Topic 3 - Ethnic differences in achievement

Question 1

Cultural Deprivation: 1) Intellectual & linguistic skills

Answer 1

Bowker (1968): ‘The Education of Coloured Immigrants’.
A lack of standard English creates a huge barrier to UK education.

Bereiter and Engelmann (1966)
Suggested the language spoken in low-income black American families is inadequate for educational success

Question 2

Cultural Deprivation: 1) Intellectual & linguistic skills
Evaluation

Answer 2

The Swann Report (1985) found that language differences had little impact on achievement.
The theory doesn’t explain why Indian pupils do so well.

Question 3

Cultural deprivation: 2) Attitudes & values

Answer 3

These arguments suggest that different ethnic groups are socialised into (or ‘inherit’) different attitudes & values.
This includes a lack of motivation .
CD theorists claim Black children have fatalistic – ‘live for today’ attitudes – just as they claim this for the working class as well.

Question 4

Cultural deprivation: 2) Attitudes & values
Evaluation

Answer 4

Black Caribbean girls out preform white students, they could not achieve this without motivation.

Question 5

Cultural deprivation : 3) Family structure & parental support

Answer 5

Murray (1984): (Note: an old study) New Right
African Caribbean lone-parenthood is to blame. Lack of male role models means that mothers struggle to socialise children adequately.

Scruton (1986): (Note: an old study)
Low achievement is the result of ethnic minorities failing to embrace & conform to British culture.

Question 6

Cultural deprivation : 3) Family structure & parental support Evaluation

Answer 6

Sewell: fathers, gangs and culture
Sewell does not agree absent fathers are the problem for Black boys.
Instead, the problem is a lack of ‘tough love’ – firm, fair, respectful and
non-abusive discipline.
Boys turn to street gangs for role models.
This leads to peer pressure to be anti-school.
Wanting to do well in education was seen as ‘selling out’.
According to Sewell, this can be overcome by raising the aspirations of Black boys
and by having greater expectations of them.

Question 7

Asian families

Answer 7

Drive and Ballard (1981):

Asian families bring educational benefits:
- positive attitudes towards education
- high aspirations for the future

Lupton (2004): adult authority in Asian families is similar to the model that operates in schools:
- expectation of respect towards adults

Question 7

White working-class families

Answer 7

80% of 11-16 old ethnic minority pupils aspired to go to university
But only 68% of white pupils did.
Lupton: this lower level of aspiration and achievement may be due to a lack of parental support .
Evans (2006): ‘street’ culture in white working-class areas is to blame for underachievement.

Question 8

Compensatory education

Answer 8

If cultural deprivation exists, this could be overcome.
One way is to introduce programmes aimed at those who are seen to be deprived.
Research some of the compensatory schemes shown below:
Operation Head Start (1960s)
Educational Priority Areas (1960s)
Education Action Zones (1990s)
Sure Start (2000s)

Question 9

Criticisms of cultural deprivation theory

Answer 9

Driver (1977) highlights how ethnicity can be an advantage in education, e.g. African Caribbean girls do very well in school.

Lawrence (1982): underachievement not due to low self-esteem – it’s due to racism.

Keddie (1973) says that to blame culture is to blame the victims of educational failure.

Question 10

Criticisms of Compensatory education

Answer 10

Compensatory education is also criticised because it attempts to impose dominant White culture on those who already have a culture of their own.
Alternatives are:

Multicultural education – recognising the value of all cultures.

Anti-racist education – actively challenging prejudice and discrimination.

Question 11

Material deprivation – figures

Answer 11

According to Palmer (2012):
Almost half ethnic minority children live in low-income households
Minority ethnic groups are twice as likely to be unemployed as Whites

Question 12

Material deprivation - reasons

Answer 12

Many minority ethnic groups live in economically depressed areas
Purdah may prevent Muslim women from working.
May lack recognised qualifications and language skills if recently arrived to UK, e.g. refugees.
Asylum seekers may be prevented from seeking work.
Racism in work and housing may prevent many from gaining jobs and places to live (see next section).

Question 13

Racism in wider society:

Answer 13

Mason (2000)
‘Discrimination is a continuing & persistent feature of the experience of Britain’s citizens of minority ethnic origin’.

Rex (1986)
Racism leads to social exclusion and thus to poverty. This is shown in housing, employment & education. Racism also leads to discrimination both inside & outside the classroom.

Wood et al (2010)
Sent identical letters to 100 top UK companies but alternated between the names ‘Evans’ & ‘Patel’……… the replies to the ‘White’ candidate were more helpful and informative.

