Internal Factors Flashcards
overview
These largely centre on racism and different aspects of the education system. According to Gillborn and Mirza some cases, ethnic minorities enter primary schools as the highest achievers yet by the time it comes to GCSE they have the worst results. This challenges the assumption made by CD theorists that EM children enter school unprepared as they begin their compulsory schooling as the highest achievers and yet finish as the lowest, instead, it suggests that factors internal to the education system itself may be playing a major part in producing ethnic differences in achievement
factors under internal factors
Teacher Labelling and Racism
Pupil Identities
Pupil Responses and Subcultures
Institutional Racism
sociologists behind teacher labelling and racism
Gillborn and Youdell - racialised expectations
Bourne - Black boys as a threat
Foster - Black students in lower streams
Wright - Asian pupils
Teacher labelling and racism
Interactionist studies show that teachers often see Black and Asian pupils as being far from the ideal pupil. In particular, teachers often see black pupils as disruptive and Asian pupils as passive. These negative labels then lead to teachers treating these students differently which will impact negatively on their achievement. Gillborn and Youdell found that teachers were quicker to discipline Black pupils than their peers for the same behaviour, they argue that this is the result of teacher’s racialised expectations. They misinterpret the behaviour of African - Caribbean pupils as anti-authority. This creates a conflict between teachers and pupils which reinforces stereotypes and leads to further problems. This may explain the high level of exclusion from schools of black boys.
teacher labelling and racism - bourne, foster
As Bourne found, schools tend to see black boys as a threat and as such labelled them negatively, leading eventually to exclusion which affects achievement as only one in five excluded pupils achieves 5 GCSE. Similarly Foster argues that teachers’ stereotype of Black pupils as badly behaved could result in them being placed in lower sets than other pupils of similar ability. Labelling = Low Stream = Internalising levels = SFP = underachievement
teacher labelling and racism - Asian
Wright’s study of a multi-ethnic primary school shows that Asian pupils can also be the victims of teacher labelling. She found that despite the school’s commitment to equal opportunities teachers held ethnocentric views and assumed Asian pupils would have a poor grasp of English and left them out of discussions, they would have their names mispronounced. This leads to a feeling of isolation which results in truancy and eventually underachievement
sociologist behind pupil identities
Archer
pupil identities
Teachers often label pupils as having stereotypical ethnic identities. Archer argues that the teacher’s dominant discourse defines the typical ethnic minority pupil as lacking the identity of the ideal pupil. EM pupils are more likely to be seen as either pathologised or demonised pupils. Black pupils are demonised as loud, challenging, aggressive and excessively sexual. Archer also argues that EM pupils(Chinese pupils) that do well can be pathologised, they are seen by teachers as achieving success in the ‘wrong way’. They are working hard and conforming rather than succeeding through natural ability. This means that they can never be legitimately seen as the ideal pupil but as overachievers because proper achievers are the teacher’s ideal pupil - white, MC and female
sociologists behind pupil responses and subcultures
Fuller
Mirza
Sewell
pupil responses and subcultures - fuller
Pupils can respond to a negative label in a variety of ways, they do not automatically turn into SFP. Fuller’s study of black girls in Year 11 of a London comprehensive school. Instead of accepting negative labels, the girls channelled their anger into educational success. Unlike other successful pupils, they did not seek the approval of teachers who they regarded as racist and they befriended other black girls from lower streams. The study shows that pupils can succeed even when they refuse to conform and a negative label does not always lead to failure as these girls were able to reject the labels placed on them and there was no SFP
pupil responses and subcultures - Mirza
Mirza argued that racist teachers tried to discourage black pupils from being ambitious through implicit advice and she found that black students spent the majority of the day avoiding the impact of negative teacher labels. Most pupils found coping strategies such as being selective when teachers gave help or not taking part in group tasks. However, these strategies were not successful and Mirza argued that it was hard for the students to avoid the consequences of negative labelling.
types of teacher racism
Mirza identified 3 types of teacher racism
The colour-blind - sees all pupils as equal but do not challenge racist behaviour
The Liberal Chauvinists - sees black pupils as culturally deprived and have low expectations of these students
The overt racist - Sees black students as inferior and actively discriminate against them in the classroom
pupil responses and subcultures - sewell
Sewell examined the different strategies that Black Boys use to cope with racism. He argued that teachers hold a stereotype of Black Macho Lad - seeing them as rebellious and anti-authority.
4 black pupils strategies
Sewell identified four strategies that Black Boys use to cope with racism
The rebels - Black Pupils who rejected school, often excluded, the black macho lad, a small minority of pupils
The conformists - the Largest Group, keen to succeed, accept school rules, did not want to be stereotyped in any way by teachers, conformed in every way
The retreatists - A small majority of isolated students, not part of a subculture, not liked by the rebels
The innovators - the Second largest group of students, pro-education but anti-school, they maintained credibility and were liked by rebels due to their rebellion in the classroom, but worked hard out of school to achieve.
