Ethnic differences in achievement - EXTERNAL

Question 1

Three external ethnic factors.

Answer 1

1. Cultural deprivation
2. Material deprivation
3. Racism in wider society

Question 2

3 main aspects of cultural deprivation

Answer 2

1. Intellectual and linguistic skills
2. Attitudes and values
3. Family structure and parental support.

Question 3

What do cultural deprivation theorists see as a major cause of underachievement for many minority children? and what do they argue?

Answer 3

1. The lack of intellectual and linguistic skills
2. Many children from low-income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences. This leaves them poorly equipped for school because they have not been able to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills.

Question 4

Bereiter and Engelmann

Answer 4

• Consider the language spoken by low-income black American families as inadequate for educational success.
• See it as ungrammatical, disjointed and incapable of expressing abstract ideas.

Question 5

Bernstein (1975)

Answer 5

Restricted code: Used more frequently in working-class homes. It includes simple sentence structures, limited vocabulary, and context-bound communication.

Elaborated code: Used more in middle-class homes. It involves a wider vocabulary, complex sentences, and context-free communication. Schools and exams predominantly use the elaborated code, which gives middle-class children an advantage.

Question 6

Example of official statistics showing that children who don’t speak English at home is not a major factor.

Answer 6

2010 pupils with English as their first language were only 3.2 points ahead of those without English as their first language (55.2% to 52.0%) when it came to gaining five GCSE A*-C passes including English and maths.

Question 7

Gillborn and Mirza (2000)

Answer 7

Indian pupils do very well despite often not having English as their home language.

Question 8

What do cultural deprivation theorists see as a major cause of the failure of many black children?

Answer 8

Lack of motivation.

Question 9

Why do cultural deprivation theorists argue that lack of motivation is a major cause of failure of many black children?

Answer 9

1. Most children are socialised into the mainstream culture, which instils ambition, competitiveness and willingness to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve long-term goals.

• Argue some black children are socialised into a subculture that instils a fatalistic attitude that does not value education and leaves them unequipped for success.

Question 10

What do cultural deprivation theorists argue is the result of a dysfunctional family structure?

Answer 10

• Failure to socialise children adequately

Question 11

Moynihan (1965)

Answer 11

• Many black families are headed by a lone mother, their children are deprived of adequate care because she has to struggle financially in the absence of a male breadwinner.
• The father’s absence also means that boys lack an adequate role model of male achievement.

Question 12

What does Moynihan sees cultural deprivation as?

Answer 12

A cycle where inadequately socialised children from unstable families go on to fail at school and become inadequate parents themselves.

Question 13

What does Murray (1984) argue has led to the underachievement of some minorities?

Answer 13

• High rate of lone parenthood and a lack of positive male role models lead to.

Question 14

What does Scruton (1986) see the low achievement levels of some mainstream British culture as?

Answer 14

• Ethnic minorities as resulting from a failure to embrace mainstream British culture

Question 15

Pryce (1979)

Answer 15

• Sees family Caribbeans contributing to the underachievement of black Caribbean pupils in Britain.

Question 16

What did Pryce (1979) find when he compared Black Caribbean pupils to Asians?

Answer 16

• Asians are higher achievers because their culture is more resistant to racism and gives them a greater sense of self-worth.
• Black Caribbean culture is less cohesive and less resistant to racism. As a result, more black pupils have low self-esteem and underachieve.

Question 17

What does Pryce argues that the difference between Asian and Black pupils is, in terms of EA?

Answer 17

• Result of the differing impact of colonialism on the two groups.
• The experience of slavery was culturally devastating for blacks. Lost their language, religion and entire family system.
• Asian family structures, languages and religions were not destroyed by colonial rule.

Question 18

What is Sewell (2009) reasoning for black boys underachieving?

Answer 18

• Lack of fatherly nurturing or ‘tough love’.
• Results in black boys finding it hard to overcome the emotional and behavioural difficulties of adolescence.
• Street gangs of other fatherless boys offer black boy: perverse loyalty and love’.

Question 19

Arnot (2004)

Answer 19

• ‘The ultra-tough ghett superstar’, an image constantly reinforced through rap lyrics and MTV videos’.

Question 20

What did most of the academically successful black boys that Sewell interviewed felt like was their biggest barrier?

Answer 20

• Greatest barrier to success was pressure from other boys.
• Many black boys subject to powerful anti-educational peer group pressure.

Question 21

Example of black boys subject to powerful anti-educational peer group pressure.

Answer 21

Speaking in Standard English and doing well at school were often viewed with suspicion by their peers and seen as ‘selling out’ to the white establishment.

