Education - Ethnic differences in achievement - Internal factors (nearly done)

Labelling and teacher racism - interactionists

• Interactionist studies show that teachers often see Black and Asian pupils as being fat from the ‘ideal pupil’

• For example, Black pupils are seen as disruptive and Asian students as passive

• Negative labels mean teachers treat them differently

• Disadvantages them and may result in failure

Gillborn and Youdell (2000)

• Black pupils and discipline (labelling)

• Found that teachers were quicker to discipline black students than others for the same behaviour

• They say this is due to ‘racialised expectations’

• Teachers expected Black pupils to have more discipline problems so misinterpreted their behaviour

• The pupils responded negatively to this and further conflict resulted

Bourne (1994)

• Black pupils and discipline (labelling)

• Schools see Black boys as a threat and label them negatively

• Leads to higher rates of exclusion

• Exclusion negatively affects achievement: only one in five excluded pupils achieves five GCSEs

Foster (1990)

• Black pupils and streaming (labelling)

• Found that teachers’ stereotypes of Black pupils as badly behaved could result in them being put in lower sets than other pupils of the same ability

• This can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy of underachievement

Wright (1992)

• Asian pupils

• Study of a primary school found that Asian pupils can also be victims of teachers’ labelling

• Teachers held the idea that British culture and standard English were superior

• They assumed Asian students had a poor grasp of English and left them out of discussions and spoke to them with simple language

• Asian pupils felt isolated when teachers expressed disapproval of their customs or mispronounced their names

• Asian pupils were marginalised, seen by teachers as a problem they could ignore (whereas they saw Black pupils as a threat)

Archer (2008)

• Pupil identities

• Teachers’ dominant discourse defines minority ethnic group pupils’ identities as lacking the favoured identity of the ideal pupil

• Archer describes how teachers construct three different pupil identities:

• 1. The ‘ideal pupil’ - white, MC, masculine, heterosexual. Teachers see this pupil as achieving through natural ability and initiative

• 2. The ‘pathologised’ pupil identity - Asian, feminised, either asexual or with oppressed sexuality. Achieved through hard work rather than ability

• 3. The ‘demonised’ pupil identity - White or black, WC, hyper-sexualised. Unintelligent, peer-led, culturally deprived under-achiever

• Negative labels lead to underachievement

Archer (Chinese pupils)

• Successful Chinese students were seen as achieving success the ‘wrong way’

• Through hardworking, passive conformism rather than natural ability

• This meant they could never occupy the ‘ideal pupil’ identity

Fuller (1984)

• Study of a group of Black girls in a London comprehensive school

• The girls were high achievers in a school where most Black girls were placed in low streams

• They channeled their anger about being labelled into the pursuit of educational success

• They didn’t seek the approval of teachers, many of whom they saw as racist

• Didn’t limit themselves to academic friends, instead being friends with Black girls from lower streams

• Conformed only to schoolwork, still showing a deliberate lack of concern about school routines

• Shows that pupils may still succeed even when they refuse to conform

• Also shows that negative labelling doesn’t always lead to failure

Mirza

• Studied ambitious Black girls who faced teacher racism

• Found that racist teachers discouraged Black pupils from being ambitious through the advice they gave about careers and option choices

• For example, teachers discouraged them from aspiring to professional careers

• The girls employed strategies to avoid the effects of the teachers’ negative attitudes

• Eg, being selective with what teachers they ask for advice

• These strategies were unsuccessful

Sewell - the variety of boys’ responses

• Black boys’ responses to schooling, including racist teachers, can affect their achievement

• Identified 4 types of response:

• 1. The rebels - most visible and influential, but were only a small minority of Black pupils. Rejected the goals and the rules of the school, expressed their opposition through peer groups, anti-authority, anti-school, ‘Black macho lad’. They believed they were superior, looked down on ‘effeminate’ white boys

• 2. The conformists - the largest group. Keen to succeed, accepted the school’s goals and had friends of varying ethnicities. Not part of a subculture

• 3. The retreatists - a tiny minority who were disconnected from subcultures and school. Despised by the rebels

• 4. The innovators - second largest group. Like Fuller’s girls, pro-education but anti-school. Valued success but not the approval of teachers. Maintained credibility with the rebels

• This study shows that only a small percentage fit the stereotype of ‘Black macho lad’, but teachers tend to see all Black boys this way, which contributes to the underachievement of many boys

• Many boys’ negative attitudes are a response to racism

Evaluation of labelling and pupil responses

• Rather than blaming the child’s background, labelling theory shows how teachers’ stereotypes can cause failure

• However there’s a danger of seeing these stereotypes as the product of individual teachers’ prejudices, rather than of racism in the way that the education system as a whole operates. Eg, Gillborn and Youdell argue that publishing league tables leads to an ‘A-C economy’ which leads to Black and WC pupils being put in lower streams

• There’s also a danger of assuming that once labelled, pupils automatically fall victim to the self-fulfilling prophecy and fail.

