Ethnic Differences In Achievement - Internal Factors

Question 1

Gillbourn and Mirza(2000)

Answer 1

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 ethnic group -21 points below average

Question 2

Steve Strand’s (2010) -

Answer 2

found that black Caribbean boys not entitled to free school meals, made significantly less progress than their white peers

Question 3

Labelling and teacher racism

Answer 3

Studies show that teachers often see black and Asian pupils as being far from the ‘ideal pupil’
Black pupils are often seen as disruptive and Asians as passive
Labels may lead to teachers treating ethnic minorities differently

Question 4

Black pupils and discipline

Answer 4

Gillbourn and youdell(2000)- teachers quicker to discipline black pupils than others for the same behaviour
Much of the conflict between white teachers and black pupils stem from stereotype

Osler(2001)- higher rates of exclusion for black boys/pupils.

Question 5

Black pupils and streaming

Answer 5

Gillbourn and youdell- in the A to C economy, teachers focus on those students who they believe are most likely to achieve agrafe C+ at GCSE.
Negative stereotypes about blacks= placed in lower streams (Peter Foster)

Question 6

Asian pupils

Answer 6

Cecile Wrights (1992)- Asian pupils can be victims of teacher labelling too
Teachers held ethnocentric views
Left them out of discussions because they felt they had a poor grasp of English

Question 7

Pupil identities

Answer 7

Louise Archer(2008)- describes the dominant discourse constructs theee different pupil identities
Ideal pupil identity
The pathologists identity
Demonised pupil identity

Question 8

Chinese pupils

Answer 8

Chinese students were seen as having achieved success in the ‘wrong way’
Archer and Francis (2007)- teachers have a negative positive stereotype of them
Wrongly stereotypes them as middle class

Question 9

Criticisms of cultural deprivation theory Geoffrey Driver (1977)

Answer 9

Ignores the positive effects of ethnicity in achievement
Shows that the black Caribbean family, far from being dysfunctional, provides girls with positive role models of strong independent women

Question 10

Criticisms of cultural deprivation theory Errol Lawrence (1982)

Answer 10

Challenges Pryces view that black pupils fail because their culture is weak and they lack self esteem
Argues that black pupils under- achieve not because of low self-esteem but because of racism

Question 11

Cultural deprivation theory Keddie

Answer 11

See cultural deprivation as a victim- blaming explanation
Argues that ethnic minority children are culturally different, not culturally deprived
They under-achieve because schools are ethnocentric

Question 12

What two main alternatives do critics of cultural deprivation of ethnic minority propose

Answer 12

• multicultural education: a policy that recognises and values minority cultures and includes them in the curriculum
• anti-racist education: a policy that challenges the prejudice and discrimination that exists in schools and wider society

Question 13

Mary fullers (1984) study on pupils responses to racism

Answer 13

• Group of black girls in year 11 of a London comprehensive school
• the girls were untypical because they were high achievers in a school where most black girls were placed in low streams
• the girls channelled their anger about being labelled into the pursuit of education success, they did not seek the approval of teachers, nor did they limit their choice of friends to other academic achievers
• they confirmed only as far as the schoolwork itself was concerned. They had a positive attitude to success but relied on their own efforts and the impartiality of external exams

Question 14

How does Mary fuller view they black girls’ behaviour

Answer 14

It was a way of dealing with the contradictory demands of succeeding at school while remaining friends with black girls in lower streams avoiding ridicule of black boys whom many were anti-school
- they were able to maintain a positive self- image by relying on their own efforts rather than accepting the teachers’ negative stereotype of them

Question 15

What two important points does the Mary Fuller study highlight

Answer 15

• pupils may succeed even when they refuse to conform
• negative labelling does not always lead to failure(no self-fulfilling prophecy)

Question 16

Martin Max an Ghaill’s (1992) study in rejecting negative labels

Answer 16

Study of black and Asian ‘A’ level students at a sixth form college
- students who believed teachers had labelled them negatively did not accept the label
- how they responded depended on factors such as their ethnic group and gender and the nature of their former schools
- some girls felt that their experience of attending an all- girls school gave them a greater academic commitment that helped them to overcome negative labels at college

As with fillers study, this research shows that a label does not inevitably produce a self - fulfilling project

Question 17

Heidi Safia Mirza(1992) study on failed strategies for avoiding racism

Answer 17

Mirza studied ambitious black girls who faced teacher racism
Mirza found that racist teachers discouraged black pupils from being ambitious through the kind of advice they gave them about career options and option choices eg, teachers discouraged them from aspiring to professional careers

Question 18

What are the three main types of teacher racism Mirza identifies

Answer 18

• the colour- blind: teachers who believe all pupils are equal but in practice allow racism to go unchallenged
• the liberal chauvinists: teachers who believe black pupils are actually culturally deprived and who have low expectations of them
• the overt racists: teachers who believe blacks are inferior and actively discriminate against them

Question 19

How did black girls avoid racism (Heidi Safia Mirza)

Answer 19

• much of the girls’ time at school was spent trying to avoid the effects of teachers’ negative attitudes
• selective about which staff to ask for help; getting on with their own work in lessons without taking part and not choosing options so as to avoid teachers with racist attitudes
• however, although the girls had high self- esteem, these strategies out them at a disadvantage by restricting their opportunities. Unlike the girls in the fuller study, their strategies were unsuccessful

Question 20

What are the 4 responses Sewell identifies in relation to their responses to racist schooling

Answer 20

• the rebels
• the conformists
• the retreatists
• the innovators

Question 21

What is meant when Sewell says ‘the rebels’

Answer 21

• The rebels were the most visible and influential group, but were only a small minority of black pupils
• they were often excluded from school
• they rejected both the goals and the rules of the school and expressed their opposition through peer group membership, conforming to the stereotype of anti-school ‘black macho lad’
• the rebels believed in their own superiority based on the idea that black masculinity equates with sexual experience and virility
• they were contemptuous of white boys, who they saw as effeminate

Question 22

What is means by Sewell ‘the conformists’

Answer 22

• they were the largest group
• these boys were keen to succeed, accepted the schools goals and had friends from different ethnic groups
• they were not part of a subculture and were anxious to avoid being stereotyped either by teachers or their peers

Question 23

What is means by Sewell’s ‘the retreatists’

Answer 23

• tiny minority of isolated individuals who were disconnected from both school and black subcultures
• despised by ‘the rebels’

Question 24

What is meant by Sewell ‘the innovators’

Answer 24

• they were the second largest group
• like fuller’s girls, they were both pro- education but anti- school
• they valued success but did not seek the approval of teachers and conformed only as far as schoolwork itself was concerned
• this distanced then from ‘the conformists’ and allowed them to maintain credibility with ‘the rebels’ while remaining positive about academic achievement

Question 25

How does Sewell describe the way teachers view black boys

Answer 25

• ‘black macho’- stereotype
• a small minority fit the stereotype of ‘black Macho lad’ but teachers tend to see all black boys in this way and this contributes to the underachievement of many black boys, no matter their attitude to school is
• many of the boys’ negative attitudes are themselves a response to the racism

Question 26

Evaluation of labelling and pupil responses

Answer 26

• Labelling theory shows how teachers stereotypes can be a cause of failure
• there’s a danger of seeing these stereotypes as simply the product of individual teachers’ prejudices, rather than of racism in the way that the education system as a whole operates