Question 22

Why does Sewell argue that black students do worse than their Asian counterparts?

Answer 22

• Cultural differences in socialisation and attitudes to education.
• One group is being nurtured by MTV, the other is clocking up the educational hours.

Question 23

What do critical race theorists such as Gillborn (2008) argue?

Answer 23

It’s not peer pressure but institutional racism within the education system itself that systematically produces the failure of large numbers of black boys

Question 24

Why does Sewell argue that Indian and Chinese pupils benefit from supportive families?

Answer 24

Have an ‘Asian work ethic’ and place a high value on education.

Question 25

Lupton (2004) - Asian

Answer 25

- Adult authority in Asian families is similar to the model that operates in schools. - Respectful behaviour towards adults was expected from children. Parents were more likely to be supportive of school behaviour policies.

Question 26

What did a survey by Andrew McCulloch (2014) find?

Answer 26

Ethnic minority pupils are more likely to aspire to go to university than white British pupils

Question 27

Why may the low level of aspiration and achievement of white British pupils be a result of?

Answer 27

Lack of parental support.

Question 28

Lupton - study

Answer 28

Teachers reported poorer levels of behaviour and discipline in the white working-class schools - despite the fact that they had fewer children on free school meals

Question 29

What is the main policy that has been adopted to tackle cultural deprivation?

Answer 29

1. Compensatory education.

Question 30

Criticism of the Cultural Deprivation Theory

Answer 30

1. Driver (1977) - ignore the positive effects of ethnicity on achievement. - Black Caribbean family - provide girls with positive role models of strong independent women. - Black girls tend to be more successful in education than black boy 2. Bourdieu - Emphasized that m/c children succeed because their families possess cultural capital rather than because working-class children are "culturally deprived."

Question 31

Guy Palmer (2012) - material deprivation

Answer 31

1. Almost ½ of all ethnic minority children live in low-income households, as against ¼ of white children 2. Ethnic minorities are almost twice as likely to be unemployed compared with whites 3. Ethnic minority households are around three times more likely to be homeless 4. Almost ½ of Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers earned under £7 per hour, compared with only ¼ of white British workers

Question 32

Reasons why some ethnic minorities may be at greater risk of the material deprivation that results from unemployment, low pay and overcrowding.

Answer 32

1. Many live in economically depressed areas with high unemployment and low wage rates 2. A lack of language skills, and foreign qualifications not recognised by UK employers 3. Racial discrimination in the labour market and housing market

Question 33

Example of Indian and Chinese pupils who are materially deprived still do better than most

Answer 33

2011, 86% of Chinese girls who received free school meals achieved five or more higher grade GCSEs, compared with only 65% of white girls who were not receiving free school meals.

Question 34

David Mason (2000)

Answer 34

‘discrimination is a continuing and persistent feature of the experience of Britain’s citizens of minority ethnic origin'

Question 35

Rex (1986)

Answer 35

- Racial discrimination leads to social exclusion and how this worsens the poverty faced by ethnic minorities. - In housing, discrimination means that minorities are more likely to be forced into substandard accommodation than white people of the same class.

Question 36

Wood et al (2010)

Answer 36

- Sent 3 closely matched job applications to each of almost 1,000 job vacancies, each applicant had a name associated with a particular ethnic group. - For each job, one application came from a ‘white person’ and two from ‘ethnic minorities’. - They found that only 1 in 16 ‘ethnic minority’ applications were offered an interview compared to 1 in 9 ‘white’ applicants

Question 37

Feinstein (2003)

Answer 37

Argued that parental involvement and interest in their child’s education are key predictors of success.

Question 38

Sugarman (1970)

Answer 38

Four key values in working-class subculture that hinder educational success 1. Fatalism: A belief that one’s life is predetermined and cannot be changed. 2. Collectivism: Valuing being part of a group over individual success. 3. Immediate gratification: Seeking short-term pleasure rather than long-term rewards. 4. Present-time orientation: Focusing on the present rather than planning for the future.

Question 39

Douglas (1964):

Answer 39

W/c parents were less likely to encourage their children's education or show interest in their academic progress compared to m/c parents. - W/c parents may prioritise immediate gratification and exhibit fatalism which can negatively affect children’s aspirations.

Question 40

Modood (2004)

Answer 40

Found that while Pakistani and Bangladeshi students are more likely to experience poverty, Indian and Chinese students achieve highly despite similar levels of material deprivation cdf

Question 41

Reay (2001)

Answer 41

- Argues that material deprivation is only one part of the story. Institutional racism, may also contribute to disparities in achievement among disadvantaged groups.