educational outcomes (outside school) Flashcards
ethnic minorities not an homogenous group
It is important to remember that there are huge differences in achievement between different ethnic groups, and that some ethnic minorities such as Chinese and Indian children overachieve even compared with white British children in the British education system. Therefore, we must be careful not to group all minority ethnic groups together, as the patterns of achievement between minority ethnic groups varies considerably.
ethnic facts
Chinese ethnic pupils had the highest ‘Progress 8’ score (which measures progress between 11 and 16 years old) in 2017/18
pupils from the Asian, Black, Chinese and Other ethnic groups made higher than average progress between 11 and 16 years old
pupils from the White and Mixed ethnic groups made lower than average progress
in every ethnic group, girls made more progress than boys between 11 and 16 years old
pupils with the lowest progress scores were in the Traveller of Irish Heritage, White Gypsy/Roma, and Mixed White and Black Caribbean ethnic groups
among pupils with SEN support, pupils from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest average Progress 8 score and those in the White and Mixed ethnic groups had the lowest
parental discipline
Lupton found that Chinese and Indian Asian families had a similar model of discipline and authority structure to those in schools. Chinese and Indian children are raised from a young age to be respectful of adults and see them as an authority figure, and so they are then better behaved for adults at school. She also found that this meant that Chinese and Indian parents were much more likely to be supportive of the school’s disciplinary policies as they mirrored their own disciplinary structures.
lack of male role modal; sewell
Sewell notes that children from black families are likely to come from single parent families which are often headed by a female. He argues that this is particularly detrimental to the achievement of boys as they lack a male role model who offers ‘tough love’ to guide them through the emotional and behavioural difficulties of adolescence. In the absence of a father, they turn to other, older males within their subcultures and the media to provide role models of black masculinity. Sewell argues that the biggest barrier facing black boys is peer pressure, which discourages speaking in standard English and doing well at school as this is seen as ‘selling out’ to the establishment.
linguistic skills; bereiter and engelman
Cultural deprivation theorists like Bereiter and Engelmann see the lack of intellectual and linguistic skills as a major cause of underachievement for many minority children. They argue that many children coming from low-income black families lack the intellectual stimulation that helps them to develop before starting school. Bereiter and Engelmann consider the language spoken by low income black American families as inadequate for educational success
parental attitudes and support; lupton
Lupton studied 4 schools in working class areas – 2 were predominantly white, 1 served largely the Pakistani community, and 1 in an ethnically mixed community. She found that teachers reported poorer levels of behaviour and discipline in the white working-class children. The teachers blamed their lower achievement on poor parental support and negative attitudes towards education among white working-class parents, as opposed to many ethnic minority parents who saw education as a way to achieve upward social mobility
criticisms of cultural dep theories; nell keddie
Describes Cultural deprivation as a myth and sees this as victim blaming. She argues that a child cannot be deprived of their own culture. The working class fail because they are put at a disadvantage by discrimination from the middle class dominated education system
economic capital
Indian pupils are much more likely to be from families with greater economic capital. They are the most likely ethnic group to attend private schools – they are twice as likely as white students and five times as likely as black students.
palmer on economic dep
Palmer found that children from most ethnic minority groups are likely to suffer material deprivation:
Almost half of all ethnic minority children live in low-income households, compared with a quarter of white children.
Ethnic minorities are almost twice as likely to be unemployed compared with whites.
Ethnic minority households are around three time as likely to be homeless.
Almost half of Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers earned under £7 per hour, compared with only a quarter of white British workers.
poor housing; rex
Rex found that due to racial discrimination of housing officers, ethnic minority families were much more likely to be forced into substandard accommodation
discrimination in employment; wood
Wood sent three closely matched job applications to almost 1,000 job vacancies – one which appeared to come from a white person and two from ethnic minority groups. Only 1/16 ethnic minority applicants were offered interviews compared to 1/9 white applicants
