Ethnicity: In school factors

Question 1

What are the four in school factors?

Answer 1

• Racialised expectations (Mac an Ghaill)
• Ethnocentric curriculum (Coard)
• Institutional racism
• Selection and segregation

Question 2

What are racialised expectations in education?

Answer 2

Teachers hold racialised expectations of students that may affect how they treat the pupils, leading to inequality of opportunity.

Question 3

Who conducted research arguing that racism disadvantages ethnic minorities in education?

Answer 3

Gillborn and Youdell (2000)

Question 4

What did Gillborn and Youdell find regarding teachers’ expectations of black pupils?

Answer 4

Teachers expected black pupils to present more discipline problems and misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening or as a challenge to authority.

Question 5

How did black pupils perceive their treatment from teachers according to Gillborn and Youdell?

Answer 5

They felt teachers underestimated their ability and picked on them.

Question 6

What is the ‘A-to-C economy’ in education?

Answer 6

Teachers focus on those who they believe will achieve a grade C at GCSE.

Question 7

What is educational triage?

Answer 7

A system where students are systematically denied access to the sets, groups, and exams that would give them the best chance of success.

Question 8

What did Fuller’s research reveal about labelling and self-fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 8

Labelling doesn’t always lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy; some students can reject their labels.

Question 9

What strategy did the black girls in Fuller’s research adopt to succeed?

Answer 9

They vowed to prove their teachers wrong and understood that exams were treated objectively.

Question 10

What is institutional racism?

Answer 10

Discrimination built into the way institutions such as schools and colleges operate

It contrasts with individual racism, which stems from personal prejudiced views.

Question 11

How do institutional racism and individual racism differ?

Answer 11

Individual racism results from prejudiced views of individuals; institutional racism is systemic discrimination

Institutional racism affects the internal workings of organizations.

Question 12

What did Hatcher (1996) find regarding schools and race issues?

Answer 12

Schools placed a low priority on dealing with race issues and failed to adequately tackle instances of racist bullying

This highlights the systemic nature of institutional racism in educational settings.

Question 13

What was the finding of Smith and Tomlinson about schools and ethnic groups?

Answer 13

Schools were found to be tolerant of all ethnic groups, with a lack of antagonism between students from different ethnic groups

This suggests a counter-narrative to institutional racism.

Question 14

Fill in the blank: Individual racism results from the ______ views of individual teachers.

Answer 14

[prejudiced]

Question 15

True or False: Institutional racism reinforces inequality between different ethnic groups in schools.

Answer 15

True

Question 16

What do sociologists focus on to explain ethnic differences in achievement?

Answer 16

Racism within the workings of the school

This includes examining how institutional practices may disadvantage certain ethnic groups.

Question 17

What do Gillborn and Youdell (2000) argue about racism in the educational system?

Answer 17

Racism continues to play an important part in disadvantaging EMs in the educational system.

Question 18

How does marketisation affect school admissions?

Answer 18

Marketisation gives schools more scope to select pupils.

Question 19

What negative influence does marketisation have on school admissions?

Answer 19

It allows negative stereotypes to influence decisions about school admissions.

Question 20

True or False: Marketisation policies have no impact on the selection of pupils in schools.

Answer 20

False

Question 21

Fill in the blank: According to Gillborn and Youdell (2000), _______ continues to play an important part in disadvantaging EMs.

Answer 21

racism

Question 22

What is an ethnocentric curriculum?

Answer 22

A curriculum that gives priority to white culture and tends to portray it as superior to others

Subjects such as English literature, history, and religious education are often cited as examples.

Question 23

What subjects have been accused of being ethnocentric?

Answer 23

English literature, history, and religious education

These subjects prioritize white culture over others.

Question 24

What is a consequence of an ethnocentric curriculum on ethnic minorities?

Answer 24

It could lead to lower self-esteem amongst ethnic minorities (EMs) and negatively affect their achievement

The lack of representation may impact students’ self-perception.

Question 25

What does the National Curriculum lack in terms of cultural representation?

Answer 25

The National Curriculum does not include the history of black people ## Footnote Foreign languages taught in schools are primarily European, with other languages often being extra-curricular.

Question 26

What is the achievement level of Indian and Chinese students in relation to the ethnocentric curriculum?

Answer 26

Indian and Chinese students’ achievement is still above average ## Footnote This suggests that the lack of representation in the curriculum may not fully explain differential achievement.

Question 27

What argument does Stone make regarding black students and self-esteem?

Answer 27

Stone argues that there is no evidence that black students actually suffer from low self-esteem ## Footnote This challenges the assumption that an ethnocentric curriculum directly leads to low self-esteem.

Question 28

What approach do schools often adopt now instead of an ethnocentric curriculum?

Answer 28

A multi-cultural approach ## Footnote This shift aims to include a broader range of cultural perspectives.