Ethnic differences in achievement

Question 1

What is ethnicity?

Answer 1

• ethnicity refers to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition

Question 2

What did Lawson and Garrod say about ethnic groups?

Answer 2

• people who belong to an ethnic group tend to share the same language, customs and religions and everything that is learned, shared and valued by that social group

Question 3

What do cultural deprivation (external factor) theorists say about ethnic underachievement?

Answer 3

• cultural deprivation theorists see ethnic underachievement as the result of inadequate socialisation in the home
• three main areas: intellectual and linguistic skills, attitudes and values, family structure and parental support

Question 4

How do intellectual and linguistic skills (external factor) contribute to low achievement and who is affected the most by this?

Answer 4

• many children from low income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences which leaves them poorly equipped for school as they have not been able to develop reasoning and problem solving skills

Question 5

What did Bereiter and Engelmann say about intellectual and linguistic skills affecting achievement?

Answer 5

• they argue that the language spoken by low income black american families is inadequate for educational success

Question 6

What did Bowker say about intellectual and linguistic skills affecting achievement?

Answer 6

• identifies that a lack of standard english is a major barrier to progress in education and integration into wider society

Question 7

What difficulties do EAL students (english as an additional language) face in a British Education System? [1]

Answer 7

• british students are brought up and socialised into the mainstream culture and are fully understanding of the societal norms and values whereas EAL students do not have this and uphold different attitudes towards society and education

Question 8

What is a strength of intellectual and linguistic skills affecting EAL students from achieving? [1]

Answer 8

• evidence to support this: afro carrie an students do worse in average in GCSE’s who speak Patois at home

Question 9

What is a limitation of intellectual and linguistic skills affecting EAL students from achieving? [2]

Answer 9

• this may not be a factor as exam boards may allow pupils to complete exams in different languages
• chinese and indian pupils do better in GCSE’s despite english being their second language

Question 10

How do attitudes and values (external factor) contribute to low achievement and who is affected the most by this / why?

Answer 10

• cultural deprivation see a lack of motivation as a major cause of the failure of many black children
• most children are socialised into the mainstream culture which instils ambition and willingness to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve long term goals which equips them for success in education
• cultural deprivation theorists argue that some black children are socialised into a subculture that instils a fatalistic, ‘live for today’ attitude which does not value education and leaves them unequipped for success

Question 11

What is another factor within attitudes and values that contributes to low achievement of Bangladeshi and Pakistani children?

Answer 11

• the amount of time they spent at the mosque studying the qur’an

Question 12

What is a limitation of attitudes and values affecting black students from achieving?

Answer 12

• suggests that all black people are the same

Question 13

How does family structure and parental support (external factor) contribute to low achievement?

Answer 13

• cultural deprivation theorists argue that failure to socialise children adequately is the result of a dysfunctional family structure

Question 14

What did Moynihan say about family structure and parental support?

Answer 14

• Moynihan claims that because many black families are headed by lone mothers, their children are deprived of adequate care as they have to struggle financially in the absence of a male breadwinner
• the fathers absence also means that boys lack an adequate role model of male achievement

Question 15

How does Moynihan view cultural deprivation?

Answer 15

• Moynihan see’s cultural deprivation as a cycle where inadequately socialised children from unstable families go on to fail at school and become inadequate parents themselves who will raise children that will also underachieve

Question 16

What did Murray say about family structure and parental support?

Answer 16

• Murray argues that a high rate if lone parenthood and a lack of positive role models lead to the underachievement of some minorities

Question 17

What did Scruton say about family structure and parental support?

Answer 17

• Scruton see’s the low achievement levels of some ethnic minorities as resulting from failure to embrace mainstream British culture

Question 18

What is a limitation of family structure and parental support affecting black students from achieving?

Answer 18

• assumes that all black families have the same culture which they do not

Question 19

What is a strength of family structure and parental support affecting black students from achieving?

Answer 19

• supported with statistics
• afro caribbean perform the least well in gcse’s

Question 20

What is The Swann Report?

Answer 20

• this report suggested that the tightly king asian family structure might be responsible for the higher levels of achievement amongst some asian groups compared to black caribbean
• there are fewer single mothers of southern asian origin compared black caribbean families and increasingly so amongst white families

Question 21

What did Driver and Ballard say about The Swann Report and Asian families?

Answer 21

• they claim that asian families not only encourage children to work hard at school but they have generally been prepared to give considerable support to their children’s efforts to gain further qualifications

Question 22

What did Lupton say about The Swann Report and Asian families?

