Ethnicity - Institutional Racism
Troyna & Williams
Marketisation & Segregation
Ethnocentric curriculum
EVALUATION
to explain ethnic differences in achievement, we need to go beyond simply examining individual teacher racism
must look at how schools + colleges routinely + unconsciously discriminate against ethnic minorities
Individual racism
results from prejudiced views of individual teachers + others
Institutional racism
discrimination that's built into way institutions
Gillborn
marketisation gives schools more scope to select pupils
allows negative stereotypes to influence decisions about admissions
parents + students can use Ofsted ratings + league tables to decide what schools to go to so schools with best results often oversubscribed
if school has more demand, they can be more selective with intake
The Commission for Racial Equality (1993)
racism in school admissions procedures means ethnic minority children more likely to end up in unpopular schools because:
reports from primary schools that stereotype minority pupils
racist bias in interviews for school places
lack of info + application forms in minority languages
ethnic minority parents often unaware of how waiting list system works + importance of deadlines
curriculum that reflects culture of one ethnic group, usually dominant culture
prime example of institutional racism as it builds racial bias into everyday working of education
Ball
criticises national curriculum for ignoring ethnic diversity + promoting 'little Englandism'
Assessments
Gillborn
assessment game rigged to validate dominant cultures superiority
assessment rules will be changed to re-engineer failure for ethnic minority groups
in the past primary schools used 'baseline assessments' which tested pupils when they started schooling but this was replaced by the foundation stage profile (FSP) so black pupils now appear to be doing worse than white pupils
FSP = increased risk of teacher stereotyping affecting results
FSP based on teachers judgements
change in timing means FSP completed at end of reception year so teachers have had time to get to know + stereotype pupils
Access to Opportunities
Gifted + Talented programme
aimed to meet needs of more able pupils in inner city schools
Gillborn
official statistics show whites over twice as likely as Black Caribbeans to be identified as gifted + talented + five times more likely than Black Africans
black pupils more likely than white pupils to be entered for lower tier GCSEs (often because placed in lower sets) so could only obtain a C at best
New IQism
access to opportunities depends heavily on teachers assessments of pupils ability
disproportionate number of black students in lower sets
students placed in lower sets not only based on prior attainment but also disciplinary concerns + teachers perceptions of attitude
Gillborn
teachers + policymakers make false assumptions about the nature of pupils ability + potential
no genuine measure of actual potential as old style IQ tests don't measure future potential, only current ability + what's been learnt
potential seen as fixed quality that can be easily measured
education system creates environment where ethnic minority pupils routinely disadvantaged
Critical Race Theory
racism = ingrained feature of society
intentional actions of others + institutional racism
Locked-in inequality
Roithmayr
institutional racism = locked-in inequality
Gillborn
ethnic inequality so deep rooted + so large it's practically an inevitable feature of education system
scale of discrimination so large that there no longer needs to be any conscious intent to discriminate as inequality becomes self perpetuating
:( critical race theories argue institutional racism main cause of underachievement + argue internal factors such as assessment + setting systematically produce ethnic minority underachievement
Sewell rejects this view as he argues, although racism hasn't disappeared, alone it's not powerful enough to prevent individuals from succeeding so we should focus on external factors as explanations for underachievement
:( critics point out that there's overachievement of model minorities asking if these minorities can do well, how can the education system be institutionally racist?
Gillborn responds, arguing image of Indians + Chinese pupils as hardworking model minorities performs ideological function that conceals the institutional racism, making system appear fair + meritocratic