Ethnicity and education

• Black students - Gillborn and Yodel (2007)


  • Quicker to be disciplined than others

  • Teachers misinterpreted behaviour as threatening - when acted on students would react negatively

  • Black students felt picked on and underestimated

  • Conflict stemmed from racial stereotypes
• Black students - Jenny Bourne (1994)


  • High level of black boy exclusions

  • Schools tend to see black boys as a a threat and labe them negtivley leading to exclusion - 1 in 5 excluded achieve
• Black students - Osler (2001)


  • Black students seen to suffer more from unofficial exclusions - e,g getting sent out of class
• Minority students - Archer (2008)


  • Argues that minority students that perform successfully can be pathologized• Chinese students seen as achieving in the "wrong-way" - through hard work and passive conformism rather than natural ability • Archer and Francis (2006) sum up teachers view them as "negative positive stereotype" • Teachers negatively labelled chinses families as "tight" and "close" used to explain passivity - teachers often see south Asian girls personality as a result of oppressive family situations. Also stereotype them as m/c.• The result of distinctions archer identities that even the success of minority ethnic group will be seen as overachievement -since teachers see "proper" achievement as natural preserve of privileged, white m/c ideal pupil.
• Archer - the "ideal pupil" identity


  A white m/c masculine identity and heterosexual.

  Teachers see this pupil stereotypically as achieving in the right way - through natural ability
• Archer - the "pathologized" pupil


  More likely to be Asian "deserving poor" feminised identity either asexual or with an oppressed sexuality. Teacher see this pupil as a stereotypically as a plodding conformists and culture-bound "overachiever". A slogger who succeeds through hard work rather an ability
• Archer- the "demonised" pupil identity


  A white or black w/c hypersexualised identity.Teachers see these pupils as stereotypically as unintelligent peer-led cultural deprived underachieved

  • For Archer, teachers are likely to demonise or pathologize ethnic minority groups - he used interviews to gather info

  • Further study in (2010) found teachers stereotyped Asian girls as quiet, docile or passive

  • Shain (2003) notes Asian girls challenge stereotype by misbehaving - often dealt with more severely
• External Factor: Family structure and parental support - Danial Maynihan (1965)


  • Argues many black families are headed by lone mothers - so children are inadequately socialised because she is too busy

  • Father absence = no role model for boys

  • Sees cultural deprivation as a cycle - inadequately children fail at school, become inadequate parents fail to socialise their children
• External Factor: Family structure and parental support - Geoffrey Driver (1997)


  Geoffrey Driver (1997)

  • Criticises cultural deprivation theorists for ignoring positive effects of family

  • Shows Black Caribbean families are not dysfunctional - provide strong independent role models for black girls so they do better in school than black boys
• External factors: Sewell - fathers, gangs and cultures


  Sewell (2009)• Black boys underachieve because of lack of fatherly nurturing - have to overcome emotional and behavioural difficulties by themselves• Gangs "perverse loyalty and loyalty"• Black boys subject to powerful peer pressure - through interviews found peer pressure was greatest academic barrier• Speaking standard English was selling out • Joined anti-school subcultures• Claims black students do worse than their Asian counter part because cultural differences in socialisation and different attitude to education• Concludes black children (boys) need greater expectation to raise aspirations• Down plays impact of racism• Gilborne (2008) argues racist educational system• Genrelises
• External factors: Asian families - Lupton (2004)


  Lupton (2004)

  • Argues authority is the same in families as it is in school - knock on effect so children are more respectful at school

  • Danger of generalizing about "Asian success" - important differences in achievement of different pupils from different ethnic groups
• External Factors: Asian families - Sewell

  Sewell

  • View Chinese and Indian students benefit from supportive family that have "Asian work ethic" and place high value on education
• External factors: White working class families

  Research on Black families causing underachievement but underachievement and low aspirations often come from white w/c families
• External factors: White working class families - Muculloch (2014)


  Muculloch (2014)• A survey of 16,000 pupils showed ethnic minority groups are more likely to aspire to go to university
• External factors: White working class families - Gillian Evans (2006)

  • Argues street culture in w/c can be brutal - so young learn to withstand intimidation and intimidate

  • School can become a place where the street is played bringing disruption
• External factors: White working class families - Lupton


  • 4 (w/c) schools - 2 predominately white, 1 mostly Pakistan and 1 mixed ethnicity

  •Teachers reported more behavioural issues in white schools despite having fewer pupils on free school meals

  • Teachers blamed lack of parental support and negative w/c parents attitudes to education - ethnic parents more likely to see education as a way up in society
• Multicultural education


  Recognizing and valuing minority cultures and putting them in the curriculum e.g Religious studies
• Compensatory education

  Additional support for cultural deprived children e.g if English isn't first language so support to help learn - Surestart
• Anti-racist education

  A policy that challenges the prejudice and discrimination that exists in schools and wider society.
• Asian students


  Wright (1992)

  • Asian students are victims of labelling

  • Teachers think they have poor understanding of English so leave them out of discussions or use simple language when talking to them

