ethnicity and education

Question 1

what are the 4 internal factors of ethnicity and education?

Answer 1

-labelling
-pupil identities
-pupil responses and subcultures
-institutional racism

Question 2

what is meant by labelling as an internal factor?

Answer 2

-teachers label students from different ethnic groups differently
-racialised expectations
-discipline
-setting and streaming
-asian pupils

Question 3

what is meant by ‘racialised expectations’ as an aspect of labelling?

Answer 3

-gillbourn and youdell
-teachers are quick to discipline black pupils for the same behaviour, as they misinterpret their behaviour, seeing them as anti-authority
-creates conflict between teachers and pupils, can lead to more problems

Question 4

what is meant by ‘discipline’ as an aspect of labelling?

Answer 4

-osler
-black students are more likely to be both officially and unofficially excluded
-bourne - schools see black boys as a threat which leads to negative labelling and exclusion

Question 5

what is meant by ‘setting and streaming’ as an aspect of labelling?

Answer 5

-foster
-teachers stereotypes of black students could put them in lower sets
-can cause the self fulfilling prophecy of under achievement

Question 6

what is meant by ‘asian pupils’ as an aspect of labelling?

Answer 6

-wright
-studied a multi-ethnic primary school, saw that asian pupils also suffered from labelling
-found that teachers held ethnocentric views
-left asian pupils out of discussion, or used childish language when speaking to them, leading to marginalisation

Question 7

what is meant by pupil identities as an internal factor?

Answer 7

-archer - teachers define pupils by stereotypical ethnic identities which lack ‘ideal pupil’ characteristics, when students challenge stereotypes they’re treated harshly, and teachers dominant ways of looking at things defines pupils identities
-3 types of identity

Question 8

what are the three types of pupil identity?

Answer 8

-ideal pupil identity (white, MC, masculine, heterosexual, achieving)
-pathologized pupil identity (deserving poor, feminine, asexual, conformist, ‘sloggers’ who achieve through hard work rather than natural ability)
-demonised pupil identity (black or white, WC, hyper sexualised, unintelligent, peer led, underachiever, culturally deprived)

Question 9

what is meant by pupil responses and subcultures as an internal factor?

Answer 9

-mirza - some pupils can’t develop coping strategies when faced with teacher racism and labelling, identified 3 types of teacher racism (colour blind, liberal chauvinists, overt racists), black girls avoided these teachers, putting them at a disadvantage
-sewell - 3 boys responses to racism (the rebels, the conformists and the innovators)

Question 10

what is meant by ‘rejection of labels’ as an aspect of pupil responses and subcultures?

Answer 10

-3 sub-sections
-rejection of labels
-failed coping strategies
-boys responses to racist stereotypes

Question 11

what is meant by ‘failed coping strategies’ as an aspect of pupil responses and subcultures?

Answer 11

-mizra
-some students aren’t able to develop coping strategies in response to racism
-mizra identified three types of teacher racism: the colour blind, the liberal chauvinists, and overt racists
-black girls avoided these teachers by being selective in who they asked for help, doing work alone, etc which puts them at a disadvantage

Question 12

what is meant by ‘boys responses to racist stereotypes’ as an aspect of pupil responses and subcultures?

Answer 12

-sewell created 4 groups:
-the rebels (most influential, reject school values, oppose the school by making a peer group, reinforce negative stereotypes of ‘black machismo’)
-the conformists (majority of black pupils accept school values and want to succeed)
-the retreatists (small minority, isolated and disconnected, keep a low profile)
-the innovators (pro-education but anti-school, distance from conformists, keep credibility with rebels)

Question 13

what is meant by institutional racism as an internal factor?

Answer 13

6 sub-sections
-critical racism theory
-marketisation and segregation
-ethnocentric curriculum
-assessment
-access to opportunities
-new IQ ism

Question 14

what is ‘critical racism theory’ as an aspect of institutional racism?

