ethnic differences in eductaion

sees the underachievement of some ethnic groups

• intellectual and linguistic skills

children from low income black families lack this

(Bereter and Englemann) consider the language spoken by low income black families as inadequate for educational success

• attitudes and values

lack of motivation, cultural deprivation theorists argue some black children are socialised into a fatalistic 'live for today' attitude - does not value education

• family structure and parental support
• (Charles Murray 1984) high rate of lone parenthood and lack of male role model
• (Roger Scruton 1986) sees low achievement of some minorities as resulting from lack of embracing british culture.

fathers, gang, and culture

(Tony Sewell 2009) lack of fatherly 'tough love' - black boys find it hard to overcome the emotional and behavioural difficulties - black boys need to have greater expectations placed on them

 - join gangs to preserve loyalty and love

white working class families

(Andrew McCulloch 2014) survey of 16,000 pupils found that ethnic minority are more likely to aspire to go to university than white british pupils - low aspiration due to lack of parental support

(Lutpon) teachers reported low levels of behaviour from white working class pupils - lack of parental support

ethnic minority parents more likely to see education as a 'way up in society'

(Geoffrey Driver 1977) says that cultural deprivation theorists ignores the positive effects of ethnicity on achievement

shows that Black Caribbean families provide black girls with good role models

(Errol Lawrence 1982) argues that black pupils underachiever because of racism

(Keddie) argues ethnic minority children are culturally different, not deprived

these critics oppose compensatory education, instead they propose alternatives;

multi-cultural education: policy that recognises minority cultures

anti-racist education: policy that challenges discrimination

(Guy Palmer 2012)

• almost half of ethnic minority children live in low income households
• twice as likely to be unemployed compared to white

- many ethnic minority pupils live in economically depressed areas

- cultural factors prevent black women from working outside the home

- lack of language skills and foreign qualifications not recognised by employers

(David Mason 2000)

'discrimination is a continuing feature of the experience of Britains citizens of minority ethnic origin'

(John Rex 1986)

shows how racial discrimination leads to social exclusion and how this worsens the poverty faced by ethnic minorities

(Cecile Wright 1992)

• found that teachers percieved ethnic minority children differently from white children, Asian children were seen as a problem that could be ignored
• african caribbean children were often singled out and given negative attention

(Gillborn and Youdell 2000)

• teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils
• teachers expected black pupils to cause more problems

(Tony Sewell 1996)

• interested in the experiences of black boys in edcuation and he found that some black students were disciplined excessively buy teachers

(Louise Archer 2008)

teachers reagard ethnic minority pupils identities as lacking the 'ideal pupil' identity

'ideal pupil' - white middle-class, normal sexuality (achieves through natural ability)

'pathologised pupil identity' - usually an Asian identity, feminised identity usually asexual (achieves through hard work not natural ability)

'demonised pupil identity' - black or white working-class, hyper-sexualised identity (unintelligent and underachieving)

(Archer and Francis 2007)

teachers viewed chinese families as 'tight'

teachers tended to wrongly stereotype chinese families as middle class

(Tony Sewell 1997)

black caribbean boys may experience considerable pressure by their peers to adopt the norms of an 'urban/street' subculture

(1998)

 found teachers stereotyped black boys as rebellious and anit-school

found four ways boys respond to racist stereotyping

• rebels - rejected goals, olften got excluded
• conformists - keen to succeed
• retreatists - isolated individual
• innovators - only do the work they are set to do

(Fuller 1984) - study of 11 black girls

untypical as they were placed in low streams but high achieved

(positive) rather than blaming the childs home background, labelling shows how teachers stereotypes can be a cause of failure

(negative) doesnt take into account other factors other than the classroom

(negative) not all students get labelled and become the self ful-filling prophcecy and fail

the ethnocentric curriculum - refers to the ways which what happens in schools can seem irrelevant to ethnic minority pupils.

(Tronya and Williams 1986) suggests that the british curriculum gives priority to white culture

• institutional racism - schools give low priority to race issued and there is a lack of communication between school and ethnic minority parents

(Tariq Modood 2005)

at the best universities whites are more likely to get an offer than other identical students

(David Gillborn 1997)

argues the governement policy of marketisation (making schools compete for students) has given greater scope for schools to select pupils putting ethnic minorities at a disadvantage

evaluation (negative)  school selection are not only cause of segregation, it can be the result of the choice made by parents

(Paul Connolly 1998)

study of five and six year olds in a multi-ethnic inner city primary school

• pupils and teachers construct masculinity diffrently depending on ethnicity
• teachers saw black boys as distruptive under achievers and controlled them by punishing them
• boys responded by seeking status and rebelling
• teachers saw Asian boys as passive, keen and academic
• asian boys were seen as more feminine and vulnerable

the interactions effect

- class and gender interact differently with ethnicity depending on which ethnic group being looked at

- bigger gap between the achievements of white middle-class and white working-class pupils then there is between black middle-class and working-class pupils