Education in Sociology PDF

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Education in Sociology...

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Education What are the ethnic differences in achievement? (external) Cultural deprivation: Cultural deprivation theorists explain the educational underachievement of some groups as the result of inadequate socialisation in the home. You will cover:         

Language Intellect Attitudes and values Family structure and parental support Sewell Asian families White working class families Compensatory education Criticisms of cultural deprivation theory

Material deprivation:

Reasons why E.M in greater risk:     

Live in areas with high unemployment and low wages. Cultural factors (purdah – Muslim women can’t work outside the home). Lack of language skills and foreign qualifications – mainly recent arrivals to the UK. Some asylum seekers not allowed to work. Racial discrimination in the labour market and housing market.

Free School Meals:   

Children eligible for free school meals show inequalities. The material deprivation explanation argues class differences explain why Pakistani pupils tend to do worse than Indian and white pupils. Indian students (above average achievement) are often from better off families. They are most likely to go to private school – x2 white, x5 black.

Does class override ethnicity? We must consider class when comparing ethnic differences so we don’t overestimate cultural deprivation and underestimate material deprivation. However Indian and Chinese pupils who are materially deprived do better than most. 2011: 86% of Chinese girls (FSM) 5+ higher grade GCSE’s compared to 65% white girls (NOT FSM). Material deprivation and social class factors do not completely override ethnicity. Tariq Modood (2004) – found the effects of low income were less for E.M. than white pupils.

Racism leading to poverty: David Mason (2000) ‘discrimination is a continuing and persistent feature of the experience of Britain’s citizens of minority ethnic origin.’ Simply: EM face being treated unequally and unfairly. John Rex (1986) Racial discrimination-social exclusion ↑ poverty . Housing : EM more likely to be forced into substandard housing than white people of the same class. Wood et al (2010): employment Procedure: sent 3 closely matched job application to each of 1000 vacancies. (made up applicants with names associated with different ethnic groups). For each job – 1 white, 2 EM. 1. Identify and explain one criticism of cultural deprivation theory as an explanation of ethnic differences in achievement. (3 marks)  Critics name  Their criticism  Explanation of their criticism Racism -poverty. David Mason (2000) ‘discrimination is a continuing and persistent feature of the experience of Britain’s citizens of minority ethnic origin.’ He felt as if they were being treated unequally and unfairly to others. 2.

Describe 1 finding from Guy Palmer (2012) about the material deprivation problems that ethnic minorities are more likely to face. (1 mark)

Almost half of all ethnic minority children live in low-income households, as against a quarter of white children. 3. Describe Wood et al’s (2010) procedure and findings regarding racism in wider society. (4 marks)  procedure  findings  link to parental income (and therefore material deprivation) Did a study of job applications. An ethnic minority was much less likely, on the basis of their name, to be called for interview. Employers are racially sifting and sorting people on the basis of their names. Therefore ethnic minorities are more likely to face unemployment and low pay. Naturally this would then have a negative effect on their children’s educational prospects.

What are the ethnic differences in achievement? (internal) Challenge to cultural deprivation: Gillborn and Mirza (2000) : in a local education authority (LEA), black children were the highest achievers on entry to primary school (20% above local average) but by GCSE, they had the worst results (21% below average). Steve Strand’s (2010) national analysis of 530,000 7-11 year olds shows black pupils fall behind quickly after starting school. Black Caribbean boys (NOT FSM), especially more able, made less progress than white peers. Cultural deprivation theorists are challenged by these figures – why? They are challenged by these figures as they are quite high so they need to try understand why they are so people can help the students out.

