Ethnicity And Education

Question 1

Lawson and Garrod

Answer 1

Define ethnic groups as “people who share common history, sustains and identity, as well as in most cases language and religion and they see themselves as a distinct unit”

Question 2

2021 census

Answer 2

• revealed that the UK today is more culturally diverse than ever
• 14% of residents have been born outside the UK, the most common birthplaces being India, Poland, and Pakistan
• 14% of UK population is from EMG
• in 2001, London became the first region where white British became the minority of 45%
• children from EMG make up about 21% of school pupils in England

Question 3

EMG trends in education

Answer 3

• EM are more likely than white pupils to go to university
• Afro Caribbean boys are least likely to continue their studies
• white males are increasingly becoming a cause of concern within education
• Afro Caribbean boys are more likely to be excluded from school and more likely to be in the lower streams

Question 4

Factors affecting EMG achievement

Answer 4

Cultural deprivation theory- external factors
Sees underachievement of some ethnic groups as the result of inadequate socialisation in the home, this argument has 3 main aspects
- language skills: Bernstein (restricted code) for some south Asian students English may not be their first language and they therefore may speak in a restricted code
- values and attitudes: Sugarman- argues a lack of motivation is the cause of failure in many black children as they are socialised into the fatalistic “live for today” attitude that does not value education
- family structures: Modood identified that black families have a slightly higher proportion of single parent families headed by a single mother, leading to a lack of male role model. New Right put forward similar explanations arguing the high rate of lone parenthood has led to underachievement of some minorities

Question 5

New Right (Murray) lone parenthood has led to underachievement

Answer 5

They argue high rates of lone parenthood in black families can lead to:
- limited discipline from male role models
- dependence on state welfare, promoting a “culture of dependency”
contrast: Asian families with strong family cohesion tend to value education more

Question 6

Sewell- Cultural deprivation and fatherhood

Answer 6

Sewell argues it is not the absence of a father as a male role model that leads to black boys underachieving. Instead, it is street gangs of fatherless boys who offer ‘perverse loyalty and love’. Many black boys are also subject to powerful anti-educational peer group pressure. Sewell argues black students do worse than their Asian counterparts because of differences in socialisation and attitudes to education. Asian families are perceived to has an ‘Asian work ethic’

Question 7

Keddie

Answer 7

Criticises the cultural deprivation theory as a victim blaming explanation, she argues EMG are culturally different not culturally deprived

Question 8

Policies proposed to combat effects of cultural deprivation

Answer 8

• multicultural education: incorporates diverse cultural histories and perspectives into the curriculum to improve representation and engagement for EM pupils
• anti-racist education: aims to challenge systematic discrimination in schools, promoting equality and inclusion
• compensatory education policies: programes like Sure Start or Pupil Premium target socio-economic disadvantages

Question 9

External factors: material deprivation theory

Answer 9

Many sociologists see material deprivation as the main cause of underachievement. This refers to poverty and a lack of material necessities such as adequate housing and income

Question 10

Palmer

Answer 10

Found:
- EMG are almost twice as likely to be unemployed compared to white people, often being employed on zero hour contracts
- almost half of Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers earned under £7 per hour compared with only 25% white people
- cultural factors such as the tradition of purdah in some Muslim households which prevents wo,ej from working outside the home, mean that they rely in one income to support the family
- asylum seekers may not be allowed to work on paid employment
- Indian pupils whose achievement tends to be higher are likely to be from better off backgrounds and attend private education
- Indians and white people tend to do better in education as they have a higher social class position

Question 11

External factors: racism in society

Answer 11

Sociologists argue that racism has an impact on pupils educational achievement
Mason argues that “discrimination is a continuing and persistent experience of British citizens of ethnic minority origin”
Discrimination often leads to social exclusion, and this worsens the poverty faced by ethnic minorities

Question 12

Wood

Answer 12

Sent identical letters of enquiry about future employment using the fake surnames of Evans and Patel, more companies responded and were more encouraging with the white candidate

Question 13

Race Relations Act

Answer 13

Prohibits discrimination in employment, education and services

Question 14

Equal Opportunities Act

Answer 14

Strengthens proyectos against discrimination based on race, gender and all other characteristics promoting inclusion and fairness

Question 15

Internal factors: labelling, identities and responses

Answer 15

• interactionists focus on different labels giving to children from different ethnic backgrounds
• Gillborn and Youdell found teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils and teachers held ‘racialised expectations’ that they would present more discipline problems and threaten or challenge authority. In turn, black pupils felt teachers underestimated their ability and picked on them, this may explain the high rate of suspensions, being sent out of class, permanent exclusions, or black students being placed in PRUs
• Gillborn and Youdell also found that in the A-C economy teachers focus on students most likely to achieve a grade C and above at GCSEc often leads to back pupils being placed in lower sets
• Asian Pupils- Cecile Wright- Asian students could also be victims of labelling as teachers would often assume that they would have a poor grasp of English and left them out of class discussions. Asian students felt teachers sometimes disapproved of their customs and mispronounced their names

