1. Ethnicity & Education Along with Social Class & Gender, Ethnicity might also play a key part in determining educational achievement. By the end of this topic you should; Be able to describe the patterns of ethnic differences in educational achievement. Understand & be able to evaluate the role of different external factors, including cultural deprivation, material deprivation & racism in wider society. Understand & be able to evaluate the role of different internal factors, including labelling, pupil subcultures, the curriculum, institutional racism, & selection & segregation policies.
2. Ethnicity & Education ‘ People who share common history, customs & identity, as well as, in most cases, language & religion, and who see themselves as a distinct unit’. (Lawson & Garrod 2000) DfES (2007): > Only 24% of White male pupils who were on free school-meals gained 5 A*-C Grades. Webb (2008): White pupils make up around 4/5 of all of all pupils. Hastings (2006): White pupils make less progress between the ages of 11-16 years-old compared to Black or Asian pupils. If current trends continue then White pupils will become the lowest performing ethnic group in the UK. > White & Asian pupils on average achieve higher than Black pupils > Amongst Asians, Indians do better than Pakistanis & Bangladeshis Be aware of Generalisations What do the statistics tell us?......
3. It is important to realise that, within different ethnic groups, there are big differences between males & females & social classes e.g. > Within every ethnic group, M/C pupils do better than W/C pupils. > Among all groups other than Gypsy/Roma children, girls out perform boys. Revisit your work on Social Class & Gender Differences in Education. Just like Social Class & Gender, explanations for Ethnicity & differences in achievement can be generally spilt into 2 categories: > Internal (Inside School) Labelling/ Interactionist Theories. > External (Outside School) Cultural Deprivation Theories. Once again the DfES (2007) tells us…
5. Cultural Deprivation: 1) Intellectual & Linguistic Skills: These arguments suggest that many ethnic minority groups (particularly Black, low-income groups), lack adequate stimulation & linguistic development through their socialisation. A lack of standard English creates a huge barrier to UK education. Go back to your work on Bernstein and revise his theory as it is also relevant within this topic. How could these arguments be evaluated? The Swann Report (1985) found that language differences had little impact on achievement. Doesn’t explain why Indian pupils do so well. Bowker (1968): ‘The Education of Coloured Immigrants’. Bernstein (1975): ‘Socio-Linguistics’
6. How could these arguments be evaluated? 2) Attitudes & Values: These arguments suggest that different ethnic groups are socialised into (or ‘inherit’) different attitudes & values. Revisit your work on Hyman & Sugarman (1967) & Bernstein (1984) African Caribbean Lone-Parenthood to blame. Lack of male role-models means that mothers struggle to socialise children adequately. 3) Family Structure & Parental Support: Many sociologists argue that ‘dysfunctional’ family types are to blame for the underachievement of certain ethnic groups. Murray (1984): Moynihan (1965): Scruton (1986): Low achievement is the result of ethnic minorities failing to embrace & conform to British culture. Arnot (2004) suggests that the Media have created a negative anti-school role model for Black pupils in particular which he describes as ‘the Ultra-Tough Ghetto Superstar ‘ reinforced through rap lyrics & MTV videos.
7. Pryce (1979): Asian culture in the UK is much more cohesive than Black culture & as such they are able to ignore racism more effectively and as such are not effected by it as much e.g. low self-esteem leading to educational failure. Driver & Ballard (1981): … Remember to Evaluate these ‘Cultural Deprivation’ Theories… The impact of Slavery means that much of the Black culture has lost it’s language, religion, ancestry etc. The Black culture are therefore much less likely to integrate & assimilate with White M/C UK. Hall (1992) calls this a ‘Culture of Resistance’. Argue that Asian families have a much more ‘Pro-School’ attitude than Black families. Also because Asian families are rarely lone parents families they offer a bigger support network for children. Lupton (2004) suggests that the ‘Adult Authoritarian’ Asian family matches that of the school.
8. Driver (1977) highlights how ethnicity can be an advantage in education e.g. African Caribbean Girls actually do very well in school. Keddie (1971) says that to blame culture is to blame the victims of educational failure. Ignores Compensatory Education e.g. > Operation Head Start (1960s) > Educational Priority Areas (1960s) > Educational Action Zones (1990s) > Sure Start (2000) Ignores Multiculturalism Relies on Generalisations
9. Material Deprivation: According to Flaherty (2004): > Pakistanis & Bangladeshis are 3X more likely than Whites to be in the poorest 1/5 of the population. Africans, Pakistanis & Bangladeshis are 3X more likely to be unemployed than Whites. > 15% of minority groups live in overcrowded homes (2% for Whites). > Pakistanis are 2X as likely to be in semi/ un-skilled jobs compared to Whites. Revisit you work on Douglas (1964) ‘ The Home & the School’. According to the Swann Report (1985), Social Class differences account for a high proportion of differences in achievement between ethnic groups. How could the ‘Material Deprivation’ argument be evaluated?
10. Racism in Society: Mason (1995) argues that; ‘ Discrimination is a continuing & persistent feature of the experience of Britain’s citizens of minority ethnic origin’. Remember – It is important to evaluate these arguments. Rex (1986): Racism leads to social exclusion and accordingly poverty. This is shown in housing, employment & education. Racism also leads to discrimination both inside & outside the classroom. Noon (1993): Sent identical letters to 100 top UK companies but alternated between the names ‘Evans’ & ‘Patel’……… the replies to the ‘White’ candidate were more helpful and informative.
