Topic 3 - Ethnic Differences in Achievement Flashcards
Ethnic statistics - who achieves best?
Chinese & White Middle-Class pupils
Ethnic statistics - who achieves worst?
Black Caribbean & Gypsy Roma
Linguistic skills - External [2]
Bereiter and Engelmann - Black Caribbean language impractical and disjointed, means they cannot convey abstract ideas
- English may not be first language used in some Asian households- PSI study found lack of fluency significant problem
Family Structure - External
Moynihan found many Black Caribbean lone-parent families - lack of male role model.
Attitudes and values - External [1]
Some sociologists argue that some black pupils have a fatalistic outlook on life - want immediate gratification
Material deprivation - External [1]
Victims of racism in wider society -> discrimination at work -> may be in low paid jobs or unemployed -> impacts upon children’s educational opportunities
Internal factors - Labelling [3]
Gillborn and Youdell - Black pupils were more likely than others to be punished for the same behaviour as white pupils.
Fuller - High achieving black girls rejected teacher’s stereotypes
Mirza - black girls’ strategies for dealing with teacher racism still disadvantaged them - e.g. not asking for help
Asian pupils - Labelling [1]
Wright - found Asian primary school pupils were stereotyped
- Teachers used simple language - assumed they would speak poor English
Pupil Subcultures - Internal
Sewell - black boys developed responses to racist teacher labelling [4]
Conformists: keen to succeed, accepted the school’s goals.
Innovators: pro-education, but anti-school. Valued success, but not teacher’s approval.
Retreatists: disconnected from the school and black subcultures outside of it.
Rebels: rejected the school’s goals, and conformed to the stereotype of the ‘black macho lad’.
Ethnocentric Curriculum [Troyna & Williams] - Internal
English curriculum priorities white culture + English holidays + language.
Ball: ‘little Englandism’
Evaluation of ethnic differences [2]
- Class and gender also impact achievement, although w/c Chinese still overachieve
- Some research is dated & based on crude stereotypes e.g. linguistic skills