ethnicity

• ethnic group (Lawson and Garrod)

  'people who share common history, customs and identity'

  inequalities exist in educational achievement of different ethnic groups
• material deprivation (external)

  ethnic minorities are more likely to face material deprivation such as substandard housing and low income, leads to underachievement e.g

  Bangladeshis and pakistanis face higher levels of poverty and have significant levels of underachievement while indians and whites have higher social class positions and do better in education system
• material deprivation

  free school meals are an indicator of poverty

  2014 study found 28% Pakistani and 38% Bangladeshi students entitled to free school meals

  compared to 12.5% white and 9% indian
• cultural deprivation (external)

  underachievement of some ethnic groups as a result of inadequate socialisation in the home

  1. intellectual and linguistic skills
  2. attitudes and values
  3. Family structure
• intellectual and linguistic skills

  • many ethnic minority children come from a home where english is not spoken which affects achievement
  • cultural deprivation sociologists argue many children from low income ethnic families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences
  • Engelmann et al (1966) state language spoken by low income black families as disjointed, ungrammatical and incapable of expressing abtract ideas
• criticisms of intellectual and linguistic skills

  swann report (1985) found language was not a major factor in educational underachievement

  Gilborn and mirza (2000) found indian students do well despite often not having english as their first language
• criticisms of material deprivation

  • modood argues that many ethnic minority parents have more cultural capital than is typical for their income and class position
  • they may not get jobs in line with their qualifications and experience due to discrimination and language barriers in UK
• attitudes and values

  • parental attitudes are an important factor in educational achievement e.g
  • british chinese pupils are more successful than any other ethnic group in education system as research by Archer and Francis (2007) found parents placed an exeptionally high value on education
• attitudes and values

  • Basit (2013) found cultural values had an impact on educational achievement in British asian communities
  • she used focus groups and indepth interviews to determine that all participants placed a high value on education and saw free state education as a 'blessing'
  • even relatively poor parents provided their children with desks, computers and internet
• evaluation of attitudes and values

  however, research shows all ethnic minority groups are enthusiastic about education compared to white british

  Connor et al found among year 13 students, Black African students planning to go onto higher education had the most positive attitudes to education
• family structure

  • cultural deprivation theorists argue that family structures influence educational achievement e.g
  • Sewell (1997) argues that black african boys raised in a lone-parent household lack dicipline and male role models which results in an attraction to aggression and macho-masculinity
  • these attitudes result in rejection of acedemic achievement
• family structure criticisms

  • Sewell criticised for blaming black groups for underachievement
  • Driver argues it ignores black women who achieve high acedemically due to strong female role models
  • keddie argues minority ethnic groups are culturally different, not culturally deprived
• intitutional racisim (internal)

  • pupils from different ethnic minorities are treated differently by both teachers and other pupils
  • Gillborn (2002) argues schools are institutionally racist, as teachers intepret policy in a way that disadvantages students
  • e.g in setting schemes black children are undervalued, relegating them to low ability groups
  • gilborn and mirza argue the marketisation of education creates a rationing of education- teachers focus on those capable of achieveing a C grade and above and neglect the 'high achievers' and the 'no hopers'
• insitutional racism

  • gillborn (2008) argues racism affects some ethnic minorities more than others e.g chinese and indian pupils are seen as 'model minorities' who have positive attitudes towards education
  • Ranson (2005) highlights the unrepresentativeness of school governing bodies, which are disproportionately white, middle class
  • therefore, ethnic inequalities in education are given a low priority
• Labelling, stereotyping, subcultures (internal)

  • Gilborn (1990) found african caribbean students more likely to be given detention
  • teachers perceived manner and dress of students to be representing a challenge to their authority and students responded in acordance to their labels
• labelling

  • jasper (2002) suggests white female teachers changed style of teaching in accordance to expectations they had of black boys behaviour
  • O'Donnell (1991) various ethnic subcultures had distinctive reactions to labelling and racism
  • e.g Black Carribean males often react angrily and reject white- dominated education system, Indians get angry but do not reject education system
• labelling, subcultures

  • O'donnell and Sharpe (2000) argue black males construct a form of masculinity that earns respect from peers and sees education as feminine
  • Sewell argues educational failure becomes a badge to wear with pride
• labelling, subcultures

  • Connolly (1998) examined the treatment of south asian boys
  • seens as immature rather than seriously deviant
  • not punished to the extent of black boys, trouble gaining status as males
  • teachers had high expectations of them, praised and encouraged
• girls labelling, subcultures

  • Connolly found black girls percieved to be disruptive and teachers tended to 'underplay' their acedemic achivevements
  • Wright found asian girls to be ignored in the classroom e.g teachers involved them less in discussions, used simplistic language
  • had the effect of girls feeling less positive towards school
• girls labelling, subcultures

  • Fuller (1984) found there could be a positive reaction to labelling
  • black girls in her study used their rejection by the school as motivation to be successful, overcame barriers
• The curriculum

  • ethnocentric curriculum refers to priority given to culture and viewpoint of one ethnic group while disregarding others
  •  Troyna and Williams (1986) describes the curriculum in British schools as ethnocentric as it gives priority to white culture and the English language.

  ​
• the curriculum

  • Coard (1971) argues content of education system ignore black culture, literature and art leading to low self-esteem amongst black pupils
  • Tikly (2006) found significant number of African Caribbean pupils frustrated with invisibility in the curriculum
  • 2014 coalition government introduced renewed emphasis on traditional curriculum e.g. studying shakespeare, leaving less room for multicultural curriculum