Internal ethnicity and DEA

• • Gillborn and Mirza - Black pupils were the highest achievers in primary yet the worst by GCSE therefore internal factors play a part in ethnic DEA.


  Therefore internal factors play a part.
• Labelling and teacher racism

  • Interactionalists found that teachers see Black and Asian students as far from the ideal pupil.
  • Black students are seen as disruptive and Asians are seen as passive.
  • Leads to SFP. 
• Black pupils and discipline

  • Gilborn and Youdell - teachers are quick to discipline black students quicker than other races for the same behaviour.
  • This is because of racialised expectations. Teachers assume that black pupils are more likely to challenge their authority, or argue and cause more conflict. Black pupils feel that teachers pick on them, this conflict is a result of teachers racial stereotypes rather than the students behaviour.
  • This explains the high rate of exclusion for black boys.
• Asian pupils

  • Teachers hold ethnocentric views
  • Teachers would assume that Asian pupils are less likely to understand and therefore will simplify the work they give them. 
  • Asian pupils also feel isolated (through teachers mispronouncing their names), teachers ignoring Asian pupils lead to them being marginalised and therefore underachieve.
  • Wright 
• Pupil identities

  • Archer - teachers dominant way of seeing ethnic pupils is through their lack of being the ideal pupil.
  • The ideal pupil - a white, middle class, hetero masculine identity. Achieving through natural ability.
  • The pathologised pupil - an Asian, deserving poor, female, oppressed sexuality. Conformist overachiever, who succeeds through hard work.
  • The demonised pupil identity - a white or black, hyper-sexualised, unintelligent and culturally deprived underachiever.
• Chinese pupils

  • Archer and Francis  teachers see Chinese pupils as a negative positive stereotype. 
  • They misinterpret South Asian girls as oppressed within their family, whilst viewing Chinese pupils as Middle Class.
  • Archer found that teachers will disapprove of Chinese attainment as they are not naturally able like the ideal pupil.
• Fuller and Mac an Ghaill - rejecting negative labels

  • Fuller studied a group of Yr11 black girls - they were untypical as they were high achievers whilst other black girls were in low streams.
  • The girls channeled their anger of being labelled into pursuing educational success.
  • They did not seek teachers approval, and remained friends with lower stream black girls. 
  • They conformed only for school work, and appeared unbothered about education. They seek approval through external exams. 
  • Mac and Ghaill - Black and Asian students in sixth form acknowledged their labels but did not adhere to them.
• • Mirxa studied ambitious black girls who faced teacher racism. 
  • Racist teachers discouraged them from being ambitious, there were three types of teacher racism.
  • The colour blind - teachers who believe everyone is equal but allows racism to occur.
  • The liberal chauvinists - teachers who have low expectations of black pupils as they are culturally deprived.
  • The overt racists - teachers who believe black pupils are inferior and actively discriminate against them. 
  • Girls avoided this racism by not taking part ion class, and only asking certain teachers for help. These strategies failed. 
  • Mirza
• Black boys' responses to teacher labelling

  • Rebels
  • Conformists
  • Retreatists
  • Innovators
• Rebels

  The most visible and influential group, only a minority but they reject the goals and rules of schools. They conform to the stereotypes of the anti authority, anti school, black macho lad. They were dismissive of black conformists and saw white boys as effeminate.
• Conformists

  Largest group, wanted to succeed and therefore accepted schools goals. Anxious to be stereotypes therefore had friends from different ethnic groups.
• Retreatists

  Individuals who isolated themselves.
• Innovators

  Second largest group that were pro education but anti school.
• Locked-in inequality

  • Institutional racism is locked in inequality - there does not need to be any intent to discriminate, the inequality is self perpetuating and it feeds on itself.
• Marketisation and segregation 

  • Gillborn argues that because marketisation allows schools to pick their students in order to make their league table look better, schools are less likely to pick ethnic minorities due to stereotypes.
  • Application processes may also be hard for parents who are not native English speakers. 
• The ethnocentric curriculum

  • The lack of ethnic culture within the curriculum may lead to students feeling excluded from education.
  • Ball - national curriculum promotes Little Englandism through ignoring ethnic diversity and focusing on the British empire.
• Access to opportunities

  • The gifted and talented programme - aimed to find high achievers in inner cities, Gillborn found it was 5x more likely to pick a white pupil than a black pupil.
• The new IQism

  • Access to opportunities such as the prior programme is based off of the teachers assessments of the pupils ability. This judgement includes bias against black students. Teachers are less likely to pick Black pupils due to disciplinary issues (racialised expectations).
  • New IQism - teachers make false assumptions about pupils ability. They believe that a child’s ability can be changed. 
• Criticisms of Gillborn

  • Focuses on the underachievement of black boys and the overachievement of Indian and Chinese pupils.
  • Gillborn argues that Indian and Chinese pupils are model minorities and work as an ideological function to conceal the racism within education. It legitimates the failures of other minorities, making the system appear meritocratic.