Answer 22

• Lupton claims that the adult authority in asian families reflects the model that operates in school, this created respectful children and the parents were supportive of the school’s strict behaviour policies

Question 23

What did McCulloch say about the underachievement amongst white working class families? [3]

Answer 23

• found the ethnic minorities are more likely to aspire to go to universities than white british
• ethnic minority parents were more likely to see education as ‘a way up in society’
• low level of aspiration and achievement in white working class may be a result of lack of parental support

Question 24

What did Evans say about the underachievement amongst white working class families? [2]

Answer 24

• argues that street culture in white working class areas can be brutal and so young people learn how to withstand intimidation and individuate others
• schools can become a place where the ‘power games’ are played out again, bringing disruption and making it hard for pupils to succeed

Question 25

How does fathers, gangs and culture proposed by Sewell (external factor) contribute to low achievement?

Answer 25

• Sewell disagrees with Murray about an absent father leaving young black boys without a make role model
• he identifies that young fatherless boys lack the ‘tough love’ of a father which causes them to turn to gangs made up of other fatherless boys
• these gangs offer a replacement of ‘tough love’ and provide black bots with perverse loyalty and love
• the gang is a formation of an anti school subculture which is more focused of deviancy and achieving status by misbehaving rather than academically
• Sewell argues that black peer pressure is the biggest barrier facing young black boys

Question 26

What is a strength of fathers, gangs and culture affecting black students from achieving?

Question 27

What is a limitation of fathers, gangs and culture affecting black students from achieving?

Question 28

What is material deprivation?

Answer 28

• material deprivation explains educational failure as resulting from factors such as substandard housing and low income

Question 29

Who is affected the most by material deprivation?

Answer 29

• ethnic minorities

Question 30

What did Palmer say about ethnic minorities being affected by material deprivation? [3]

Answer 30

• almost half of all ethnic minority children live in low income households compared to a quarter of white children
• ethnic minorities are almost twice as likely to be unemployed compared to white people
• ethnic minority households are around three times as likely to be homeless

Question 31

What did Modood find about the effects of low income effecting pupils?

Answer 31

• the effects of low income had more severe effects on white pupils than on other ethnic groups
• for example in 2011, 86% if chinese girls on free school meals achieved 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE’s compared to 65% if white girls who were not receiving free school meals

Question 32

What are the reasons why there are differences in educational achievement between ethnic groups? [4]

Answer 32

• many live in economically depressed areas with high
  unemployment and low wage rates
• cultural factors such as the tradition of purdah some Muslim households prevents women from working outside the home
• a lack of language skills and foreign qualifications not
  being recognised by UK employers
• racial discrimination in the labour market and housing market

Question 33

What are the limitations of the material deprivation theory? [2]

Answer 33

• material deprivation cannot be the only factor affecting educational achievement as Indian and Bangladeshi pupils suffer higher than average levels of poverty yet do better than average in education
• social class cannot explain ethnic differences in underachievement because black MC pupils do not perform better than white working class or white and Asian middle class pupils (Gillborn and Mirza)

Question 34

What are the strengths of the material deprivation theory?

Question 35

What is meant by racism in wider society? (external factor)

Answer 35

• some sociologists argue that poverty itself is the product of another factor, racism

Question 36

What does Mason say about racism in wider society?

Answer 36

• Mason claims that ‘discrimination is a continuing and persistent feature of the experience of britain’s citizens of minority ethnic origin’

Question 37

What did Rex say about racism in wider society?

Answer 37

• Rex argues that racial discrimination leads to social exclusion which worsens poverty

Question 38

What did Rex say about housing and racism in wider society?

Answer 38

• in housing, discrimination means that ethnic minorities are more likely to be forced into substandard accommodation than white people of the same class

Question 39

What did Rex say about employment and racism in wider society?

Answer 39

• in employment, ethnic minorities face extensive discrimination in job opportunities which explains why members of ethnic minority groups are more likely to face unemployment and low pay

Question 40

What is labelling and an example? (internal factor)

Answer 40

• to label someone is to attach a meaning or definition of them
• for example, teachers may label a pupil as a troublemaker or diligent or lazy

Question 41

How does labelling and teacher racism (internal factor) contribute to low achievement and who is affected the most by this?

Answer 41

• when looking at ethnic differences in achievement, teachers give pupils from different ethnic backgrounds lacked which are often negative

Question 42

What have studies into teacher labelling shown about teacher racism?

Answer 42

• studies have shown that black pupils are often seen as disruptive and asian pupils as passive, suggesting that teachers often see them far from the ideal pupil

Question 43

How might negative labels affect education achievement of different ethnic groups?

