External Factors Affecting Ethnic Minority Education

Question 1

What are the 5 material deprivation factors that affect the achievement of ethnic minorities?

Answer 1

• poor housing
• overcrowding at home
• religious practices
• the lack of language skills
• racial discrimination

Question 2

How does poor quality housing affect the achievement of ethnic minority groups?

Answer 2

-can lead to the development of health complications leading to time away from school

Question 3

How does overcrowding at home affect the achievement of ethnic minority groups?

Answer 3

Some Asian communities are likely to live in extended households

• more accident prone
• sleep deprivation
• less space to do work

Question 4

How do religious practices affect the achievement of ethnic minority groups?

Answer 4

Purdah, which is the practice of the women not being able to access public spaces without a male present means the women is unable to go to work.

• low family income as only one adult works
• if their child is a girl, they may grow up demotivated from school as they will be jobless

Question 5

How does the lacking of language skills and qualifications affect the achievement of ethnic minority groups, lack of language skills from parents?

Answer 5

• parents may struggle to finance educational resources as they work in a low paid jobs
• cannot help their child with their work as they do not understand the language
• parents may struggle to support their child at home or at school as they work long hours

Question 6

How does racial discrimination affect the achievement of ethnic minority groups?

Answer 6

• discrimination in the job market, which reduces a persons ability to find a high paying job
• discrimination in the housing market, may lead to poor quality housing.

Question 7

What are the 4 cultural factors affecting ethnic achievement?

Answer 7

• intellectual and language skills
• family structure and support
• negative attitudes towards education
• racism in wider society

Question 8

What do Bereiter and Engelmann (1966) find about intellectual and linguistic skills of ethnic groups?

Answer 8

They find that there is a language barrier between ethnic groups. They raise concerns about language used by young black people.
Language used by low income black people is incompatible with success. It is restricted, ungrammatical and colloquial. Meaning they struggle to effectively communicate with teachers leader to underachievement.

Question 9

Name 2 reasons why intellectual and linguistic skills cause underachievement of ethnic groups

Answer 9

• language used by black people is colloquial and restricted meaning they canopy effectively communicate with teachers
• if language isn’t the child’s first language, it will impede their performance at school

Question 10

Evaluation of the view that langauge and intellectual skills is the main cause of ethnic underachievement?

Answer 10

• ethnic minorities only perform just below the white average indicating is isn’t language that causes underachievement
• Indian and Chinese students out perform English speakers

Question 11

What are the 4 studies into family support and parental support?

Answer 11

• studies into single parent black families
• studies into deviant subcultures in black communities
• studies into the Asian work ethic
• studies into white-working class families

Question 12

What does Moynihan (1965) find about single parent black families?

Answer 12

Found that black boys lack a positive male role model. Furthermore, mum has to work longer hours to support their child meaning they have less time to support their child with homework and attend parents evening.

Question 13

What does Murray (1984) find about single parent black families?

Answer 13

Found that single parent hood is an unstable environment. This can lead to the child engaging in disruptive behaviour, and then underperform at school

Question 14

What does Pryce (1979) find about single parent black families?

Answer 14

Found that they are less resilient to issues such as racism because they come from a background that has been damaged by colonialism and slavery. Can damage a child’s self esteem.

Question 15

List 3 ways in why black single parent families do worse in education?

Answer 15

• lack a male role model to support education
• single parent hood is an unstable environment
• less resilient to racism

Question 16

What does Sewell (2009) find about deviant subcultures in black communities?

Answer 16

The absence of a male role model leads to black children creating deviant subculture.s. The lack of “tough love” for boys leads the, to join deviant subcultures where they can find this. They create brotherly love with close friends to make up for the lost role model. Also, due to black media, kids are more likely to take an anti school stance which then celebrated within the deviant subculture.

Question 17

What did Lupton (2004) find about the Asian work ethic?

Answer 17

Claims that Asian success is down to their parents’ attitude towards education. This is the Asian work ethic. Parents tend to have higher expectations and more likely to be supportive of teachers and schools. Chinese mums are called “Tiger Moms” meaning they take an aggressive approach towards their child’s education. Means children of Asian background more likely to do better in education

Question 18

What did McCulloch find about white working class families?

Answer 18

Found that ethnic minorities were more likely to pursue higher education despite the barriers they face. This is because of white working class parents being more likely to express anti school attitudes and to have lower aspirations. Found that low income schools, disruptive behaviour was more likely to be conducted by white pupils rather then Asian, white students more likely to possess a fatalistic attitude

Question 19

What did Sugarman (1970) find about negative attitudes towards education?

Answer 19

Found that male ethnic minorities are more likely to reject mainstream culture. BAME boys more likely to gravitate towards the subcultures described in the class topic. Meaning underachievement rates are higher for ethnic minorities are greater than white pupils.

Question 20

Evaluation of the view that negative attitudes towards education is the main factor of causing underachievement of ethnic groups

Answer 20

-could there be any internal factors that cause underachievement

Question 21

Evaluation of the view that material deprivation is a major cause of underachievement?

Answer 21

• Chinese and Indian pupils do better than white British pupils suggesting material deprivation isn’t an issue.
• can act as a motivator for some people
• internal factors

Question 22

What does Mason (2000) state about racism in wider society?

Answer 22

Mason states that racism is a persistent problem which blights the experience of ethnic minorities

Question 23

What does Rex (1986) state about racism in wider society?

Answer 23

Racism can impact on both material and social factors. For example, racism can lead to material deprivation in which as ethnic minorities cannot access decent employment opportunities and higher paid jobs

Question 24

What does Wood (2010) study tell people about racism in wider society?

Answer 24

Wood (2010) sent out 1000 fictional job CVS to jobs. He found that those with a white sounding name were almost twice as likely to get an interview than those with foreign sounding names

Question 25

How can racism in wider society have social issues?

Answer 25

Young people from minority groups may become demotivated and feel socially isolated. Can have a negative impact on their self esteem leading to underachievement

Question 26

Evaluation of the view that racism in wider society is a major cause of ethnic underachievement?

Answer 26

-there are laws in place to stop racism in wider society