Ethnicity & Educational Achievement 2

Racism & educational underachievement
1. Racism can be defined as negative beliefs or discriminatory behaviour directed at individuals/groups as a result of their race/ethnicity.
2. Institutional racism defined as "the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate & professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin - MacPherson 1999.
3. No. of sociologists believe that the educational undrachievement of some ethnic minorities (African Caribbean boys) is a result of racism, especially institutional racism.
  1. Reflected in school exclusion figures. In 2003/4, 41 black African Caribbean pupils per 10 000 were excluded from school, compared with 14 per 10 000 smong whites & 2 or less among Indians & Chinese pupils.
  2. African Caribbean boys are more likely to be placed in lower sets.
  3. Bernard Coard (1971) claimed that there was systematic racism in British education, with teachers having low expectations of black pupils, a curriculum that ignored black history & culture, & schools that tolerated racism in the playground.
Cecile Wright 1992 - Racism in primary schools
1. African Caribbean boys got plenty of attention, though the majority of it was negative - teachers expected them to behave badly.
2. Conducted an ethnographic study of 4 multi-racial primary schools using observation & interviews with teachers. She found significant evidence of discrimination by teachers.
3. Asian girls got less attention from teachers than other pupils, & their customs & traditions were sometimes met with hostility.
Gillborn, Mirza & Youdell 2000- rationing education
1. Used documentary evidence about local education authorities, lesson observation & interviews with pupils & teachers in 2 London comprehensive schools.
2. Found evidence that some local education authorities were poor at educating ethnic minorities.
3. Found a system of educational triage, in which education was rationed. Extra help was directed to pupils who were borderline for getting 5 GCSEs at grades A* - C.
  1. Most black pupils were seen as having little chance of achieving this & so were not given extra help.
    1. Compared with white white peers with similar levels of acheivement, black pupils were placed in lower sets & entered fo lower-tier exams.
4. There was also evidence of racialized expectations. Behaviour of black pupils was often misinterpreted as threatening, when in reality it reflected a desire to take an active part in lessons & to succeed.
5. Concluded that unintentional racism was based on misinterpretations holds back black pupils.
Margaret Fuller (1984)
1. Found that African Caribbean girls worked extra hard & were determined to succeed despite experiencing racism in the education system.
Racism & the curriculum
1. Some sociologists argue that the curriculum neglects both ethnic minority culture & topics of specific interest to ethnic minorities.
  1. For instance, geography & history tend to emphasize the positive benefits of British colonialism rather than the negative effects on the former colonies.
2. Tikly et al (2006) studied 30 comprehensive schools & found that a large no. of African Caribbean pupils felt that their culture was invisible in the curriculum because of a white European focus.
  1. When black history was mentioned, it tended to be in relation to slavery rather than the positive contribution of black people to history.
Conclusion
1. Inequality has been reduced, with most ethnic minority groups doing well in British education, but some problems remain, particularly, for African Caribbean boys.
2. Evidence suggests that factors inside & outside school combine to affect the performance of ethnic minorities in the education system.
3. Unintentional racism in education plays some part in the underachievement of African Caribbean pupils in particular.
4. Some steps have ben made to reduce unintentional racism, for instance, through the intro of multicultural curriculum.
5. Parental attitudes not a factor, since research suggests parents from all ethnic groups are strongly interested in their children's education.
6. Class inequality partially explains ethnic differences in achievement. It affects the educational achievements of all ethnic minorities, & has a strong effect among white British, but little effect among Chinese & Indian pupils.
7. Ethnicity interacts with class & gender to shape educational achievement, rather than acting independently of other social divisions.

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