Answer 43

• if an individual is given a negative label, they may live up to this expectation (self fulfilling prophecy)
• a negative label may cause the individual to lack motivation for the lesson and cause them to underperform

Question 44

What did Gillborn and Youdell find about labelling and teacher racism?

Answer 44

• they found that teachers were quick to discipline black pupils more than other groups for the same behaviour as a result of ‘racialised expectations’
• they found that teachers expected black pupils to present more discipline problems and misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening or challenging to authority
• when teachers acted on this, the pupils responded negatively which lead to further conflict
• as a result, black pupils felt that teachers underestimated their ability and picked on them

Question 45

What is Gillborn and Youdell’s educational triage?

Answer 45

• where teachers base their judgements of pupils’ abilities on the perception of their abilities in the process of streaming
• as a result, negative stereotypes about black pupils’ ability means they are more likely to be placed in lower streams

Question 46

What did Foster say about teacher labelling of black pupils?

Answer 46

• Foster found that teachers stereotyping black pupils as badly behaved results in them being places in lower sets more than other pupils of similar behaviour

Question 47

What did Wright find about teacher labelling when studying a multi ethnic primary school?

Answer 47

• Wright found that asian pupils can also be victims of teachers negative labelling
• found that teachers displayed ethnocentric biases by leaving asian pupils out of class discussions or using childish language when communicating with them as they assumed their english would be poor
• they considered asian pupils (especially girls) as a problem they could ignore
• as a result, pupils became marginalised and were prevented from pull participation in lessons

Question 48

How might marginalising pupils lead to their educational underachievement? [4]

Answer 48

• participation in lessons
• educational opportunities
• teacher support
• self esteem

Question 49

What did Archer say about pupil identities? (internal factor)

Answer 49

• Archer claims that teachers construct three different types of pupil identities
• as a result of this, they treat pupils from different ethnic groups more of less favourably

Question 50

What is Archer’s idea of ‘the ideal pupil identity’?

Answer 50

• white middle class, masculine identity, achievement through natural ability and initiative

Question 51

What is Archer’s idea of ‘the pathologised pupil identity’?

Answer 51

• asian, ‘deserving poor’, likely to achieve through hard work only

Question 52

What is Archer’s idea of ‘the demonised pupil identity’?

Answer 52

• a black or white working class, unintelligent, peer led, culturally deprived underachiever

Question 53

What does research suggest about pupil responses to teacher racism and subcultures? (internal factors)

Answer 53

• research evidence suggests that pupils can respond to teacher racism in a variety of ways
• for example they may become disruptive or withdraw
• alternatively they may refuse to accept the label and even decide to prove it wrong by working extra hard to achieve academic success
• this shows that negative labelling does not automatically lead to self fulfilling prophecy and underachievement in school

Question 54

What did Fuller’s research find about pupil responses and subcultures to labelling?

Answer 54

• studied a group of black girls in year 11 of a london comprehensive school where most black girls were placed in low streams
• they were high achievers despite their allocation in low streams
• the girls did not accept their negative labels, instead they channelled their energy into educational success

Question 55

What did Mac an Ghaill’s research find about pupil responses and subcultures to labelling?

Answer 55

• studied a group of black and asian A level students in sixth form
• those who believed teachers label negatively didn’t necessarily accept them
• responses to labels depended on ethnic group, gender and previous school experiences
• Mac an Gahill found negative labels doesn’t inevitably result in self fulfilling prophecy

Question 56

What did Mirza find when studying ambitious black girls who faced teacher racism?

Answer 56

• found that teachers discouraged them from being ambitious through the advice they gave them about careers and option choices which generally discouraged them for aspiring to professional careers

Question 57

What three main types of teacher racism did Mirza identify?

Answer 57

• the colour blind
• the liberal chauvinists
• the overt racists

Question 58

What is Mirza’s idea of ‘the colour blind’ in teacher racism (internal factor)?

Answer 58

• teachers who believe all pupils are equal but in practice allow racism to go unchallenged

Question 59

What is Mirza’s idea of ‘the liberal chauvinists’ in teacher racism (internal factor)?

Answer 59

• teachers who believe black pupils are culturally deprived and have low expectations for them

Question 60

What is Mirza’s idea of ‘the overt racists’ in teacher racism (internal factor)?

Answer 60

• teachers who believe black pupils are inferior and actively discriminate against them

Question 61

What are Sewell’s four different types of boys’ responses to racist stereotyping by teachers?

Answer 61

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

Question 62

What is Sewell’s idea of ‘the colour blind’ in labelling (internal factor)?