External Ethnicity

• Cultural deprivation.

  The three aspects of cultural deprivation:

  • Language
  • Attitudes and values
  • Family structure and parental support
• Language

  • Bereiter and Engelmann - WC Black families language is ungrammatical and disjointed therefore they fail in education.
  • Baker-Bell criticises this - B + E are anti black linguistic racism and they label white speech codes as superior. 
  • Attainment 8 scores show that children's first language being English or not is irrelevant to their scores. 
• • Some minority ethnic groups are socialised into a subculture that instils a fatalistic attitude that does not value educational success.
  • However Platt and Parsons - 7-14 yo ethnic children have higher aspirations than their white counterparts.


  Attitudes ands values
• Family structure and support

  • The failure to socialise children properly is due to dysfunctional families
  • Moynihan - black families who have a lone mother struggle due to the absence of the breadwinner, boys lack a male role model to inspire academic achievement. 
  • Driver - Black girls are given a strong female role model.
• Sewell

  • The lack of fathers tough love and discipline = emotional and behavioural differences.
  • These boys look for a role model in gangs who offer a perverse love/loyalty.
  • The gangs force the boys to become "ultra tough and ghetto".
• Asian families

  • Adult authorities similar to school authority.
  • place a high value on education.
• Criticisms of cultural deprivation

  • Victim blaming - Keddie sees it as victim blaming, minorities are culturally different not deprived. Schools are ethnocentric.
  • Material deprivation instead
  • A political distraction - Raz claims it deflects the real cause of ethnic dea - poverty and racism. 
• Material Deprivation

  • = A lack of necessities 
  • Almost half of ethnic minorities are WC
  • Minorities are 3x more likely to be homeless