ethnic differences in achievement (external)

Question 1

what pupils have trends of higher achievement

Answer 1

• Indian pupils
• white+asian pupils
• Chinese pupils
• mc white pupils

Question 2

what pupils have trends of lower achievement

Answer 2

• Pakistani pupils
• Bangladeshi pupils
• Black Caribbean pupils
• wc white pupils

Question 3

what is cultural deprivation

Answer 3

the under-achievement of some ethnic groups is caused by inadequate socialisation in the home

Question 4

Bereiter and Engelmann (cultural deprivation)

Answer 4

claim that the language of poorer black American families is ungrammatical and disjointed. As a result, their children are unable to express abstract ideas, holding them back educationally.

Question 5

attitudes and value of black Caribbean families

Answer 5

Black Caribbean children socialised into a subculture which instils a fatalistic attitude that does not value education or motivate success.

Question 6

family structure of African- Caribbean families

Answer 6

Murray- argues that the high rate of lone-parenthood and a lack of positive male role models lead to the under-achievement of some minority pupils
Moynihan- argues the absence of a male role model of achievement in black matrifocal lone parent families produces inadequately socialised children who fail at school, become inadequate parents themselves and continue with a vicious cycle of poverty.

Question 7

Pryce

Answer 7

argues black Caribbean culture is less resistant to racism due to the experience of slavery. Therefore, many black pupils have low self-esteem and under-achieve in school.

Question 8

Sewell (family structure)

Answer 8

argues that Chinese and Indian pupils benefit from supportive families with an ‘Asian work-ethic’

Question 9

Sewell (fathers and gang culture)

Answer 9

argue a lack of fatherly nurturing leads to black boys underachieving. Street gangs often offer these boys an alternative perverse loyalty and love. Academically successful black boys felt the greatest barrier to success was peer pressure, as speaking standard English and doing well at school were seen as ‘selling out’.

Question 10

Khan

Answer 10

found Indian and Chinese families to be stress ridden and controlling- to be high-achieving, there had to be high-pressure

Question 11

Lupton

Answer 11

study of 4 mainly wc schools with different ethnic compositions. Teacher reported poorer levels of behaviour and discipline in the white wc schools, which was linked to lower levels of parental support and the negative attitudes of white wc parents towards education

Question 12

university aspirations

Answer 12

80% of 11-16 year old ethnic minority pupils aspire to go to uni- only 68% white wc pupils

Question 13

Evans

Answer 13

argues street culture in white wc areas can be brutal and is brought into school. The result of this is a strong pressure to reject education

Question 14

what is compensatory education

Answer 14

an educational policy that aims to counter the effects of cultural deprivation

Question 15

examples of compensatory education

Answer 15

Operation Head Start (in USA established to compensate children for cultural deficit they are said to suffer due to deprived backgrounds)
Sure Start (in UK aimed to support the development of pre-school children in deprived areas)

Question 16

criticisms of cultural deprivation

Answer 16

victim-blaming, cultural exclusion and cultural domination

Question 17

Keddie (victim-blaming)

Answer 17

argues that minority ethnic group children are culturally different, not culturally deprived, and they under-achieve because schools are ethnocentric (biased in favour of white culture)

Question 18

Ball (cultural explanation)

Answer 18

argues that minority ethnic group parents are at a disadvantage because they are less aware of how to negotiate the British education system, leading to ‘cultural exclusion’ rather than cultural deprivation.

Question 19

Gerwitz (cultural explanation)

Answer 19

complex school application forms are an example of cultural exclusion practices in some schools.

Question 20

cultural domination

Answer 20

compensatory education imposes the dominant white mc class culture on minority ethnic group pupils’ own culture.

Question 21

what is material deprivation

Answer 21

a lack of the physical or economic resources essential for normal life in society. This explanation of ethnic differences in achievement argues that educational failure is the result of material factors e.g. substandard housing and low income.

Question 22

why are ethnic minorities more likely to face material deprivation

Answer 22

• half of ethnic minority children live in low-income homes
• ethnic minorities are almost twice as likely to be unemployed
• minorities face discrimination in the housing and labour markets

Question 23

Flaherty

Answer 23

ethnic minorities are more likely to face material deprivation

Question 24

Swann report

Answer 24

social class accounts for at least 50% of class differences in achievement

Question 25

Racism in wider society

Answer 25

as members of minority ethnic groups face direct and indirect discrimination at work and in the housing market, they are more likely to have low pay or be unemployed, affecting their child's educational opportunities

Question 26

Noon

Answer 26

study sending identical pairs of enquiries about future employment opportunities to top ten UK companies, sign surname "Evans" and "Patel" with same qualifications. "Evans" gained more response and encouragement.

Question 27

Rex

Answer 27

racial discrimination leads to social exclusion