DJs: Ethnicity Gap in achievement Flashcards
(9 cards)
Provide statistics which show the differences in ethnic achievement within education:
Percentages of students achieving 5+ 9-4 GCSE grades in 2020/21:
White British - 60.5%
Chinese - 78.1%
Indian - 75.7%
Black Caribbean - 53.3%
Pakistani - 55.5.%
What are the patterns and trends in the educational achievement of ethnic groups:
-There are differences in the achievement between ethnic groups, e.g. pupils of Chinese origin do better than black pupils.
-There are differences within ethnic groups, e.g. pupils of Indian origin do better than pupils of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin.
EXTERNAL FACTORS FOR DIFFERENCES IIN EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT:
Explain the factor:
Cultural deprivation A) Intellectual and linguistic skills
Provide a criticism of this
A) Intellectual and linguistic skills: cultural deprivation theorists see the lack of intellectual and linguistic skills as a major cause of under-achievement for many minority children. They claim that many children from low-income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences which leaves them poorly prepared for schooling as they have not been able to develop crucial reason and problem-solving skills. Furthermore, Bereiter and Englemann (1966) believe that the language spoken by low-income black American families is inadequate for achieving educational success, seeing it as disjointed, ungrammatical and incapable of expressing abstract ideas. Therefore, BME children often clash with the culture of school.
Criticism: Gilborn and Mirza (2000)found that Indian pupils achieve highly in schools despite often not having English as their home language.
EXTERNAL FACTORS FOR DIFFERENCES IIN EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT:
Explain the factor:
Cultural deprivation B) Attitudes and values
Provide a criticism of this
B) Attitudes and Values: Cultural deprivation theorists link educational achievement to differences in values, attitudes and aspirations. They argue that some black children have been socialised into a subculture that instils a fatalistic attitude and that emphasises immediate gratification. This discourages them from valuing the deferred gratification nature of schooling and leaves them unable to be compatible with the schools values.
Criticism: It would be too much of a generalisation to say that all Black households raise their children into a subculture of fatalistic attitudes.
EXTERNAL FACTORS FOR DIFFERENCES IIN EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT:
Explain the factor:
Cultural deprivation C) Family structure and parental support
Provide a criticism of this
Sewell (2009) argued that because many black families are headed by a lone mother, children are deprived of adequate care because of financial problems, and they are also denied the restraining influence of a nurturing father who could provide ‘tough love’. He claims this results in black boys turning to street gangs of fatherless black boys for ‘perverse loyalty and love’. These present boys with a media inspired role model of anti-school black masculinity and leave them subject to powerful anti-educational peer group pressure. This proved to be a barrier of educational success as the boys don’t want to be criticised for ‘selling out’ to the white establishment by speaking standard English or ridiculed for being motivated to succeed.
Criticism: Critical race theorists such as Gilborn (2008) argue that it is not peer pressure but institutional racism within the education system that systematically produces the failure of large numbers of black boys.
EXTERNAL FACTORS FOR DIFFERENCES IIN EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT:
Explain how Pryce (1979) compares the family structures of black and Asian pupils:
-Pryce saw family structure as contributing to the underachievement of black Caribbean pupils, arguing that West Indian life is more turbulent and lacking in support. Comparing black and Asian pupils, he claims that Asians are higher achievers because their culture is more resistant to racism and gives them a greater sense of self-worth, whereas black pupils have lower self-esteem and under-achieve.
Explain Lawrence’s (1982) argument that Racism in and outside of schools is the reason that Black pupils fail, rather than external factors such as cultural and material deprivation:
-Lawrence (1982) argues that Black pupils fail due to racism in and outside of schools, challenging the theorists who claim external factors such as family type and parental support are to blame. Gilborn and Mirza (200) found that in one LEA, black children were the highest achievers on entry to primary school (20% above the local average), yet by the time it came to GCSE, they had the worst results of any ethnic group - 21% below the average. Similarly, Strand (2010) found that black pupils not entitled to FSM, especially the more able pupils made significantly less progress than their white peers. Therefore, if a group can begin their compulsory schooling as the highest achievers and yet finish as the lowest achievers, this challenges the assumption made by theorists who focus on external factors that black children enter school unprepared.
Explain Driver and Ballard (1981) explanation for the higher achievement of certain Asian groups:
Driver and Ballard (1981) argue that Asian family structures bring educational beliefs as they are more positive and supportive towards education and have higher aspirations for their children’s future. Basit (1997) argued that Asian parents view education as a type of capital that can transform the lives of their children, so offer much support. Reflecting this, Lipton (2004) argues that adult authority in Asian families positively reinforces that found in school, and parents are more likely to be supportive of school behaviour policies.
Furthermore, research by Archer and Francis (2005) found that Chinese parents see education as a ‘family project’ and have high levels of engagement in their children’s education. They have high expectations of their children, invest lots of time and money into their education and are very successful in securing places for their children in high achieving, good schools.
