ethnic differences in education

External factors that cause ethnic differences in achievement

1. Cultural deprivation

2. Material deprivation and class

3. Racism in wider society

Aspects within cultural deprivation theory

1. Intellectual and linguistic skills

2. Attitudes and values

3. Family structure and parental support

What do sociologists say about black families and linguistic skills

Low income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences, this leaves them poorly equipped for school

AO3 of intellectual and linguistic skills factor

Gillborn and Mirza:

• Indian pupils do very well despite not having English as their home language

Differences in attitudes that causes ethnic differences in achievement

Most children are socialised into the mainstream culture which instils ambition, competition and willingness to make sacrifices to achieve long term goals. Whereas black children are socialised into a subculture that instils ambition fatalistic “live for today” attitude that does not value education.

Moynihan - family structure and support

Black families are headed by lone mothers so children are left with inadequate care since the mother struggles financially in the absence of a male bread winner

Scruton - Cultural deprivation

Low achievement levels of some minorities is a result from failure to embrace mainstream British culture

Murray - Cultural deprivation (family structure and support)

High rate of lone parenthood and a lack of positive male role models lead to underachievement for black boys

Pryce - Cultural deprivation

Asian culture is more resistant to racism and gives a sense of self worth whereas black Caribbeans are less cohesive and resistant to racism which creates a low self esteem causing underachievement in education

Why do black pupils have a low self esteem according to Pryce

Impact of colonialism:

• Slavery was culturally devastating for black people as they lost their language, family systems, religion etc. Whereas Asian culture was not destroyed by colonial rule

What does Sewell (2009) talk about

Fathers, gangs and culture

Anti-school black masculinity culture

Arnot (2004):

• “The ultra-tough ghetto superstar, an image constantly reinforced through rap lyrics and MTV videos”

Sewell - absence of fathers for black boys..

Causes a lack of fatherly nurturing or “tough love”, results in black boys finding “perverse loyalty and love” in street gangs

What are black boys subject to according to Sewell

Powerful anti-educational peer group pressure. The biggest barrier facing black boys is actually black peer pressure

Evaluation of Sewell’s idea

Gillborn:

• It is not peer pressure but institutional racism within the education system that systematically produces the failure of large numbers of black boys

Asian families

Sewell:

• Indian and Chinese pupils benefit from supportive families and have an ‘Asian work ethic’ and place a high value on education

Lupton:

• Asian families have adult authority, which is similar to the model that operates in school

White W/C families

Low level of parental support and parents have a negative attitude towards education which causes low aspirations, underachievement and behavioural issues

Evaluation to cultural deprivation theorists

Driver:

• Ignores the positives, black girls are provided with role models of strong independent women which is why they outperform black boys

Lawrence:

• It is not low self esteem but racism that causes underachievement for black boys

Keddie:

• Victim blaming explanation, ethnic minorities underachieve because schools are ethnocentric

What do cultural deprivation critics say about compensatory education

It’s an attempt to impose the dominant white culture on children who already have a coherent culture of their own

2 alternatives cultural deprivation theorists propose to help ethnic differences in education

1. Multi-cultural education

2. Anti-racist education

What did Palmer (2012) find

Almost ½ of all ethnic minority children live in low-income households, as against ¼ of white children

Why do ethnic minorities experience material deprivation

• Many live in economically depressed areas with high unemployment and low wage rates.

• They have a lack of language sills, and foreign qualifications.

• Racial discrimination in the labour and housing market

Modood (2004)

While children from low-income families generally did less well, the effects of low income were much less for other ethnic groups than for white pupils

What does the material deprivation explanation argue

Class differences explain why Pakistani pupils tend to do worse than Indian and White pupils

Mason (2000)

“Discrimination is a continuing and persistent feature of the experience of British citizens of minority ethnic origin”

Rex (1986)

“Racial discrimination leads to social exclusion, this worsens the poverty faced by ethnic minorities”

Discrimination in employment

Wood et al (2010):

• Sent 3 closely matched job applications to 1000 job vacancies from fictitious applicants using names associated with different ethnic groups

• 1/16 ethnic minority applicants were offered an interview, against 1/9 white applicants

What does Wood et al show

Why members of ethnic minorities are more likely to face unemployment and low pay, this in turn has a negative affect on their children’s educational prospects

Internal factors affecting achievement by ethnicity

1. Labelling and teacher racism

2. Pupil identities

3. Pupil responses and subcultures

4. Institutional racism

Gillborn and Mirza on Internal factors

In one local education authority, black children were the highest achievers on entry to primary school, yet by the time it came to GCSE they had the worst results of any group

Who focuses on labels teachers give to children from different ethnic backgrounds

Interactionists

Gillborn and Youdell - black pupils

Teachers were quick to discipline black pupils compared to others for the same behaviour, show racialised expectations

Racialised expectations

Teachers expected black pupils to present more discipline problems and when they act on this misperception, pupils respond negatively and conflict results

What did Osler find

Black pupils suffer from the most unrecorded exclusions (being sent out) which excludes them from access to mainstream curriculum

What did Bourne find

Schools tend to see black boys as a threat and label them negatively leading to exclusion, only 1/5 excluded pupils achieve 5 GCSE’s

What did Foster find

Teachers stereotypes of black pupils as badly behaved can result in them being placed in lower sets. This can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy of underachievements

What did Wright find

Asian Pupils and Labelling:

• Asians were left out and spoken to childishly

• Teachers held ethnocentric views

• Teachers saw them not as a threat but as a problem that can be ignored

• Asian girls were marginalised

What did Archer find

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

3 Pupil Identities

Archer (2008):

1. Ideal Pupil

2. Pathologised Pupil

3. Demonised Pupil

What did Archer find through interviews

Black students are demonised as loud, challenging, excessively sexual with un inspirational home cultures

What does Shain note from Archer’s finds

• Teachers stereotyped Asian girls as quiet, passive or docile

• When Asian girls challenge this stereotype, they are often dealt with more severely than others

What did Archer + Francis find with Chinese students

• Teachers saw them as having achieved success in the wrong way

• This meant they could never legitimately occupy the ideal pupil identity

• The successes of ethnic minority pupils will only ever be seen as “overachievement” since proper achievement is seen to be the natural preserve of the privileged, white, M/C ideal pupil