the ethnocentric curriculum

• ethnocentric describes an attitude or policy that gives priority to the cultures and viewpoint

• national curriculum has been described as ‘specifically British’ - teaches british culture

a) prioritised culture - troyna william

Troyna & Williams describe the curriculum in British schools as ethnocentric because it gives priority to white culture and the English language, while largely ignoring non-European languages, literature and music. English Literature, History and R.E. have all been accused of being ethnocentric, meaning they too are biased towards a white, European view of the world.

Evaluation

1. Schools could be argued to be becoming less ethnocentric with the subject choices on offer. For example, a lot of schools are now offering options of non-European languages such as Mandarin. Or they may offer extra support to those who may have EAL.

2. Stone claims that the impact of the ethnocentric curriculum is overstated. For example, while it may ignore Asian culture, Indian and Chinese pupils' achievement is above the national average, so it does not appear to have affected them.

b) Ethnocentric views – Wright

Wright's (1992) study of a multi-ethnic primary school shows that Asian pupils can also be the victims of teachers' labelling. She found that despite the school's apparent commitment to equal opportunities, teachers held ethnocentric views and were influenced by their racialized expectations of their ability: that is, they took for granted that British culture and Standard English were superior. This affected how they related to Asian pupils. For example, teachers assumed they would have a poor grasp of English and left them out of class discussions or used simplistic, childish language when speaking to them.

Evaluation

1. Wright only focused on one multi-ethnic primary school. It is not possible to generalise these findings to all Asian pupils.

2. Additional support is now offered in all state schools for students where English is their second language, with additional support and specialist teachers even with EAL departments where students can fully be supported.