Internal Factors: Organisation of Schools

Question 1

Institutional Racism

Answer 1

Institutional racism refers to the intentional or unintentional systematic & inbuilt discrimination that takes place in an organisation such as a school, e.g. not recruiting some ethnic groups to senior management in schools.

It can take many forms & it is argued that institutional racism may create an environment where ethnic minority pupils are routinely disadvantaged by a system that disregards their needs.

E.g. Hatcher found that school governing bodies gave low priority to race issues & failed to deal with pupils’ racist behaviour. This could lead to ethnic minority pupils facing racism feeling like they have no support & in turn could lead them to disliking school & underachieving.

Question 2

Ethnocentric curriculum

Answer 2

term ‘ethnocentric’ describes an attitude or policy that gives priority to the culture & viewpoint of one particular ethnic group, while disregarding others. The ‘ethnocentric curriculum’ in this country is therefore a curriculum that favours white British knowledge & traditions over other cultures

Subjects such as English Literature, history & religious education have been accused of being ethnocentric. The focus of these subjects has tended to be the achievements of white European Christian peoples. Foreign languages taught in schools are primarily European

can make ethnic minority pupils feel isolated & ignored which could lead to underachievement due to anger, rebellion or a lack of engagement at school.

Question 3

Ethnocentric organisation

Answer 3

• Holidays are centred on the Christian calendar, with no reference to the religious holidays of other religions
• The dress & uniform requirements of school may conflict with the cultural values of minority cultures – e.g. girls being unable to wear school trousers
• School assemblies may focus on Christianity & ignore the cultural interests of other faiths • School meals may not cater for the needs of minority faiths e.g. no Halal food
• Arrangements for PE/games may conflict with the requirements of minority cultures in terms of kit, changing & shower facilities in school.

Question 4

Marketisation, selection & segregation

Answer 4

Schools are increasing able to select the pupils they teach (e.g. think of Weatherhead’s 6th Form application & interview process). Gillborn suggests that these increased powers to select pupils allow negative stereotypes to influence decisions.

Gillborn & Youdell argue that the expectations held of some ethnic minority students are comparatively low compared to other students & through a system of ‘educational triage’ these students were systematically denied access to the sets, groups & exams that would give them the best chance of success

Gilborn’s study showed that the students who lost out were the student’s expected to get 3s/Ds or below which were more likely to be black students, white working-class pupils, those with a low level of English fluency & with special needs.

Question 5

Ethnocentirc A03

Answer 5

our curriculum may largely ignore Asian culture, but Indian & Chinese pupils’ achievement is above the national average. Therefore, our ethnocentric curriculum is unlikely to make any sort of significant difference to achievement & is certainly not the only valid explanation.

Question 6

Institutional racism A03

Answer 6

sociologists such as Sewell reject this view. Although he does not believe that racism has disappeared from schools, he argues that it is not powerful enough to prevent individuals from succeeding & that we need to focus on external factors such as black boys’ anti-school attitudes gained at home & from peers as shown in Sewell’s research.