Policies impacting Ethnicity Flashcards
What was the policy aim of the educational policy: Assimilation – 60s and 70s
Encouraged students from ethnic minority groups to integrate into mainstream British culture to raise attainment.
E.g Providing compensatory education to ensure everyone can speak English.
Recent example: Socialising students into 5 shared British Values.
What were the positives and negatives of the Assimilation – 60s and 70s education policies impacting ethnicity
Functionalists: Would argue that this is a positive, as people need to be socialised into a value consensus to achieve social solidarity and social stability (which benefits all)
Critics argue that this puts the blame on cultural factors in the home. In reality many ethnic minority pupils already speak English, and the real cause of underachievement is poverty or racism.
What was the policy aim of the educational policy: Multiculturalism 1980s
Policies valued and incorporate all cultures to raise students’ self-esteem and achievement
Eg Making the curriculum less ethnocentric
What are the negative evaluations for Multiculturalism 1980s educational policy impacting ethnicity
Critical Race Theorists: MCE is tokenism. It picks out stereotypical features of minority cultures and does not tackle institutional racism.
Functionalism & New Right: MCE creates cultural divisions and conflict. Education should promote a shared national culture which ethnic minorities should assimilate into.
What was the policy aim of the educational policy: Social Inclusion 1990s
Raising educational achievement of minority ethnic groups became the focus:
Monitoring exam results by ethnicity.
Amending Race Relations Act to place a legal duty on schools to promote racial equality.
Encouraging schools to adopt EAL programmes.
What is the negative evaluation points for the educational policy Social Inclusion 1990s with its impact of ethnicity
Gillborn: Institutionally racist policies remain (eg assessment and streaming).
Mirza: This is a soft approach that does not tackle structural causes (poverty & racism)
How did the 1944 Bulter Act impact gender
Reinforced inequality as girls had to achieve higher than boys in the 11+ to obtain a grammar school place.
This resulted in more girls going to secondary moderns (which limited their career options).
What policies were introduced from 1980s onwards that impacted gender
Policies such as GIST and WISE have been introduced to try reduce gender differences in subject choice and raise girls’ achievement (by removing barriers to certain careers and raising girls’ aspirations)
