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[external] ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT - Coggle Diagram
[external] ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT
CULTURAL DEPRIVATION
LANGUAGE:
lack of linguistic skills is a major cause of underachievement for some MEGs, leaving them poorly equipped for school
E.G BEREITER & ENGELMANN Claims language spoken by low income Black American families is inadequate for educational success, arguing its ungrammatical & disjointed - HOWEVER critics strongly reject this claim- LABOV found Black American speech was perfectly logical
BAKER-BELL sees views such as BEREITER & ENGELMANN as examples of 'anti-black linguistic racism' which labels black speech codes as inferior, and white speech codes as superior
ATTITUDES & VALUES:
lack of aspiration = major cause of underachievement
most children are socialised into the mainstream culture, which instils aspiration, competitiveness and willingness to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve long-term goals
By contrast, its argued some MEGs are socialised into a subculture that instals a fatalistic attitude which doesnt value education & leaves them unequipped for success
HOWEVER studies have shown that meg pupils tend to have high aspirations E.G PLATT & PARSONS found among 7-14 year olds meg boys and girls had higher career aspiration than their white counterparts and were more likely to aspire highly paid jobs
FAMILY STRUCTURE & PARENTAL SUPPORT:
Failure to socialise children adequately is the result of dysfunctional family structure
MOYNIHAN argues that because black families are headed by a lone mother, children are deprived of adequate care because she struggles financially due to absence of male breadwinner
Fathers absence also means boys lack adequate role model of male achievement
HOWEVER DRIVER criticises this by saying it ignores positive aspects of Black family structures
e.g Black Caribbean families provides girls with positive role models of strong independent women argues this is why black girls tend to be more successful in education than boys)
FATHERS, GANGS & CULTURE [SEWELL]:
Argues its not the absence of fathers as role models that leads to black boys underachieving
instead its the lack of fatherly nurturing or 'tough love' ( firm, fair, respectful and non-abusive discipline)
this results in black boys finding it hard to overcome emotional and behavioural difficulties of adoslescence
In abscence of restraining influence of a nurturing father, street gangs with other fatherless boys offers black boys 'perverse loyalty and love'
these present boys with a media-inspired role model of anti-school black masculinity, who ARNOT describes as 'the ultra-tough ghetto superstar, an image reinforced through rap lyrics
and MTV videos'
Many black boys are thus subject to powerful anti-educational peer group pressure- most of the academically successful black boys Sewell interviews felt greatest barrier to success was pressure from other boys
HOWEVER he's criticised of downplaying the impact of racism- its institutional racism in the education system that systematically produced the failure of black boys (not pressure or anbsent fathers)
ASIAN FAMILIES:
Sewell argues Indian and Chinese pupils benefit from their supportive families that have an 'asian work ethic' and place high value on education
WHITE W/C FAMILIES:
often underachieve and have lower career aspirations
McCULLOH found ethnic pupils more likely to aspire to go to uni than white pupils
this could be due to lack of parental support
minority ethnic group parents more likely to see education as a way up[ in society
EVANS reports that street culture in white working class areas can be brutal so young people have to learn how to withstand intimidation and how to intimidate others
in this context, school can be a place where the power games young people engage with on the streets are played out again, bringing disc=ruption and making it hard for pupils to succeed
CRITICISMS:
VICTIM BLAMING:
KEDDIE sees cultural deprivation as a victim blaming explanation- she argues ethnic minority children are culturally different, not culturally deprived
they dont underachieve because they lack language skills, support of aspirations but because schools are ethnocentric- biased in favour of dominant white culture
Labelling theorists argue the cause lies in teachers racist stereotypes and low expectations of them.
this negative labelling results in self-fulfilling prophecy of underachievement
Critical race theorists argue that the education system as a whole is institutionally racist
its built into the way schools operate to produce underachievement for minority ethnic groups
POLITICAL DISTACTION:
accuse cultural deprivation theory of being politically useful by deflecting attention away from real causes such a poverty and racism
by blaming victims instead, it allows government to avoid taking responsibility for tackling the causes which would carry financial costs
MATERIAL DEPRIVATION
Refers to lack of physical necssities that are seen as normal and essential
W/C more likely to face poverty and material deprivation
Material deprivation explanations see educational failure as resulting from factors such as substandard housing and low income
Minority ethnic groups are more likely to face these problems
PALMER 2012
almost half of all children from minority ethnic backgrounds live in low-income families in comparison to a quarter of white children
Members ofMEGs are almost twice as unlikely to to be unemployed than white people
MEG households are around 3 times as likely to be homeless
MEGs are more likely to be engaged in shiftwork and Pakastani and Bangladeshi women are more likely to be engaged in low-paid home working
REASONS WHY
Many live in economically depressed area with high unemployment and low wage rates
Cultural factors such as the tradition of PURDAH in some muslim households which prevent women from working outside the home
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
Such inequalities are reflected in the proportion of children from different ethnic groups who are eligible for free school meals
The material deprivation explanation argues such class differences explain why for example Pakistani pupils tend to do worse than Indian and white pupil
RACISM IN WIDER SOCIETY
Some sociologists argue that poverty is itself the product of another factor- racism. MASON says 'discrimination is a continuing and persistent feature of the experience of Britains citizens of minority ethnic origin'
REX shows how racial discrimination leads to social exclusion and how this worsens poverty faced by minority ethnic groups
in housing fo instance discrimination means that minorities are more likely to be forced into substandard accommodation that white poeple of the same class