Labelling and teacher racism: What is labelling? A theory of social behaviour which states that the behaviour of human beings is influenced significantly by the way other members in society label them. How may a teacher label a pupil? Teachers actively judge their pupils over a period of time, making judgments based on their behaviour in class, attitude to learning, previous school reports and interactions with them and their parents, and they eventually classifying their students according to what they see. E.g. if they’re smart or behave naughty. Interactionists study interactions where labelling occurs. They focus on labels given to pupils of different ethnic backgrounds. Their studies show teachers see black and Asian pupils as far from ‘ideal’. E.g. black pupils = disruptive and Asian pupils = passive. Explain how this may cause a self-fulfilling prophecy. This could cause self-fulfilling prophecy as students will start to feel left out or picked on which will eventually lead them to not wanting to take part or even come to school and this could lead into the child having a bad future.

Black pupils and discipline: Gillborn and Youdell (2000) found teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils than others for the same behaviour. They argue it is the result of teachers ‘racialised expectations’. They expected black pupils to show more discipline problems and misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening or a challenge to authority. When they acted on this, pupils responded negatively. Black pupils felt teachers underestimated their ability and picked on them. Gillborn and Youdell conclude conflict between white teachers and black pupils stems from the racial stereotypes teachers hold, rather than behaviour. Black boys have higher exclusion rates. Jenny Bourne (1994) found schools tend to see black boys as a threat and label them negatively, leading to exclusion. 1 in 5 excluded pupils achieves 5 GCSEs.

Osler (2001) – black pupils have more unrecorded exclusions and internal exclusions. More likely to be in PRU’s, excluding access to mainstream curriculum.

Black pupils and streaming: Gillborn and Youdell – educational triage. What is this? The process whereby schools sort pupils into 'hopeless cases', 'those who will pass anyway', and 'those with potential to pass', and then concentrate their efforts on the last of these groups as a way to boost the school's exam league table position Negative stereotypes about black pupils ability means they are placed in lower streams. Peter Foster (1990) found teachers stereotypes of black pupils as badly behaved could result in them being put in lower sets than others of similar ability. Self-fulfilling prophecy – how? As they will feel like the teachers don’t really want to help them with their learning and they might not feel important which can lead to them messing around or dropping out of school.

Asian pupils: Cecile Wright (1992) – studied a multi-ethnic primary school that showed Asian pupils can be victims of labelling. Teachers held ethnocentric views – taking for granted that British culture and Standard English were superior. They assumed they would have a poor level of English and left them out of discussions or used simplistic childish language with them. Asian pupils felt isolated when teachers disapproved of their customs or said their name wrong. Teachers saw them as a problem they could ignore (in contrast to black pupils as a threat). Asian pupils, especially girls, were marginalised and left out.

Pupil identities: Teachers may label students as having stereotypical ethnic identities. Archer (2008) suggests teachers dominant discourse (way of seeing something) defines ethnic minority pupils as lacking the favoured identity of the ideal pupil. What is the ideal pupil? Teachers had the own image of the “ideal pupil”, the upper middle class pupil best fitted the description given by the teachers What are the 3 different pupil identities according to Archer? White, m/c, masculine with 'normal sexuality'.

Chinese pupils: How did Archer suggest Chinese pupils are seen both positively and negatively by teachers? Minority pupils who perform successfully can be pathologized (seen as abnormal). Chinese students were simultaneously praised and viewed negatively by their teachers, who saw them as:

‘a homogenous passive, quiet and hardworking mass with Chinese girls as educational automatons, who are too quiet too passive and too repressed, while the boys tended to be positioned as effeminate and subordinate – and hence not properly masculine – by virtue of their passivity, quietness and hard work. ‘ Chinese success was seen as the wrong type of success. Because of this they could never have the ideal pupil identity. What did Archer and Francis (2007) call this view? ‘negative positive stereotype’ What social class are Chinese pupils assumed to have? Teachers tended wrongly to stereotype their Chinese students as middle-class.

Pupil responses and subcultures- Fuller and Mac an Ghaill’s research: In what ways do you think pupils respond to teacher racism and negative labelling? Less interactive in school, naughty behaviour in class, bad grades. Explain how Fuller and Mac an Ghaill’s research shows that negative labelling does not always turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy: Study of black and Asian ‘A’ level students at a sixth form college. Students who believed teachers had labelled them negatively did not necessarily accept the label. How they responded depended on factors such as their ethnic group and gender and the nature of their former schools. Some girls felt that their experience of having attended an all-girls school gave them a greater academic commitment that helped them to overcome negative labels at college. As with Fuller’s study, this research shows that a label does not inevitably produce a self- fulfilling prophecy.

