Internal factors (ethnicity) Flashcards
What did Gillborn and Mirza find about black children?
Black children were the highest achievers on entry to primary school, yet by the time it came to GCSE they had the worst results of any ethnic group.
What does this suggest?
Internal factors of the education system play a major part in producing ethnic differences in achievement.
What internal factors affect ethnicity and educational achievement?
Labelling and teacher racism
Pupil identities
Pupil responses and subcultures
What do Interactionists’ studies on labels given to children from ethnic backgrounds show?
Teachers often see black and Asian pupils as being far from the ‘ideal student’.
Black pupils are seen as disruptive and Asians as passive.
Describe Gillborn and Youdell’s study on labelling and black pupils
They found that teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils than others for the same behaviour as a result of teachers’ ‘racialised expectations’. The teachers expected black pupils to present more discipline problems and misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening/a challenge to authority.
Pupils responded negatively to this, resulting in further conflict. Black pupils felt underestimated and picked on by teachers.
What do Gillborn and Youdell conclude?
Much of the conflict between white teachers and black pupils stems from the racial stereotypes teachers hold, rather than the pupils’ actual behaviour.
What did Bourne find?
Schools tend to see black boys as a threat and label them negatively resulting in exclusion.
What did Gillborn and Youdell find about black pupils and streaming?
Negative stereotypes about black pupils’ ability held by some teachers means they are more likely to be placed in lower sets/streams. This leads to SFP and underachievement.
What did Wright find about Asian pupils and labelling?
Teachers hold ethnocentric views which affected how they related to Asian pupils. Teachers assumed they would have a poor grasp of English and left them out of class discussions, as well as speaking to them using simplistic/childish language.
Asian pupils felt isolated and when teachers disapproved of their customs/mispronounced names. In general, teachers didn’t see them as a threat but as a problem they could ignore. As a result, Asian pupils (especially the girls) were marginalised and prevented from participating fully.
What does Archer argue? (pupil identities)
Teachers’ dominant discourse (way of seeing something) defines ethnic minority pupils’ identities as lacking the favoured identity of the ideal pupil.
According to Archer, what 3 different pupil identities does the dominant discourse construct?
The ideal pupil identity = a white, mc, masculinised identity, with a normal sexuality. This pupil is seen as achieving in the ‘right’ way, through natural ability and initiative.
The pathologised pupil identity = an Asian, ‘deserving poor’, feminised identity, either asexual or with an oppressed sexuality. This pupil is seen as a plodding conformist and culture bound “over-achiever”, a slogger who succeeds through hard work rather than natural ability.
The demonised pupil identity = A black or white, wc, hypersexualised identity. This pupil is sees as an unintelligent, peer-led, culturally deprived under-achiever.
What does Archer say ethnic minority pupils are likely to be seen as?
Either demonised or pathologised pupils. Interviews with teachers and students shows how black students are demonised as loud, challenging, excessively sexual and with ‘unaspirational’ home cultures.
What did Archer find about Asian pupils?
Teachers stereotyped Asian girls as quite, passive and docile.
What did Archer find about Chinese pupils?
Even ethnic minority pupils who performed successfully can be pathologised. Chinese students were simultaneously praised and viewed negatively by the teachers.
Chinese girls = too quite, passive and repressed
Chinese boys = effeminate, subordinate and not properly masculine
Describe why Archer and Francis sum up the teachers’ view of Chinese students as a ‘negative positive stereotype’
They are seen as achieving success in the wrong way: through hardworking, passive conformism rather than natural individual ability. This meant they could never legitimately occupy the identity of ‘ideal pupil’.
