Educational attainment and ethnicity
- Created by: chlopayne
- Created on: 17-04-19 19:45
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- Educational attainment and ethnicity
- Britain is a multicultural society.
- There are inequalities in educational achievements of ethnic groups.
- Whites and Asians do better than blacks.
- Among all groups, girls do better than boys. Middle class do better than working class.
- Internal factors
- Factors within schools and education system.
- Labelling and teacher racism
- Interactionists focus different labels teachers give to ethnic backgrounds.
- Studies show teachers often see black and Asian pupils as being far from the 'ideal pupil', this disadvantages them.
- Gillborn and Youdell (2000) found teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils.
- Black pupils felt teachers underestimated their ability.
- Conflict between white teachers and black pupils stem from racial stereotypes teachers hold
- Jenny Bourne (1994) found schools tend to see black boys as a threat and label them negatively, leading to exclusion.
- Peter Foster (1990) found stereotypes of black pupils could result in them being placed in lower sets. Leading to lower levels of achievement.
- Black pupils felt teachers underestimated their ability.
- Wright (1992) found teachers held ethnocentric views. Teachers assumed Asian pupils would have a poor grasp of English, leaving them out of class.
- Asian pupils felt isolated. They were also marginalised.
- Fuller (1984) study of black girls. These girls channelled their anger about being labelled and ended up being high achievers.
- Conformed only as far as school work was concerned. Positive attitude to academic success, not approval of teachers.
- Mirza (1992) also studied black girls who faced teacher racism. These girls however failed to achieve their ambitions.
- Sewell (1998) studied black boys and found many teachers have stereotypes and label black boys.
- He found they were part of four groups: rebels, conformists, retreatists and innovators.
- Interactionists focus different labels teachers give to ethnic backgrounds.
- Ethnocentric curriculum
- Gives priority to culture and viewpoint of one ethnic group while disregarding others.
- Troyna and Williams (1986) says British curriculum is ethnocentric, gives priority to white culture.
- Stephen Ball (1994) criticises the curriculum for ignoring cultural and ethnic diversity.
- Berard Coard explains how the ethnocentric curriculum may produce underachievement.
- While it may ignore Asian culture, Indian and Chinese pupils achievement is above national average.
- Gives priority to culture and viewpoint of one ethnic group while disregarding others.
- Institutional racism
- Troyna and Williams argue we should look at how schools discriminate against ethnic minorities.
- Curriculum is an example of institutional racism.
- Studies of governing bodies provide more explanations of it.
- Richard Hatcher (1996) found they gave low priority to race issues and failed to deal with pupils racist behaviour.
- No communication between school. governs and ethnic minority parents.
- Richard Hatcher (1996) found they gave low priority to race issues and failed to deal with pupils racist behaviour.
- Institutional racism create an environment where ethnic minority pupils are disadvantaged by a system that disregards their needs.
- External factors
- Factors outside the education system.
- Cultural deprivation
- Lack of intellectual and linguistic skills as a major cause of under achievement for minority children.
- Children from low income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences, leaving them poorly equipped for school.
- Gordon Bowker (1968) identifies their lack of standard English asa a barrier to process and succeed in education.
- Swann Report (1985) found language isn't a factor in under achievement, Mirza noted Indian pupils do well despite English not being their first language.
- Failure to socialise children is the result of a dysfunctional family structure.
- Daniel Moynihan (1965) argues many black families are headed by a lone mother, children are deprived of care due to financial struggles.
- Fathers absence means boys lack a role model of male achievement.
- Charles Murray (1984) - high rate of lone parenthood leads to underachievement of minorities.
- Ken Pryce: Asian are higher achievers because their culture is more resistant to racism, and gives a greater sense of self worth.
- Argues black Caribbean culture is less cohesive and resistant to racism. Leading to lower self esteem and to under achieve.
- Daniel Moynihan (1965) argues many black families are headed by a lone mother, children are deprived of care due to financial struggles.
- Lack of intellectual and linguistic skills as a major cause of under achievement for minority children.
- Material deprivation
- Lack of physical necessities. Working class people are more likely to face it.
- Education failure as a result of poor housing and low income.
- Ethnic minorities are more likely to face those problems.
- Class differences explain why Bangladeshi and Pakistani pupils do worse than Indian and white pupils.
- Swann report shows social class account for 50% of achievement between ethnic groups.
- However, Gillborn and Mirza argue that social class factors don't override the influence of ethnicity.
- When we compare pupils of the same class but different ethnicities, there were stilll differences in achievement.
- Racism in wider society
- John Res (1986) shows racial discrimination leads to social exclusion, worsens the poverty faced by ethnic minorities.
- Discriminationmeanns that minorities are more likely to be forced into poor housing.
- In employment, there is direct and deliberate discrimination
- Mike Noon (1993) sent identical applications to UK companies but found companies were more encouraging to the white candidate.
- Helps to explain why ethnic minorities are more likely to face unemployment and low pay.
- In turn has a negative effect on their children educational prospects.
- John Res (1986) shows racial discrimination leads to social exclusion, worsens the poverty faced by ethnic minorities.
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