Ethnic Differences in Achievement (Internal)

Question 1

Teacher Labelling and Racism:

Answer 1

• Gillborn and Youdell found that teachers were quicker to discipline black students than white students, possibly due to racial stereotypes. They are more likely to be exluded, isolation, etc.
  Connolly = positive stereotypes of Asian girls but negative stereotypes of Black boys = negative labels.
  This affects achievement due to self-fulfilling prophecy.

Evaluation = Fuller: a group of black girls used their anger of being negatively labelled to prove teachers wrong, motivating them to succeed. Rejecting label = self-negating prophecy > self-fulfilling prophecy.
Wright = sterotypes in the media.

Question 2

Pupil Subcultures:

Answer 2

Sewell = subcultures that responded to racism: the rebels (‘real man’), the conformist, the retreatists. = subculture has an impact o educational achievement.

Evaluation = Sewell also states that a lack of positive role models is more important in producing educational achievement.

Question 3

Ethnocentrism (giving priority to one specific culture in exchange for others):

Answer 3

• School is based on the superiority of White-British culture = hidden curriculum.
• Coard = history lessons present white people as ‘civilised’ and minorities as ‘primitive’.
• Cultural capital = unfair on minorities as white students will be more in-touch with white, middle-class culture.

Evaluation = Doesn’t explain why Chinese/Indian students achieve more than White-British students.

Question 4

Setting and Institutional Racism:

Answer 4

Black students often in lower sets, less likely to be entered for ‘Gifted and Talented’ schemes = will underachieve.

Gillborn = setting is based on teacher labelling, judging them as having less potential and as disobedient. = system is institutionally racist where minorities are often disadvantaged.

Evaluation = Chinese/Indian students constantly outperform the white majority (but he argues that this is to make the system seem meritocratic).