Ethnic academic differences in achievment

Question 1

Ethnocentric curriculum

(internal)

Answer 1

The swan report (1985)
* criticised the curriculum for being ethnocentric.
* Troyna and Williams (1986) described the British curriculum as ethnocentric as it gave priority to “white culture”

Eg:
* British history being taught from the European point of view, possibly even putting a postive spin on colonialism.

Evalutation:
* research by Tikly et al (2006) studied 30 comprehensive schools and found that Asian students felt relatively invisible in the Curriculum.

Question 2

Teacher labelling

(internal)

Answer 2

David Gilborn (1990)
most teachers try to treat all students fairly but tend to see African-Caribbean children as a threat when none was intended.

• react accordingly with measures of control. (overrepresented in detention systems + were denied a legitimate voice of complaint.)
• Despite rejecting racism teachers ethnocentric perceptions meant their actions were racist

Question 3

Parental encouragment

(external)

Answer 3

Francis and Archer (2007)
value is placed on education and strong tradition of respect for elders by Chinese parents.
* high educational aspiration transmits from parents to children, and students derive positive self-esteem from constructing themselves as good students.

• later in a 2010 paper, Francis warned against the stereotype that all Chinese parents are pushy, middle class white parents are also pushy

Question 4

Anti-school black masculinity

(external)

Answer 4

Tony Sewell (1997)
* observes that Black Caribbean boys experience pressure by peers to adopt norms of an ‘urban’/‘street’ subculture.
* Importance is placed on bad behaviour with teachers and other students rather than high achievement.

Evalutation:
- Sewell had been ciritsised for blaming black carribean boys for thier own faliure rather than considering racism inside the system

Question 5

Material deprivation

(External)

Answer 5

According to Flaherty (2004):
* Africans, Pakistanis & Bangladeshis are 3X more likely to be unemployed than Whites.
* 15% of minority groups live in overcrowded homes (2% for Whites).

eval:
* paradoxical argument - cannot tell if groups underachieve in education because they are WC
* or if they end up being WC because other factors lead them to fail within education.

Question 6

Racism in wider society

(extrernal)

Answer 6

Rex (1986)
* Racism leads to social exclusion and accordingly poverty.
* shown in housing, employment & education.
* also leads to discrimination both inside + outside the classroom.

Noon (1993) -
* Sent identical letters to 100 top UK companies but alternated between the names ‘Evans’ & ‘Patel’
* replies to the ‘White’ candidate were more helpful and informative.

Question 7

failed coping strategies

(internal

Answer 7

Mirza
* some pupils are not able to develop coping
strategies when faced with teacher racism & labelling.

Mizra identified 3 types of teacher Racism:
* The Colour Blind
* The Liberal Chauvinists
* Overt Racists

Black girls would avoid these teachers by being selective about when they ask for help or participate
* avoid certain options to avoid the teachers (restricting their opportunities) therefore causing under-achievement.