ethnicty in education Flashcards
(12 cards)
What do Bereiter & Engelmann argue about language?
Some minority ethnic groups (esp. Black children) speak non-standard or ungrammatical English, lacking vocabulary needed for school success.
🔑 Seen as culturally deprived, but this has been widely criticised as ethnocentric
What did Moynihan claim about family structure in Black communities?
➡️ Black families often headed by a lone mother, creating material + cultural deprivation.
➡️ Leads to a cycle of underachievement, as children are inadequately socialised.
🔑 Used by New Right thinkers to explain underachievement.
What did Sewell argue about peer pressure & Black boys?
➡️ Lack of male role models → boys turn to street gangs & “hyper-masculinity”
➡️ Peer pressure = rejection of schooling & success.
🔑 Most underachievement is due to external factors, not absent fathers or direct racism.
What did Gillborn argue about institutional racism?
➡️ Schools are not neutral — they are structured to favour white pupils.
➡️ Teacher expectations, assessments, and marketisation all discriminate against Black students.
🔑 The education system itself is racist, not just individuals.
What did Gillborn & Mirza find about success among ethnic groups?
➡️ Indian pupils do well despite English not being their first language.
➡️ Challenges the idea that language causes underachievement — suggests racism plays a bigger role.
What did Wright find about Asian pupils?
➡️ Teachers held ethnocentric views: assumed Asian girls were passive, mispronounced names, and marginalised them.
🔑 Even when racism isn’t hostile, labelling creates barriers to success.
What did Archer say about racialised pupil identities?
➡️ Teachers see ethnic minority pupils through stereotypes:
Ideal pupil = white, MC
Pathologised pupil = Asian, overachieving, robotic
Demonised pupil = Black, loud, unintelligent
🔑 These identities affect how pupils are treated and labelled
What did Fuller find about Black girls’ responses to labelling?
➡️ Black Year 11 girls in London rejected negative labels, stayed motivated but didn’t seek teacher approval.
🔑 Shows pupils can succeed by resisting stereotypes — labelling is not always a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What did Mac an Ghaill find about responses to racism?
➡️ Black and Asian A-level students had complex responses to racism: some resisted it, others disengaged.
➡️ Response depended on gender, class, and school background.
🔑 Shows student identity is shaped by more than just ethnicity
What did Ball and Coard argue about the curriculum?
➡️ The ethnocentric curriculum: British schools prioritise white culture/history, downplay others.
➡️ Black culture is devalued, or shown negatively (e.g., slavery).
🔑 This harms self-esteem and contributes to internalised racism.
What did Gillborn say about the “A-C Economy”?
➡️ Schools focus on borderline students for league tables
➡️ Black pupils are seen as too risky, placed in lower sets or ignored
🔑 Teachers’ racialised expectations filter into school policy and practice.
What did Tikly et al. find about Black Caribbean pupils in schools?
➡️ Found they were more likely to be in lower sets, entered for lower-tier exams, and excluded more often.
🔑 Evidence of systematic disadvantage and internal school inequality.
