External factors and ethnic differences in achievement Flashcards
Cultural deprivation: intellectual and linguistic skills
What do cultural deprivation theorists argue about intellectual and linguistic skills?
They see the lack of intellectual and linguistic skills as a major cause of underachievement for many minority children. This leaves them poorly equipped for school because they have not been able to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills.
Cultural deprivation: intellectual and linguistic skills
What do Berreiter and Engelmann believe about the language spoken by low-income black families?
They consider it inadequate for educational success, viewing it as ungrammatical and incapable of expressing abstract ideas.
Cultural deprivation: intellectual and linguistic skills
What do official statistics show about children who do not speak English at home?
There has also been concern that children who do not speak English at home may be held back educationally. However, official statistics show that this is not a major factor. For example, in 2010 pupils with English as their first language were only 3.2 points ahead of those without English as their first language when it came to gaining five GCSE A*-C passes including english and maths.
Cultural deprivation: intellectual and linguistic skills
What do Gillborn and Mirza note about Indian pupils and English language?
They perform well academically despite often not having English as their home language.
Cultural deprivation: attitudes and values
What do cultural deprivation theorists say about attitudes and values?
They argue that a lack of motivation is a major cause of failure for many black children. Most children are socialised into the mainstream culture, which instils ambition, competitiveness and willingness to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve long-term goals. This equips them for success in education. By contrast, cultural deprivation theorists argue, some black children socialised into a subculture that instals a fatalistic, ‘live for today’ attitude that does not value education and leaves them unequipped for success.
Asian families
What is Sewell’s view on Indian and Chinese pupils?
He believes they benefit from supportive families that have an ‘Asian work ethic’ and place a high value on education.
Asian pupils
What does Ruth Lupton argue about adult authority in Asian families?
She argues it is similar to the model in schools, leading to better behaviour and support for school policies.
Criticisms of cultural deprivation
What does Geoffrey Driver criticize about cultural deprivation theory?
Geoffrey Driver criticises cultural deprivation theory for ignoring the positive effects of ethnicity on achievement. He shows that the black Caribbean family, far from being dysfunctional, provides girls with positive role models of strong independent women. Driver argues that this is why black girls tend to be more successful in education than black boys.
Criticisms of cultural deprivation
What is Errol Lawrence’s challenge to Pryce’s view on black pupils?
He argues that underachievement is due to racism, not low self-esteem.
Criticisms of cultural deprivation
What does Keddie argue about cultural deprivation?
She sees it as a victim-blaming explanation, asserting that ethnic minority children are culturally different, not deprived. They under-achive because schools are ethnocentric : biased in favour of white culture and against minorities.
Material deprivation
What do material deprivation explanations focus on?
They see educational failure as resulting from factors like substandard housing and low income.
Material deprivation
What statistics does Guy Palmer provide about ethnic minority children?
- Almost half live in low-income households, compared to a quarter of white children.
- Ethnic minorities are almost twice as likely to be unemployed compared with whites.
- Almost half of Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers earned under £7 per hour, compared with only a quarter of white British workers.
Material deprivation
What are some reasons ethnic minorities may face material deprivation?
They may live in economically depressed areas, face cultural barriers such as such as the tradition of purdah in some Muslim households, which prevents women from working outside the home, lack language skills, or experience racial discrimination in the labour and housing market.
Material deprivation
How do class differences affect educational outcomes for Pakistani pupils?
Material deprivation explains why they tend to do worse than Indian and white pupils.
Criticisms of material deprivation
What is notable about Indian and Chinese pupils who are materially deprived?
They still perform well academically, with a high percentage achieving five or more higher GCSEs.
For example, in 2011, 86% of Chinese girls who received free school meals achieved five or more higher GCSEs compared with 65% of white girls who were not receiving free school meals. This suggests that material deprivation and social class factors do not completely override the influence of ethnicity.
