3.1 Ethnicity & External factors

• Ethnicity

  People who share common history, customs & identity and in most cases language & religion who see themselves as a distinct unit
• MEGs

  Minority ethnic groups
• What did Bereiter & Engelmann say about language?

  They said that Black American families use ungrammatical & disjointed language which leads to under achievement
• What did Baker-Bell say to criticise Bereiter & Engelmann?

  She argued that this is an example of 'anti black linguistic racism' by labelling black speech codes as inferior
• Linguistic violence


  White speech codes dominate education & society leading to Black pupils having an internal conflict over speech
• How did the attainment 8 scores disprove the idea that children from MEGs are more likely to underachieve due to not speaking English at home?

  -47.2 on average for EAl students-46.5 on average for students who only speak English at home
• What did Demi's & McLean find?

  They found that language barriers & literacy levels are far less important than internal factors
• What do some sociologists think are the attitudes and values of MEGs?

  -They think that they have a lack of aspiration causing underachievement for certain ethnic groups-They also think that the MEG subcultures socialise them into having fatalistic and immediate gratification attitudes-However, it's not supported by research: Platt & Parsons found that MEG students had higher aspirations and the gap was especially large between MEG & white girls
• What did Moynihan say about family structures?

  He said that black families were more likely to be headed by a single mother meaning that:-There was a lack of adequate care due to financial struggles without male breadwinner-Males lack role model of achievement-It forms a cycle and go on to be inadequate parents themselves
• What did Driver say about family structures?

  He said that the explanation ignores positive effects of Black family structures on achievement and provides role model of string independent women which could explain higher achievement for Black girls vs boys
• What did Sewell say about Black family structures?

  -He said that the a sense of Black fathers is the reason for Black underachievement as they lack 'tough love' discipline, so cant overcome teenage emotional problems-He said that when this happens they turn to street gangs to find Black masculine role models which leads to anti school peer pressure and seeing achieving at school as 'selling out' to white establishment-He said that expectations of Black boys need raising to overcome this issue
• What did Gillborn say to criticise Sewell?


  He criticised Sewell for downplaying the influence of institutional racism
• What did Sewell say about Asian family structures?

  He said that Indian & Chinese students especially benefit from supportive families with an 'Asian work ethic' that value education
• What did Lupton say to agree with Sewell?

  -She said that adult's authority is key and respect to adults is expected in Asian families-Authority in families is similar to that of school so had a knock on effect
• What did McCulloch find about white working class families? What did Lupton say?

  -He surveyed 16,000 pupils & found white working class pupils were less likely to aspire to university-Lupton found that white working class students had more behavioural issues despite having less FSM which he blamed on less parental support and negative school attitudes compared to MEGs
• What can we do about the underachievement of MEG students?

  -Compensatory education e.g. operation head start-Sewell believes his charity Generating Genius helps as well -Aiming high scheme focuses on increasing MEG participation in higher education
• What are the criticisms of cultural deprivation & ethnicity?

  -Victim blaming- Nell Keddie (different culture)-Ignores material Deprivation/lack of economic capital-Impact of class & gender-Creates negative stereotypes-Ignores internal factors-Oversimplified factor in isolation
• How does material deprivation affect MEG students?

  -The lack of physical necessities that lead to a disadvantage for educational achievement-MEGs more likely to be WC
• What proportion of MEG children live in low income households?

  -1/2 compared to 1/4 white
• How much more likely is it for MEGs to be unemployed & homeless?


  -2x more likely to be unemployed -3x more likely to be homeless
• What proportion of Pakistani & Bangladeshi workers earn under £7/h?


  1/2
• What factors that MEGs face cause underachievement?


  -Deprived areas —> unemployment -Purdah —> less women work-Language & foreign qualifications ≠ recognised-Asylum ≠ work-Discrimination= labour & housing-Indian & white= private schools (5x more than Black students)
• How can we see if class overrides ethnicity?

  -In 2011, 86% of Chinese girls who received FSM got 5 in GCSEs compared to 65% of white MC girls -Modood said that the effects of low income are much less for MEGs than white pupils