Troyna and Williams (1986)

• To explain ethnic differences in achievement, we need to go beyond simply examining individual teacher racism. We must also look at institutional racism. They make the distinction between:

• Individual racism that results from the prejudiced views of teachers and others

• Institutional racism - discrimination build into the way institutions such as schools and colleges operate

Critical race theory

• Racism is an ingrained feature of society

• Involves, not just the racist acts of individuals, but institutional racism

Roithmayr (2003)

• Institutional racism is a ‘locked-in inequality’

• There is such a large history of discriminationthat the inequalities have become self-perpetuating and are deeply embedded in the structure of society.

Gillborn (2008)

• Applies the concept of locked-in inequality to education

• Sees ethnic inequality as “so deep rooted and so large that it is a practically inevitable feature of the education system”

Marketisation and segregation (Ways that the education system is institutionally racist according to critical racist theorists)

• Gillborn (1997) - because marketisation gives schools more scope to select pupils, it allows stereotypes to influence decisions about school admissions

• Moore and Davenport (1990) - research shows how selection procedures lead to ethnic segregation, with minorities failing to get into better secondary schools due to discrimination. Eg, they found that primary school reports were used to screen out pupils with language difficulties, while the application process was hard for non-English speaking parents to understand. Selection leads to an ethnically stratified education system

The ethnocentric curriculum - (Ways that the education system is institutionally racist according to critical racist theorists)

• The ethnocentric curriculum builds a racial bias into the everyday workings of schools and colleges

• Examples of the ethnocentric curriculum include:

• Languages, literature and music - Troyna and Williams note the meagre teaching Asian languages compared to European ones

• David (1993) describes the National Curriculum as ‘specifically British’, largely ignoring non-European languages, literature and music

• History - Ball (1994) criticises the National Curriculum for ignoring ethnic diversity and for promoting an attitude of ‘little Englandism’. For example, the history curriculum tries to create a ‘mythical age of empire and past glories’ while ignoring the history of Black and Asian people

• Coard explains how this produces underachievement. Eg, ethnic minority pupils not seeing their culture reflected in the curriculum may lead to a lack of self-esteem and lead to their failure

• However, Indian and Chinese pupils still achieve above average despire their cultures being ignored

Assessment - (Ways that the education system is institutionally racist according to critical racist theorists)

• Gillborn (2008) - assessments are rigged to validate the dominant culture’s superiority

• If Black children succeed as a group, the ‘rules will be changed to re-engineer failure’

• E.g. in the past, primary schools used ‘baseline assessments’ which tested pupils when they started school. These were replaced in 2003 by the foundation stage profile

• Overnight, Black pupils now appeared to be doing worse than White pupils

• Gillborn explains that this reversal is a result of two related institutional factors: 1. The FSP is based on teachers’ judgements.

• The FSP is done at the end of reception year, whilst baseline assessments were done at the start of primary school

• Both these factors increase the risk of stereotyping affecting results

Access to opportunities - (Ways that the education system is institutionally racist according to critical racist theorists)

• The ‘Gifted and Talented programme’ was made to meet the needs of more able students. Gillborn (2008) points out that official statistics show White peoples are twice as likely as Black Caribbean pupils to be identified as gifted and talented, and five times more likely than Black African pupils

• Exam tiers - Tikly et al (2006) found that in 30 schools in the ‘Aiming High’ initiative to raise Black Caribbean pupils’ achievement, Black pupils were nevertheless more likely to be entered for lower-tier GCSEs

• Strand (2012) - Analysed the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England. Shows a Black-White achievement gap in maths and science tests at age 14. Found this to be the result of Black pupils being systematically under-represented in entry to higher tier tests. He suggests that this reflects teachers’ expectations, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy

The ‘new IQism’ - (Ways that the education system is institutionally racist according to critical racist theorists)

• Access to opportunities such as higher sets and educational programmes depends oteachers’ assessments of pupils’ ability. This works against Black Pupils, Gillborn notes that teachers place a disproportionate amount of Black students in low ranked groups

• Teachers place students in sets based on discipline as well as attainment. Teachers have ‘racialised expectations’ that Black pupils pupils are less disciplined

Criticisms of Gillborn - Black boys’ underachievement

• Sociologists such as Sewell reject the view that internal factors systematically produce the failure of ethnic minority pupils

• Sewell argues that racism in schools isn’t powerful enough to prevent individuals from succeeding

• Rather, we need to focus on external factors such as boys’ anti-school attitudes and the nurturing role of the father

Criticisms of Gillborn - Indian and Chinese pupils’ achievement

• If these two groups do so well, how can there be institutional racism in education?

• Gillborn responds to this by arguing that the image of these students as ‘model minorities’ conceals the fact that the education system is institutionally racist:

• It makes the system seem fair and meritocratic

• Serves to justify the failure of other minorities by making at appear as though they fail due to their ‘unaspirational’ home culture

• Ignores the fact that ‘model minorities’ still suffer racism in school. Eg, Chinese pupils report similar levels of harassment to Black Caribbean pupils

Ethnicity, class and gender

• Evans (2006) - To fully understand the relationship between ethnicity and achievement, we need to look at how ethnicity interacts with gender and class. Sociologists tend to look at Black pupils’ culture and ethnicity, but rarely their class

• Connolly (1998) - study of five and six year olds in a multi-ethnic inner-city primary