Mirza’s research: What were the main findings? Studied ambitious black girls who faced teacher racism. Mirza found that racist teachers discouraged black pupils from being ambitious through the kind of advice they gave them about careers and option choices. Teachers discouraged them from aspiring to professional careers. A large majority of teachers in the study held racist attitudes. What are the 3 main types of teacher racism? The colour-blind: teachers who believe all pupils are equal but in practice allow racism to go unchallenged. The liberal chauvinists: teachers who believe black pupils are culturally deprived and who have low expectations of them. The overt racists: teachers who believe blacks are inferior and actively discriminate against them. What strategies did the girls use? Much of the girls’ time at school was spent trying to avoid the effects of teachers’ negative attitudes. How did these girls differ to those in Fuller’s research? In Fuller’s research the girls are determined to overcome the negative labels teachers have said about them and they are determined to have a good academic surrounding. However Mirza’s research shows that girls tend to avoid their teachers after the negative labels as it affects their moods.

Sewell- the variety of boys responses:

What are the 4 responses to racist stereotyping? The rebels were the most visible and influential group, but they were only a small minority of black pupils. They were often excluded from school. They rejected both the goals and the rules of the school. They were anti-authority, anti-school ‘black macho lads’. The rebels believed in their own superiority based on the idea that black masculinity equates with sexual experience and virility. They were contemptuous of white boys, who they saw as effeminate, and dismissive of conformist black boys. The conformists were the largest group. These boys were keen to succeed, accepted the school’s goals and had friends from different ethnic groups. They were not part of a subculture and were anxious to avoid being stereotyped either by teachers or their peers. The retreatists were a tiny minority of isolated individual who were disconnected from both school and black subcultures, and were despised by the rebels. The innovators were the second largest group. Like Fuller’s girls, they were pro-education but antischool. They valued success, but did not seek the approval of teachers and conformed only as far as schoolwork itself was concerned. This distanced them from the conformists and allowed them to maintain credibility with the rebels while remaining; positive about academic achievement. Which factors does Sewell see as most important in underachievement? 40% of black boys are conformists, so if we take the other three categories together, there is maybe some evidence here that it’s hyper-masculine identities which are holding black Caribbean boys back.

Evaluation of labelling and pupil responses:   

Doesn’t blame the child’s background Focuses too much on individual teacher racism, rather than institutional racism. Assumes that labelling leads to a SFP when it doesn’t always.

How does institutional racism (an internal factor) influence differences in achievement between ethnicities ? 3 main types of teacher racism Mirza identified:   

The colour blind – believe in equality but don’t challenge racism The liberal chauvinists – believe black pupils are culturally deprived and expect little of them The overt racists – believe black pupils are inferior and discriminate against them

Internal factors (2) institutional racism: Troyna and Williams (1986) argue we must explain ethnic differences by:  

Individual racism – teachers prejudice Institutional racism – discrimination built into the way institutions operate

Critical race theory: Education is racist in several ways:

   

Marketisation and segregation The ethnocentric curriculum Assessment Access to opportunities The new Iqism

Locked in inequality: Daria Roithmayr (2003), (a critical race theorist) sees institutional racism is a ‘locked in inequality’. As historical discrimination is so large, there is no conscious intent to discriminate – the inequality feeds on itself. Gillborn (2008) applies locked in inequality to education, saying that it is inevitable. 'locked in inequality is 'so deep-rooted and so large that it is a particularly inevitable feature in the education system'