Question 14

Challenging the cultural deprivation view

Answer 14

Gillborn & Mirza (2000)
It is the actions of schools & not cultural background which causes ethnic minority underachievement.
E.g. in one local education authority, Black pupils were the highest achievers at start of primary but were the worst performers by GCSE.
A pupil’s culture doesn’t change over time, so it must be schools’ actions that are shaping pupils’ performance.

Question 15

Internal factors

Answer 15

Labelling & teacher racism
Teacher perception of pupil identities
Pupil subcultures
Institutional racism

Question 16

Labelling - Black pupils and discipline

Answer 16

(Gillborn & Youdell)

Teachers have negative, racialised expectations of Black pupils
Black pupils are more likely to be seen as a threat
Black pupils report feeling underestimated & picked on more
Black pupils are more likely to be excluded or isolated, limiting access to curriculum

Question 17

Black pupils and streaming (Foster)

Answer 17

Black pupils are more likely to be streamed low due to negative perceptions of behaviour & ability

Question 18

Asian pupils

Answer 18

Wright
Asian culture is regarded as inferior by teachers
Teachers assume Asian pupils suffer language barriers
Pupils feel isolated when teachers express disapproval of their culture or mispronounce their names.

Question 19

pupil identities

Answer 19

Archer: teachers often stereotype pupils according to their ethnic background
They tend to see ethnic minority identities as lacking “ideal” qualities
Even minority ethnic students who are successful can be regarded negatively – make notes on Archer’s findings about Chinese pupils.

Question 20

Rejection of negative labels

Answer 20

Fuller- black girls conformed to schoolwork but showed a rejection of school culture generally

Mac an Ghaill- Asian girls committed themselves to academic success to prove teachers wrong

Question 21

Failed strategies for avoiding racism (Mirza)

Answer 21

Different types of teacher racism- colour blind, liberal chauvinists & overt racists
Girls in particular tried to avoid racist teachers, but this cut off access to resources which still led to underachievement

Question 22

The variety of boys’ responses (Sewell) to racism

Answer 22

Boys either respond through rebellion, conformity, retreatism or innovation

Question 23

Marketisation and segregation -

Answer 23

Gillborn:school selection gives schools more scope to select pupils - negative stereotypes can affect admission decisions.

Question 24

Marketisation and segregation
The CRE (1993) similar in Britain - minority pupils more likely to go to poorer schools due to:

Answer 24

Racist reports from primary schools, minority parents not aware of waiting lists, lack of access to admissions info in minority languages.

Question 25

The ethnocentric curriculum - Language, literature and music

Answer 25

Troyna and Williams
Lack of access to Asian languages in preference to European languages ignores some culture, literature and music

Question 26

The ethnocentric curriculum - History

Answer 26

Ballcriticises the national curriculum for ignoring ethnic diversity.
History views British people as bringing civilisation to ‘primitive people’.
Black people as inferior and undermines Black pupils’ self-esteem.

Question 27

Access to opportunities

Answer 27

Gifted and Talented
White students twice as likely as black pupils to be identified as gifted and talented.

Exam Tiers
Black students more likely than White students to be entered for lower tiers.

Question 28

Assessment

Answer 28

Gillborn: Assessment is rigged and if Black children succeed the rules are re-engineered e.g. baseline tests (Black children did better) replaced in 2003 by foundation stage profile (FSP).
Overnight Black pupils went from being highest achievers to lowest achievers.
FSPs are based on teachers’ judgements
FSPs are done at the end of the reception year, baseline tests were done at the beginning of school.

Question 29

Gillborn
Access to opportunities such as higher sets depends heavily on teachers’ assessment of ability.

Answer 29

Black pupils
Perceived low ability
Put in low sets based on discipline
Tests to measure students’ ability don’t measure potential, but previous achievement.
Gillborn concludes that the educational system is institutionally racist.

Question 30

‘Model minorities’:

Answer 30

If institutional racism is truly a problem, why do high-achieving “model” groups such as Indian and Chinese pupils do better than White pupils ?

Question 31

‘Model minorities’: criticism

Answer 31

Gillborn’s response
Model minorities’ performance creates the false impression that the system is fair.
Model minorities’ performance is then used to “justify” the failure of other minorities, suggesting they are less aspirational.
Ignores the racism which is still experienced by groups such as Chinese pupils.

Question 32

contemporary research

Answer 32

Morris & Perry African American girls are three times more likely than white girls to be sent
to the school office for punishment.