Ethnic Differences in Achievement - External Factors

• TRENDS - Chinese & Indian students get the highest % of 5 A*-C grades at GCSE, with Pakistani, Black Caribbean & gypsy/Roma children achieving the lowest %.

CULTURAL DEPRIVATION - similar to WC, some have argued that children from some ethnic groups are ‘culturally deprived.’

There are several ways some ethnic groups are said to be culturally deprived:

• Intellectual & linguistic skills - children from low-income black families are said to underachieve to due to lacking a stimulating home environment (e.g. no educational toys) a not speaking Standard English at home.

• AO3 -some argue parents in low-income black families may not be able to afford educational toys for their children, suggesting that material deprivation causes underachievement, not cultural deprivation.

• AO3 - Indian & Chinese students achieve above the national average despite often not speaking English at home, suggesting language doesn’t have a huge impact on achievement.

• Attitudes & values - some argue that black children are socialised into a ‘live for today’ attitude which causes underachievement.

• AO3 - KEDDIE argues that ethnic minorities aren’t culturally deprived but culturally different to the ethnocentric education system (based on white British MC culture).

• Family structure & support - MOYNIHAN argues the high percentage of black single-parent families causes their children to…