ethnicity and education

What do Lawson and Garrod define an ethnic group as

People who share a common history, customs and identity as well as in most cases, a language, religion and see themselves as a distinct unit

In 2021 what % of uk residents had been born outside the uk

14%

Why might ethnic minority groups be more likely to go to university

Because the child’s parents may have moved to the uk for the education system and it’s standard which means the child will want to get the most out of the education system to ensure they receive the benefit

External factors that affect ethnicity and achievement

• cultural deprivation

• Material deprivation

• Racism in society

Cultural deprivation

• Bernstein

• Some students may not have English as their first language and so speak in restricted code which gets them a negative label and so they underachieve

• Sugarman said many ethnic groups have a different set of values

What are the 4 values that sugarman suggested

• fatalism

• Collectivism

• Immediate gratification

• Present time orientation

What does modood say

Black families have a slightly higher number of single parent families and so they lack primary socialisation according to the new right and so underachieve

What is a criticism for cultural deprivation

Sewell says that it’s not the absence of a father it’s actually the street gangs that offer status to young boys who then will form an anti school subculture and not perform well in education

What policies were introduced to reduce cultural differences in education

The national curriculum teaches different things e.g. different religions

Material deprivation

Palmer found that

• almost 50% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi workers earn less that £7 per hour compared to only 25% of white workers

• The cultural tradition of purdah may only allow one family member to have a job

How might a parent completing shift work mean their child underachieves

Because the parent may not be able to attend things such as parents evening and so they won’t be able to help the child improve because they won’t know what to do

What policies have they introduced to try and reduce material deprivation

They have introduced free school meals which allows every student to have a nutritional meal and therefore their cognitive abilities will be at their fullest

Racism in society

They introduced the race relations act and the equal opportunities act

What is the race relations act

It means that different ethnic groups can’t be discriminated against when doing things like buying a house or getting a job

What is the equal opportunities act

It includes the 9 protected characteristics and so people from different social groups can’t be discriminated against because of any of these characteristics