Marketisation and segregation in America: What is marketisation? Marketisation is used to refer to a trend in education policy from the 1980s where schools were encouraged to compete against each other and act more like private businesses rather than institutions under the control of local government. Gillborn (1997) - marketisation allows selection and negative stereotypes to influence decisions. Moore and Davenport (1990) – selection → ethnic segregation. In America, schools used primary school reports to screen out pupils with language difficulties and the application process was hard for non- English speaking parents to understand. Concluded selection leads to ethnic stratification in education. What is stratification? Stratification describes the way in which different groups of people are placed within society. The status of people is often determined by how society is stratified - the basis of which can include:      

Wealth and income Social class Ethnicity Gender Political status Religion

The ethnocentric curriculum: The ethnocentric curriculum is based on the dominant culture. Ethnocentric curriculum = institutional racism – racism bias is in everyday school life. Examples: - Languages, literature and music Troyna and Williams highlight that the hesitation for teaching asian language compared to european languages Miriam David (1993)—History

Ball (1994) criticises the N.C. for the curriculum for ignoring ethnic diversity and for promoting an attitude for 'little Englandism' for example, you are not taught the history of black and asian people Bernard Coard (1971; 2015) – ethnocentric curriculum → underachievement. Explains how the curriculum leads to underachievement in history lessons, the image of black people as inferior undermines black people's self esteem and leads to there failure however it is not clear what affect the curriculum has. For example, the asian culture is ignored yet their achievement is above the national average. In history, Britain is presented as bringing civilisation to people they colonised. This image of black people as inferior undermines black children’s self-esteem and leads to failure It ignores Asian culture but Indian and Chinese pupils achievement is above average. Maureen Stone (1981) argues black children don’t suffer from low self-esteem

Assessment: Gillborn (2008) – ‘the assessment game’ is rigged. Primary schools used to use ‘baseline assessments’ to test pupils when the start primary school. These were replaced in 2003 by the foundation stage profile (FSP). Black pupils now appear worse than white. In one local authority in 2000, black children were the highest achievers (20% above average) on entry to school but by 2003 they were lower than white children across all 6 developmental areas. Gillborn explains the reversal as a result of 2 institutional factors: 1. The FSP: is based primarily on teachers judgement, whereas baseline assessment often used written tests 2. CHANGE IN THE TIMING: the FSP is completed at the end of reception year, whereas baseline assessments were done at the start of primary school Gillborn argues both increase the risk of stereotyping affecting results. Sanders and Horn (1995) found when more weighting was given to tasks assessed by teachers, the gap between the scores of ethnic groups widened.

Access to opportunities: The gifted and talented programme Created to meet the needs of more able pupils in inner-city schools. This seems to benefit some pupils from minority groups but Gillborn (2008) says that official stats show whites were over twice as likely as Black Caribbeans to be identified as G and T and 5 times more likely than Black Africans

Exam tiers:

Tikly et al (2006) - 30 schools - Aiming High initiative to raise Black Caribbean pupils achievement, black pupils > whites - entered into lower tier GCSE’s. Steve Strand (2012) - analysis of large scale data from the Longitudinal Study of Young Black People in England (LSYPE). Found a white-black achievement gap in maths and science at age 14 because of black pupils being entered less into higher tiers. Strand suggests that ethnic differences in entry to test tiers reflect teachers expectations, leading to a SFP.

The ‘new IQ-ism’: Access to opportunities depends on teachers assessments of pupils. Teachers tend to put black students in lower groups for potential and motivation. Sets are made based on attainment, behaviour and perceptions of attitude. Gillborn and Youdell found that teachers had 'racialised expectations' that back pupils would pose more discipline problems New Iqism – Gillborn argues teachers and policymakers make false assumptions about the nature of pupils ability or potential. They see potential as fixed and once it has been measured they can be streamed. Gillborn and Youdell (2001) – secondary schools are using old- style IQ tests to allocate pupils into streams. Gillborn argues there’s no real measure of potential, only what a person has learnt already. Gillborn concludes that the education system is all a test can do is tell us what a person has learnt or what they are able to do now! it doesn't tell us what they can do in the future.

Criticisms of Gillborn: Gillborn– ethnic differences are due to un...