Outline and explain two ways in which educational policies may have affected the experience of minority ethnic groups in education [10]

One way in which educational policies may have affected the experiences of ethnic minority groups in education is having an ethnocentric curriculum. As a result of the Education Reform Act 1988, the national curriculum was introduced to try and reduce inequalities with what was being taught across different schools. It ensured everyone was taught to the same standard. However, this places focus on British history and culture as well as European languages. This negatively impacted ethnic minority pupils as they weren’t given a chance to explore their own languages and cultural heritage. As a result this would mean they may be more disengaged in the classroom. However, statistics show that Chinese and Indian pupils achieve the highest of all the ethnicities, so this could imply that they overcome this factor and still do well, and that it therefore doesn’t have as much of an impact. Overall, the national curriculum policy is ethnocentric and this disadvantages ethnic minorities, but only to a certain extent.

Another way in which policies affect ethnic minority groups is through stigmatisation and racism. Both the New Labour and Conservative governments worked on introducing ‘Prevent,’ a counter terrorism strategy. It was introduced in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks and revised later on in 2011. Its aim is to prevent the radicalisation of individuals to terrorism at a pre-criminal stage. It focuses on controlling the future by acting in the present. However, this policy often stigmatises Muslims and makes them feel under attack. Furthermore, the media reporting on Muslims in the 2000s has led to 'fashionable islamophobia', where prejudice against Muslims has become somewhat normal. As a result, this may have led to Muslim pupils feeling reluctant to contribute their opinions in subjects like PSHE, religious studies, history, or citizenship. It can also lead to teachers applying racist labels or bullying from their peers. As a result it can impact their overall well-being and sometimes also lead to underachievement. However, Mirza found that recently there is a growing popularity in Hijab by Muslim girls. Mirza’s theory was that they want to preserve their culture and identity as Muslims in a more positive response to hostilities in society. Overall, although it is clear that policies like Prevent can lead to minority ethnic pupils having a negative experience in school, it can also cause them to respond positively as outlined by Mirza.

Overall, educational policies have caused most ethnic minority pupils to have a negative experience of education. This can be due to an ethnocentric curriculum that is disengaging and restrictive as they can’t learn about their own ethic heritage, or it can be due to stigmatisation and racism that is worsened by policies like Prevent, alongside media reporting and past events. Therefore, although some ethnic groups respond positively, like the achievement of Chinese and Indian pupils in exams, or Mirza’s findings, there is still evidence to suggest that these policies are more likely to give ethnic minority a negative experience of education.

9/10

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