Answer 14

-sees racism as a feature of society
-roithmayer - institutional racism is. a locked in inequality so large and historical that its no longer a conscious thought
-gillborn - racism is so ingrained in education it’s unavoidable

Question 15

what is meant by ‘marketisation and segregation’ as an aspect of institutional racism?

Answer 15

-gillbourn - marketisation allows for more covert selection, can lead to segregation
-covert selection procedures led to EMs being unpopular in schools

Question 16

what is meant by ‘ethnocentric curriculum’ as an aspect of institutional racism?

Answer 16

-a curriculum that reflects the culture of one ethnic group
-tronya and bell - lack of teaching asian languages
-ball - little englandism (ignored black and asian history)

Question 17

what is meant by ‘assessment’ as an aspect of institutional racism?

Answer 17

-gillbourn - the system validates dominant culture superiority
-sanders and horn - changing from written tests to teacher assessment led to black students underachieving

Question 18

what is meant by ‘access to opportunities’ as an aspect of institutional racism?

Answer 18

-EMs are less likely to be entered into higher tier exams, despite policies that raise EM achievement, due to teacher labelling and SFP

Question 19

what is meant by ‘new ‘IQ ism’ as an aspect of institutional racism?

Answer 19

-false assumptions about student potential
-potential is seen as fixed which can be measured through IQ tests
-gillbourn - this only shows what is already known, not what could be
-these tests are also skewed to dominant culture

Question 20

what are the three external factors of ethnicity and education?

Answer 20

-cultural deprivation
-material deprivation
-racism in wider society

Question 21

what is meant by cultural deprivation as an external factor?

Answer 21

divisible into:
-language
-family structures and support
-attitudes and values

Question 22

what is meant by ‘language’ as an aspect of cultural deprivation?

Answer 22

-argues many EM lack adequate stimulation and linguistic development through their socialisation
-bowker - a lack of standard English creates a huge barrier to UK education
*ballard and driver - language problems aren’t usually an issue after 16
*swann report found little impact of language on achievement

Question 23

what is meant by ‘family structures and support’ as an aspect of cultural deprivation?

Answer 23

-murray 1984 - African-caribbean lone parents are to Blame, their lack of male role models means mothers fail to properly socialise them
-pryce 1979 - asian culture in UK is more cohesive than black culture, so they can ignore racism more efficiently
-hall - ‘culture of resistance’ impact of slavery meant a lot of black culture in UK was diminished, so they’re less likely to conform to white culture now
*keddie - to blame culture is to blame the victims of educational failure

Question 24

what is meant by ‘attitudes and values’ as an aspect of cultural deprivation?

Answer 24

-suggest EMs are socialised into different values
-Arnot - media has created an anti-school model for black pupils specifically, reinforced through Rap lyrics etc
*driver - ethnicity can be an advantage too, African Caribbean girls actually do well in education

Question 25

what is maternal deprivation as an external explanation?

Answer 25

-flaherty - Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are 3x more likely to be in the poorest part of the population, 15% of EMs live in crowded homes
-swann report 1985 - social class accounts for a high proportion of differences in achievement between EMs
*paradoxical argument, we can’t tell if these groups underachieve due to ethnicity or social class

Question 26

what is ‘racism in wider society’ as an external factor?

Answer 26

-mason - ‘discrimination is a continuing feature of the experience of Britains citizens of minority ethnic origin’
-noon 1993 - sent identical letters to top 100 UK companies, changing the surname from ‘Evans’ to ‘Patel’, the replies to the ‘white’ person were more informative and useful
*cultural research can be used against some groups - sivanandan argues afro-caribbean culture is used by some right-wing groups t justify the view that they’re problems to society

Question 27

give some trends for ethnicity and achievement

Answer 27

-DfES 2007 -
-only 24% if white male pupils on FSM gained 5 A*-C grades
-white and asian pupils achieve higher than black on average
within every ethnic group, MC do better than WC
in most groups, girls outperform boys