Student prep: Education

Topic 3: Ethnic differences in achievement (p 37 – 49)

1. Define the term ‘ethnic group’.

People who share the same heritage, culture and identity, often including the same
language and religion and who see themselves as a distinct group.

2. Using figure 2.3 summarise the main trends in ethnic achievement in education.

 Chinese pupils have the greatest percentage of students achieving 5 or more GCSE
grades A*-C, with Indian students following closely behind.

 Bangladeshi, White British and Black African students achieve roughly the national
average of 60% students receiving grades A*-C at GCSE.

 Pakistani students and Black Caribbean students fall below the national average
and Gypsy/Roma pupils have the least number of students achieving 5 or more
GCSE grades A*-C.

3. Using key concepts and studies from pages 37-39 complete the table in bullet
points on the three main aspects of cultural deprivation.

Key concepts and How this aspect effects educational achievement

studies
Intellectual and Bereiter and Engelmann consider the language spoken by low-
linguistic skills e.g., income black American families as inadequate for educational
Bereiter and success as it’s ungrammatical, disjointed and incapable of
Englemann expressing abstract ideas. There has been concern that
children who do not speak English at home may be held back
educationally.

Attitudes and values Lack of motivation for children in ethnic minorities. Children
are socialised into a subculture that has a ‘live for today’
attitude that does not value education and leaves them
unequipped for success.

Family structure and Daniel Moynihan (1965) argues that because many black
parental support families are headed by a lone mother, children are deprived of
adequate care in the absence of a male breadwinner and the
father’s absence means that boys lack a role model of male
achievement. Moynihan sees cultural deprivation as a cycle.
Charles Murray (1984), new right sociologist, argues that high
rate of lone parenthood and lack of positive male role models
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 leads to the underachievement of some minorities.

4. Give four reasons why ethnic minority pupils are more likely to suffer material
deprivation linked to housing and low income.

 Many live in economically depressed areas with high unemployment and low wage
rates.
 A lack of language skills, and foreign qualifications not being recognised by UK
employers. These are more likely to affect recently arrived groups, many of whom
are refugees.
 Asylum seekers may not be allowed to take work.
 Racial discrimination in the labour market and housing market

5. How does racism lead to social exclusion in the following areas?

a. Housing - In housing, discrimination means that minorities are likely to be forced into
substandard accommodation than white people of the same class

b. Employment - there is evidence of direct and deliberate discrimination which explains

why members of ethnic minorities are more likely to face unemployment and low pay,
having a negative effect on their children’s educational prospects.

6. Using key concepts and studies from pages 41-43 complete the table in bullet
points on the three internal factors and their effect on the educational
achievement of ethnic minorities.

Key concepts and How this aspect effects educational achievement

studies
Labelling and teacher Gillborn and Youdell found that teachers were quicker to
racism e.g. Gillborn discipline black pupils than others for the same behaviour and
and Youdell argue that this is the result of teachers’ ‘racialised
expectations. They found that teachers expected black pupils
to present more discipline problems and misinterpreted their
behaviour as threatening or as a challenge to authority. When
teachers acted on this misperception, the pupils responded
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 negatively, and further conflict resulted. In turn, black pupils
felt teachers underestimated their ability and picked on them.

Pupil identities Louise Archer argues that teachers’ dominant discourse

defines ethnic minority pupils’ identities as lacking the
favoured identity of the ideal pupil. Ethnic minority pupils are
likely to be seen as either demonised or pathologized pupils.
For example, from interviews with teachers and students, she
shows how black students are demonised as loud, challenging,
excessively sexual and with ‘unaspirational’ home cultures.

Pupil responses and Mary Fuller describes how, instead of accepting negative
subcultures stereotypes of themselves, some students channel their anger
about being labelled into the pursuit of educational success
and unlike other successful pupils, they did not seek the
approval of teachers, many of whom they regarded as racist.
Nor did they limit their choice of friends to other academic
achievers.

Heidi Safia Mirza found that racist teachers discouraged black

pupils from being ambitious through the kind of advice they
gave them about careers and option choices. Much of the
students time at school was spent trying to avoid the effects of
teachers’ negative attitudes by being selective about which
staff to ask for help; getting on with their own work in lessons
without taking part and not choosing certain options so as to
avoid teachers with racist attitudes. However, although the
girls had high self-esteem, these strategies put them at a
disadvantage by restricting their opportunities.

7. Define the following.

a. Individual racism-results from the prejudiced views of individual teachers and other

b. Institutional racism-discrimination that is built into the way institutional such as

schools and colleges operate.

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 8. According to critical race theory, racism is a ‘locked-in-inequality’. Explain what
this means.

Daria Roithmayr sees institutional racism as a ‘locked-in inequality’: The scale of historical
discrimination is so large that there no longer needs to be any conscious intent to
discriminate – the inequality becomes self-perpetuating. Gillborn (2008) applies the
concept of locked-in inequality to education. He sees ethnic inequality as “so deep rooted
and so large that it is a practically inevitable feature of the education system”.

9. Read pages 45 – 47, select three issues that effect ethnic differences in
achievement from the purple headings and summarise them.

Issue Effect of this issue on achievement

Louise Archer argues that teachers’ dominant discourse defines ethnic
Pupil identities minority pupils’ identities as lacking the favoured identity of the ideal
pupil. Ethnic minority pupils are likely to be seen as either demonised
or pathologized pupils. For example, from interviews with teachers
and students, she shows how black students are demonised as loud,
challenging, excessively sexual and with ‘unaspirational’ home
cultures.

Gillborn and Youdell found that teachers were quicker to discipline

Labelling and black pupils than others for the same behaviour and argue that this is
teacher racism the result of teachers’ ‘racialised expectations. They found that
e.g., Gillborn teachers expected black pupils to present more discipline problems
and Youdell and misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening or as a challenge to
authority. When teachers acted on this misperception, the pupils
responded negatively, and further conflict resulted. In turn, black
pupils felt teachers underestimated their ability and picked on them.

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 Mary Fuller describes how, instead of accepting negative stereotypes
Pupil of themselves, some students channel their anger about being
responses and labelled into the pursuit of educational success and unlike other
subcultures successful pupils, they did not seek the approval of teachers, many of
whom they regarded as racist. Nor did they limit their choice of friends
to other academic achievers.

Heidi Safia Mirza found that racist teachers discouraged black pupils
from being ambitious through the kind of advice they gave them
about careers and option choices. Much of the students time at school
was spent trying to avoid the effects of teachers’ negative attitudes by
being selective about which staff to ask for help; getting on with their
own work in lessons without taking part and not choosing certain
options so as to avoid teachers with racist attitudes. However,
although the girls had high self-esteem, these strategies put them at a
disadvantage by restricting their opportunities.