  • Asian students felt isolated when teachers expressed disproval of their culture or mispronounced their name

  • Teachers saw them as an problem that could be ignored

  • Effect - Students (especially girls) marginalized and not allowed to fully participate
• Black students - Gillborn and Yodel (2007)


  • Quicker to be disciplined than others

  • Teachers misinterpreted behaviour as threatening - when acted on students would react negatively

  • Black students felt picked on and underestimated

  • Conflict stemmed from racial stereotypes
• Black students - Jenny Bourne (1994)


  • High level of black boy exclusions

  • Schools tend to see black boys as a a threat and labe them negtivley leading to exclusion - 1 in 5 excluded achieve
• Black students - Osler (2001)


  • Black students seen to suffer more from unofficial exclusions - e,g getting sent out of class
• Minority students - Archer (2008)


  • Argues that minority students that perform successfully can be pathologized• Chinese students seen as achieving in the "wrong-way" - through hard work and passive conformism rather than natural ability • Archer and Francis (2006) sum up teachers view them as "negative positive stereotype" • Teachers negatively labelled chinses families as "tight" and "close" used to explain passivity - teachers often see south Asian girls personality as a result of oppressive family situations. Also stereotype them as m/c.• The result of distinctions archer identities that even the success of minority ethnic group will be seen as overachievement -since teachers see "proper" achievement as natural preserve of privileged, white m/c ideal pupil.
• Archer - the "ideal pupil" identity


  A white m/c masculine identity and heterosexual.

  Teachers see this pupil stereotypically as achieving in the right way - through natural ability
• Archer - the "pathologized" pupil


  More likely to be Asian "deserving poor" feminised identity either asexual or with an oppressed sexuality. Teacher see this pupil as a stereotypically as a plodding conformists and culture-bound "overachiever". A slogger who succeeds through hard work rather an ability
• Archer- the "demonised" pupil identity


  A white or black w/c hypersexualised identity.Teachers see these pupils as stereotypically as unintelligent peer-led cultural deprived underachieved

  • For Archer, teachers are likely to demonise or pathologize ethnic minority groups - he used interviews to gather info

  • Further study in (2010) found teachers stereotyped Asian girls as quiet, docile or passive

  • Shain (2003) notes Asian girls challenge stereotype by misbehaving - often dealt with more severely
• External Factor: Family structure and parental support - Danial Maynihan (1965)


  • Argues many black families are headed by lone mothers - so children are inadequately socialised because she is too buterm-8sy

  • Father absence = no role model for boys

  • Sees cultural deprivation as a cycle - inadequately children fail at school, become inadequate parents fail to socialise their children
• External Factor: Family structure and parental support - Geoffrey Driver (1997)


  Geoffrey Driver (1997)

  • Criticises cultural deprivation theorists for ignoring positive effects of family

  • Shows Black Caribbean families are not dysfunctional - provide strong independent role models for black girls so they do better in school than black boys
• External factors: Sewell - fathers, gangs and cultures


  Sewell (2009)• Black boys underachieve because of lack of fatherly nurturing - have to overcome emotional and behavioural difficulties by themselves• Gangs "perverse loyalty and loyalty"• Black boys subject to powerful peer pressure - through interviews found peer pressure was greatest academic barrier• Speaking standard English was selling out • Joined anti-school subcultures• Claims black students do worse than their Asian counter part because cultural differences in socialisation and different attitude to education• Concludes black children (boys) need greater expectation to raise aspirations• Down plays impact of racism• Gilborne (2008) argues racist educational system• Genrelises
• External factors: Asian families - Lupton (2004)


  Lupton (2004)

  • Argues authority is the same in families as it is in school - knock on effect so children are more respectful at school

  • Danger of generalizing about "Asian success" - important differences in achievement of different pupils from different ethnic groups
• External Factors: Asian families - Sewell

  Sewell

  • View Chinese and Indian students benefit from supportive family that have "Asian work ethic" and place high value on education
• External factors: White working class families

  Research on Black families causing underachievement but underachievement and low aspirations often come from white w/c families
• External factors: White working class families - Muculloch (2014)


  Muculloch (2014)

  • A survey of 16,000 pupils showed ethnic minority groups are more likely to aspire to go to university
• External factors: White working class families - Gillian Evans (2006)


  Gillian Evans (2006)

  • Argues street culture in w/c can be brutal - so young learn to withstand intimidation and intimidate

  • School can become a place where the street is played bringing disruption
• External factors: White working class families - Lupton


  Lupton

  • 4 (w/c) schools - 2 predominately white, 1 mostly Pakistan and 1 mixed ethnicity

  •Teachers reported more behavioural issues in white schools despite having fewer pupils on free school meals

  • Teachers blamed lack of parental support and negative w/c parents attitudes to education - ethnic parents more likely to see education as a way up in society
• Multicultural education


  Recognizing and valuing minority cultures and putting them in the curriculum e.g Religious studies
• Compensatory education

  Additional support for cultural deprived children e.g if English isn't first language so support to help learn - Surestart
• Anti-racist education

  A policy that challenges the prejudice and discrimination that exists in schools and wider society.