Ethnicity and Achievement

Ethnicity and Achievement.

Ethnicity - Shared culture, language, history, religion, geography.

External Factors

GCSE Performance:

Chinese have the best results; five or more A* to C grades are awarded to 77% of girls and 71% of boys. Indians are the next highest. Black Caribbean are the lowest achievers, with 23% of boys and 38% of girls achieving 5 A to C GCSEs.

Black pupils are the most likely to be permanently excluded from schools, this has got worse in 2012.

Social Class:

This is a materialist perspective.

Mabey (1981) states that Indians and African-Asians are middle class. Many are business people. Bangladesh and Pakistan immigrants are from poorer backgrounds.

African-Caribbeans tend to do manual work so children are working class.

Craft and Craft (1983):

African-Caribbean working class attain less than white working class. This is the same of middle class.

Class may explain some underachievement but more explanation is needed.

Family Life

This is a culturalist perspective.

African-Caribbeans fail to encourage children to do well in education. There is an inadequate provision of toys, books and stimulation.

Murray (1994) - New Right

African-Caribbeans' underachievement and exclusion is linked to large number of female headed lone parent families. He claims that mothers are incapable of instilling discipline.

African-Caribbean culture does not value education, marriage, family life, or work.…