Ethnicity and Attainment Flashcards
(18 cards)
Material factors: Ethnicity and social class :palmer
One explanation is material deprivation. A significant proportion of ethnic minorities are concentrated in semi-skilled or unskilled occupations, hence a higher proportion of people of minority ethnic groups suffer from relative deprivation than their white counterparts
Guy Palmer (2012)- Nearly 50% of ethnic minority children live in low-income households. They are twice as likely to be unemployed, and 3 x as likely to be homeless as white ethnicity.
British Pakistanis’ and British Bangladeshis’ are 3 times more likely than whites to be in the poorest 5th (quintile) of the population. Unemployment is 3 times higher for people of Caribbean, Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin. 15% of ethnic minority households are overcrowded compared to 4% of white British households. British Pakistanis are nearly twice as likely to be in semi or unskilled jobs despite often having graduate qualifications
Some sociologists (such as Marxists and Neo-Marxists) see this as evidence that material factors explain differential attainment, and that social class is main predictor of educational outcomes
Cultural factors: Parents, students, schools:Strand
Strand (2015)- longitudinal study of 15,000 students in England to analyse the differences in attainment between various ethnic groups
Parental factors- parental expectations and attitudes towards education had a significant effect – minority ethnic parents were more likely than White British to show positive attitudes and behaviours towards education.
Student factors – higher levels of resilience and lower level of risk factors for minority ethnicities.
School factors – quality of school has moderate effect.
Cultural factors: explaining the achievement of Chinese students:Archer and francis
Archer and Francis (2007)- semi-structured interviews with 80 14-16 year old British Chinese students, 30 parents, and 30 teachers
Found that the high attainment of Chinese students is partly the result of the Chinese subculture
Both parents and students from all social classes placed high value on education, including parents who had received little formal education themselves
University was seen as a “must” by parents, and all 80 students said they wanted to go to university
Education was seen as a “family project” with parents investing considerable time, effort, and money in to their children. A family’s standing in the community was related to the educational performance of their children
Cultural factors: cultural capital : Moodood
Modood (2004)- Many members of ethnic minority groups may have more cultural capital than expected based on their social class position
High amount of cultural capital derived from earlier occupations before migrating to the UK
A desire to improve their position, and the future prospects for their children
Education being valued as a way to do this (social mobility)
The transmission of these values to their children
Cultural factors- British Asians - Basit
Basit (2003)- individual interviews and focus groups with 36 15 &16 year old Indian and Pakistani students, their parents, and their grandparents.
No matter what their background, ‘It was strikingly clear that education was seen as capital that would transform the lives of the younger generation.’
The importance and value of education is passed on to young people from their parents and grandparents
It is seen as a means to get a well-paid job and a high standard of living (upward social mobility)
Students accept the advice of their elders and this reflects in their attainment
White working class students
Andrew McCulloch (2014)- Survey of 16000 pupils found minority ethnic pupils more likely to aspire to go to university than white British.
Ruth Lupton (2004)- Study of 4 different comprehensives with different demographics and found poorer behaviour in white w/c schools. Teachers blamed lower levels of parental support, negative parental attitudes, compared with ethnic minority parents who saw education ‘as a way up in society.’
Cultural Deprivation-sewell
Sewell (2009)-
Black boys underachieve due to a lack of “fatherly nurturing”- firm, but fair and respectful, and practices non-abusive discipline
Due to this, black boys tend to seek out role models within their peer groups, and adopt an “anti-school street culture”
In schools, this leads to opposition to the authority of teachers, and a rejection of achievement
This form of black masculinity is reflected and reinforced by the media
Evaluation of sewell
This view can be seen to be blaming Black Caribbean boys for their own underachievement (taking a similar view to that of the New Right)
This detracts from the real causes, such as institutional racism and economic deprivation
However, Sewell does note that only a small minority of black students (18%) fit this stereotype, but that teachers tend to label all black male students in this way
Despite this, ultimately he believes that external factors are more important in producing underachievement
What is institutional racism?
racial prejudice (attitudes) and discrimination which form part of the practices and procedures within an institution. This places one or more groups at a disadvantage based upon their ethnic background.
