Ethnic Differences in Achievement

Intellectual and Linguistic skills-Cultural

Bereiter and Englemann

Black low-income families (working class) lack Intellectual and Linguistic skills, so they speak in inadequate and disjointed sentences and it leaves them poorly equipped for school. For example, they may speak in slang. They are unable grasp the language to use in schools, and communicate to teachers.

Evaluation, this is too deterministic, if there is a statement that talks about everyone (every single black or brown student is …. (doesn’t speak properly)) Not every black child doesn’t know how to speak. Gilborn says that Indian pupils do well despite often not having English as their home language.

Attitudes and Values-Cultural

Black children have a lack of motivation, and that is why they fail. Whilst most children are socialised into “ambition, motivation, willingness” it equips them for success in education, however black children are socialised into subculture that instils a live for today attitude. They don’t see education as a long-term goal.

Evaluation, Driver says that this theory ignores the positive effects of ethnicity on achievement, the black Caribbean family raised up girls to be strong independent woman, and they have these role models of these strong women which is why black girls tend to be more successful in education than boys.

Families Structure and Parental Support-Cultural

Moynihan

Black families are headed by a lone single mother, so the children are deprived of adequate care she is unable to inadequately socialise (when they go to school, learn, speak, write) them, as there is no father there is no role model for the children, results in demotivation.

Evaluation, it makes it seem like the black culture is weak, and sensitive. The main reason they fail is because of the racism. Pryce says that Black people are less resistant to racism, more likely to respond and lose focus of the work. However, Asians are more resistant (key word) to racism so they would brush it.

Criticism by Lawrence, He makes is seem like the black culture is weak, and that is the reason they fail, the reason why they fail is the racism in the first place (in its self)

Criticism for Intellectual and Linguistic skills-Attitudes and Values-Families Structure and Parental Support - Cultural

Keddie says that cultural deprivation is a victim blaming explanation, she argues that ethnic minority children are cultural different not culturally deprived. She says the schools are not doing anything tackle this. She describes the school as ethnocentric.

Material Deprivation

Racism in Wider Society

Poverty is a great product of material deprivation

Housing-

Rex

Ethnic minorities are more likely to be forced in a sub-standard accommodation compared to white people of the same class.

Housing affects educational achievement
This would be through crowding, in a substandard accommodation, more collisions could occur, this would take time off school (absence) and altercate educational achievement.

Employment-

Wood

White applications are more likely to get accepted than ethnic minority applications. There is discrimination by white parents are more likely to receive a higher paying job of the same class.

If a family is richer they can afford tutition, good meals, good clothes.

They can also have textbooks, they can have internet plans, they can have newer laptops to study on.

They can also have better nutrition, hot meals three times a day.

Marketisation and Segregation - internal

Gilborn

Marketisation gives schools more scope to select pupils, it allows negative stereotypes to influence their decisions. They favour white pupils and they tend to avoid picking ethnic minority pupils. This leaves the ethnic minorities to go to unpopular schools. This is an ethnically stratified system.

Evaluation, in this day and age schools tend to be diverse, schools are even favouring ethnic minorities because it makes the school look attractive.

Ethnocentric Curriculum-

Ethnocentric describes and attitude or priority that gives to one culture. In schools the ethnocentric curriculum is focused on the culture on white students.

Troyna and Williams

The languages we are taught in school, British, European, they do not teach ethnic minority languages such as Asian or Black languages.

Ball

He says that they ignore the history of Black and Asian people and they focus British Culture.