Ethnicity - Internal Factors

Question 1

What are the 4 main internal factors of educational achievement?

Answer 1

• labelling and teacher racism
• institutional racism
• pupil identities
• pupil responses and subcultures

Question 2

How are black and Asian pupils seen in education?

Answer 2

Black- aggressive

Asian - passive

Question 3

What did Gillborn & Youdell in 2000 find about labelling and teacher racism?

Answer 3

• teachers quicker to discipline black pupils
• teachers have ‘racialized expectations’ (expect ethnic minority pupils to act differently)
• black pupils in turn feel teachers underestimate them and pick on them
• this may stem from teacher racism, rather than pupils actual behaviour

Question 4

What did Bourne in 1994 and Osler in 2001 find about labelling and teacher racism?

Answer 4

• black pupils more likely to be sent out of class; placed in the PRUs, excluded or expelled
• A-C economy and educational triage in action
• black pupils more likely to be placed in lowest streams due to teacher labelling and racism

Question 5

What did Foster find about labelling and teacher racism in 1990?

Answer 5

Black pupils were in lower sets because their perceived behaviour rather than their academic ability

Question 6

What did Cecile Wright find out about Asian pupils in 1992 regarding labelling and teacher racism?

Answer 6

• teachers help ethnocentric views : saw British culture and standard English to be superior
• teachers tend to assume Asian pupils have poor English
• Asian pupils often feel isolated when/ if teachers show disapproval for their customs or mispronounced their names
• prevents them from engaging fully

Question 7

Who argues there are 3 types of racist teachers? What are these?

Answer 7

Heidi Safia Mirza (1992)

1) COLOUR BLIND- teachers who believe all pupils are equal but does not challenge racism he/she witnesses
2) LIBERAL CHAUVINISTS- teachers who believe black pupils are culturally deprived and have low expectations of them
3) OVERT RACISTS- teachers who believe blacks are inferior and actively discriminate against them

Question 8

Who identities that teachers construct 3 student identities according to their ethnicity? What are these?

Answer 8

Archer(2008)

1) IDEAL PUPIL- white, m/c, ‘normal’ sexuality, achieves the ‘right way’
2) PATHOLOGIST PUPIL- Asian, ‘deserving poor’, asexual, the plodding conformist
3) DEMONISED PUPIL- black/white, w/c, hyper-sexualised, unintelligent, culturally deprived

Question 9

When looking at Archer’s 3 student identities, where would teachers put BAME pupils?

Answer 9

2 or 3 (pathologist or demonised pupil)

• seeing black pupils as loud, challenging and excessively sexualised
• seeing Asian as docile, passive and quiet

Question 10

When looking at pupil responses and subcultures, who looked at black girls in London comprehensive schools? What did they find?

Answer 10

Mary Fuller (1984)

• untypical high achievers in high streams where most black girls were in low streams
• instead of internalising negative stereotypes, they channelled their anger into educational success
• did not seek approval from teachers (racist)
• maintained relationships with lower streamed girls
• only confirmed to school work, not rules
• Relied on their own efforts/abilities to pass exams
• Fuller: ways of coping with the contradictory demands of the white British m/c education system, whilst avoiding the ridicule of black boys and maintaining relationships with black girls from lower streams

Question 11

Who identified 4 responses to teacher racism? What were they?

Answer 11

Tony Sewell (1992)

1) REBELS - small minority, reject goals and rules, anti authority ‘black macho lads’, identity with hegemonic masculinity
2) CONFORMISTS- largest group, accept goals and rules, keen to success, wish to avoid stereotypes
3) RETREATISTS-tiny minority, isolates individuals, disconnected from school and subcultures, despised by rebels
4) INNOVATORS- 2nd largest group, pro-education but anti-school, only conformed to school work not rules, friendly with rebels

Question 12

Define institutional racism

Answer 12

Discrimination is ‘built in’ to the way institutions such as schools and colleges operate

Question 13

Define individual racism

Answer 13

Results from the prejudiced views of one individual

Question 14

Arguably the British educational system is institutional racist.. how?

Answer 14

The policies and personnel actively discriminate against ethnic minorities

• lack of black role models in education
• lack of black head teachers
• BAME students receive more negative criticism than white students

Question 15

Define ethnocentrism

Answer 15

Describes an attitude or policy that gives priority to the culture and viewpoint of one particular ethnic group while disregarding others

Question 16

How is the education system ethnocentric?

Answer 16

• often the focus of education is the activities and histories of male, European, Christian people (male, pale and stale)
• the history of BAME people and their activities/ culture is often left out of education
• this may have a de-motivating effect on BAME students