Evidence: UK schools recorded over 60,000 racist incidents in the past five years
Schools are failing to adequately safeguard pupils from racism
The true scale of this could be far higher, because schools have no legal duty to report racist incidents (or any kind of bullying)
Gillborn- “If the evidence that we can get points to there being an epidemic of racism in schools and yet there is no reliable data at a national level, then the government can’t guarantee that they’re meeting basic safeguarding let alone producing a world-class education system. It suggests that the government’s attitude is, at best, one of ignorance and disinterest.”
ethnocentric curriculum- ball
Ball (1993)- The focus on British history and culture within the national curriculum promotes an attitude of “little Englandism”. Ball refers to this as a “past glories” approach- “a celebration of oppression and violence” (referring to the teaching of the British Empire in subjects like history and geography).
ethnocentric curriculm-Troyna and Williams (1986)-
Troyna and Williams (1986)- British education system is institutionally racist. For example, the predominance of European languages (Spanish, French), over Asian language (Hindi, Chinese).
Gillborn and Youdell
Most teachers were not openly racist- “many teachers are passionately committed to challenging the very inequalities that they participate in reinforcing”
Their “racialised expectations” were part of the institutional racism within schools:
Teachers tended to interpret the behaviour of black students as “challenging” or “threatening”- e.g. a black student being excluded, even though he was the victim rather than the perpetrator of violence in a fight at school.
Teachers expected their black students, on average, to do less well than their white peers. E.g. black students being placed in low sets or being entered for lower exam tiers
Labelling: Interactionism
Interactionists argue that teachers label pupils from different backgrounds and that they have preconceived ideas about the ‘ideal pupil’ (Becker). Several sociologists have done qualitative research to observe the ways in which students stereotype and label pupils based on their ethnic identity.
Gillborn and Youdell (2001)- teachers tend to label Black Caribbean students as being less able and more disruptive- this leads to harsher discipline and being placed in lower sets.
Sewell (1997)- teachers tend to label all Black Caribbean boys as disruptive, based on the small percentage of BC boys who adopt “street culture”. Even BC boys who conformed to the school’s values were treated in terms of these negative stereotypes.
Teacher perceptions of Asian and Black Caribbean students: Wright (1992)
Ethnographic study (observations and interviews) of almost 1000 primary school children, across four schools.
Asian students- teachers largely ignored Asian students (particularly girls). This was due to teachers assuming that they would have a poor grasp of English. When they did speak to Asian students, teachers would often use simplistic and childish language. The impact of this was Asian students becoming isolated, and facing hostility from other students who picked up on teacher perceptions. Teachers did not have high academic expectations of Asian students.
Black Caribbean students- rather than being labelled based on academic ability, BC students were labelled based on perceptions of their behaviour. These students were more likely to be punished for behaviours that white students were also exhibiting (such as shouting out answers). They were more likely to be sent out of class, sent to see the head teacher, and to have privileges withdrawn.
the impact of labelling?
Self fulfilling prophecy- Becker argues that when students are repeatedly labelled in a certain way, they tend to internalise them. This then impacts their behaviour, as they tend to live up to the expectations of their teachers. E.g.- high exclusion rates for BC students may be because of teacher’s negative perceptions and interactions.
Setting and streaming- Gillborn and Youdell found that negative stereotypes of black pupils’ ability means that they are more likely to be placed in lower sets and streams. These students get less attention due to marketisation (educational triage).
Tikly et al (2006) found that African Caribbean boys were more likely to be in lower ability sets and entered for lower tier papers. There was also poor representation of African Caribbean pupils in gifted and talented cohorts.
Evaluation (AO3)
Heidi Safia Mirza (1992) conducted a study of approx. 200 young people in a London comprehensive. She argues that there is a myth of underachievement for Black women and that in her sample they did better than Black boys and White students. She denies that teacher racism significantly impacts the self esteem of Black girls and said 48% of her sample named themselves when asked for someone they admired.
Evaluation part 2
Mary Fuller (1984) conducted a study of year 11 Black girls in a London comprehensive and found that they experienced negative teacher labelling and racism. The girls were high achievers in a school where most Black girls were in lower sets. The girls channelled their anger towards the pursuit of educational success and did not seek the approval of teachers. They also mixed with students from lower sets and gave the appearance of not being concerned with school routines despite being conscientious.