Question 16

Pupil identities- Archer

Answer 16

Argues that teachers have a ‘dominant discourse’ (way of seeing). This discourse constructs three different types of pupil identities:
- the ideal pupil= middle class white pupil
- the pathologised pupil= Asian pupils identified as deserving poor with a feminised oppressed sexuality. This pupil is seen as conformist and culture bound, an achiever through hard work rather than natural ability
- the demonised pupil= a black or white working class hyper sexualised identity. This pupil is seen as unintelligent, peer I led and a culturally deprived underachiever

Question 17

Pupil responses and subcultures

Answer 17

Teacher racism can lead to negative label if which can result in a self fulfilling prophecy. However, pupils can respond by rejecting negative labels that are applied to them

Question 18

Mary Fuller

Answer 18

Carried out a study in a group of black girls in year 11 of a London comprehensive school. They were untypical as they were high achievers, but most had been placed in low streams. However, instead of accepting the label themselves, they channelled their anger into the pursuit of educational success and conformed, but only as far as schoolwork was concerned

Question 19

Internal factors- institutional racism

Answer 19

Ethnic differences in achievement go beyond individual teacher racism via institutional racism
Institutional racism is seen to be locked into the education system in several ways:
- marketisation and segregation
- the ethnocentric curriculum
- assessment
- access to opportunities

Question 20

Gillborn

Answer 20

Sees ethnic inequality as “so deep rooted and so large that it is practically an inevitable feature of the education system”

Question 21

Marketisation and segregation

Answer 21

Gillborn argues that negative stereotypes about pupils influences decisions about school admissions
Research concluded that segregation of ethnic minority pupils led to them failing to get into better secondary schools. Primary schools were also seen to screen out pupils with language difficulties, while application process itself was difficult for non-English speaking parents to understand

Question 22

The Commission for Racial Equality in Britain identified:

Answer 22

• racist bias in interviews for school places
• lack of information in minority languages
• ethnic minority parents often unsure as to how systems work

Question 23

Parentocracy

Answer 23

EMG parents may not understand the UK education system if they were not born and raised in the UK- limited understanding may lead to a lack of choice

Question 24

Cream-skimming and silt-shifting

Answer 24

Students from ethnic minority backgrounds may be placed in lower sets/streams

Question 25

Ethnocentric curriculum

Answer 25

Describes an attitude or policy that gives priority to the culture and viewpoint of one particular ethnic group while disregarding others The ethnocentric curriculum is therefore catered mostly towards European and British history, language and culture

Question 26

Ball

Answer 26

Argues the curriculum promoted an attidue of “little Englandism”, for example, the history curriculum tied to create a mythical age of empires and glorifies British past

Question 27

Gillborn- assessment

Answer 27

Gillborn argued that the assessment game is rigged so as to validate the dominant cultures superiority Baseline Assessments winch used to be conducted as soon as children started school in reception year, these were then replaced in 2003 by the Foundation Stage Profile which are based purely on teachers judgements of a pupil and were only carried out at the end of reception year, almost immediately black children were seen to be doing worse in these tests

Question 28

Criticisms of Gillborn

Answer 28

- Sewell rejects Gillborn’s view that internal factors fail a large number of ethnic minority pupils. Instead, he says that this is not powerful enough to prevent individuals from succeeding. Instead his view, we need to focus in externa, factors such as anti-school attitudes p, peer groups and the role of the father - critics also point to the fact that there is ‘overachievement’ by EMG such as Indian and Chinese, if there was institutional racism how would these groups do so well? Gillborn responded saying these ‘model minorities’ perform an ideological function

Question 29

Access to Opportunities

Answer 29

The Gifted and Talented programme was created with the aim of meeting the needs of more able pupils in inner city schools. Students who were seen to be ‘gifted’ in the top 5% of students were put on the programme and mentored. It was designed to ensure these students were challenged and reached their full potential. However, Gillborn notes that white children were 2x as likely as Black Caribbean snd 5x as likely as Black African children to be entered on the programme

Question 30

Exam tiers

Answer 30

Research shows that black pupils are more likely than white pupils to be entered for lower tier GCSE exams due to being placed in lower sets. Black pupils are systematically under represented in higher tiers for maths and science

Question 31

The New IQism- Gillborn

Answer 31

Argues that teachers make false assumptions about the nature of pupil’s ability or potential. They see potential as a fixed quality that can be easily measured allowing them to be placed in the appropriate stream. Many schools use the old IQ test to assess this potential