Many CD sociologists see a lack of intellectual and linguistic as a major barrier to achievement in education, this is because a lack of these skills will slow development of reasoning skills, which can disadvantage the student. Bereiter and Engelmann consider the language used by black American families on low income as “inadequate for educational success”. Similarity, Bowker identifies their lack of Standard English as a barrier to education and integration in wider society. Most CD theorists see a lack of motivation as a key barrier to progress in educational achievement in black children compared to white or Asian children; who are instilled with ambition and a willingness to achieve thanks to the mainstream culture they are brought up in. Family structure varies greatly between ethnic groups, Ken Pryce argues that Asians are higher achievers because their culture is more resistant to racism and gives them a greater sense of self worth, whereas Black pupils have low self esteem due to racism and as such they achieve less in education.
Assess the view that differences in educational achievement between ethnic groups are primarily the result of discrimination in schools [20] In terms of educational achievement, there is evidence of inequalities among different ethnic groups. For example, Whites and Asians on average do better than Blacks. Some would say that this is primarily the result of discrimination in schools, an internal factor. However this is not the case as it is due to external factors such as the influence of home and family background and wider society. On the one hand it could be said that it is down to discrimination in schools that there is evidence of ethnic differences in educational achievement.
Assess the view that processes in school themselves are mainly responsible for ethnic differences in attainment? Several sociologists have a contrast of theories on if the education is mainly responsible for the ethnic differences in attainment. Some recognise that the education is mainly the reason as they continuously place negative labels on ethnic minorities and give them unfair sanctions. However, other sociologist theorise that the cause to this problem are external factors like material deprivation; their families attitude towards education, and several others. Although statistics show that the highest ethnicity whom over achieves in education are Chinese people, it is still very debatable for other ethnicity’s whether the schools process affects their attainment.
He argues that this is due to working-class parents being less likely to support and encourage their child’s intellectual development at home, therefore they are intellectually deprived compared to the middle-class pupils they are at school with. Sociologists such as Douglas believe that working-class homes often lack the books, educational toys and activities that would stimulate a child’s intellectual development. Language is another factor that is believed to create a social class difference. Basil Bernstein (1975) identified a language difference between the middle-class and working-class. He said the working-class are more likely to use the ‘restricted code’ which include limited vocabulary and is based on the use of short and unfinished, grammatically simple sentences, whereas the middle-class are more likely to use the ‘elaborated code’ which includes a wider range of vocabulary and is based on longer and grammatically more complex sentences.
This cultural deprivation which Murray controversially links to lower IQ levels, is seen as creating a group of pupils who are fundamentally alienated from the education system. Cultural deprivation has been widely criticised as an explanation of class differences in
Sociology of Education Unit 04 What patterns of achievement are there for students of different ethnicities? Learning targets: • Different ethnic groups appear to have differing levels of achievement in school. Overall, the ethnicities of attainment are White, Chinese and Indian heritage students. • There has been concern about the achievement levels of certain Black minorities: in particular, African Caribbeans and Bangladeshi students under-attain in schools. • Sociologists have difficulty in measuring the impact of ethnicity on achievement because other factors may be involved.
Assess sociological explanations for ethnic differences in achievement. (20 Marks) There are many reasons for ethnic differences in achievement, it’s been found that Indian and Asian pupils achieve higher than White, African-Caribbean, and Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils. One possible cause of ethnic differences in education is labeling, sociologist Gillborn found that teachers would label and therefore discipline black pupils quicker than other pupils which would do the same things and this would create a self fulfilling prophecy of the teachers thinking that black pupils would misbehave and do poorly and the pupils would accept that and with the extra lack of teacher help and increased discipline would therefore fail. Gillborn and Youdell think that this is because teachers label black pupils as being more likely to cause problems and rebel, with the teachers labeling the black pupils like this it makes them feel picked on and that the teachers underestimated them. Another result of the negative labeling of black pupils is the higher exclusion rate and the higher chances of black pupils to be put in sets below their actual abilities, which can only lead those black pupils to underachieve.
Sociology AS for AQA One for you to try Education p 243 Item B There is considerable evidence to show that pupils from some ethnic-minority backgrounds fall behind in school, particularly during the secondary phase. These include Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils. By contrast, Indian and Chinese pupils do better than average. There are also class and gender differences in achievement within all these groups, just as there among White pupils. One explanation for these patterns of achievement lies in the school itself and the processes at work there.
The Achievement Gap: Urban vs. Suburban Schools The public school systems goal in the United States is to provide every child with equal education. Unfortunately somewhere along the lines the education system in our country has failed to provide this equal education to many of our children, especially minority. It isn’t that the education is not there, but many other things such as urban parents, teachers, and the urban society itself affect a child’s education. When looking at the mandatory test scores of minority inner city students, specifically African American students, they are significantly lower than White American suburban students, hence the achievement gap.
For example, Troyna and Williams suggest that the British curriculum is ethnocentric because it prioritises white culture and therefore is a prime example of institutional racism. Stephen Ball goes further by criticising the national curriculum as he suggests that it ignores cultural/ethnic diversity as it promotes ‘little Englandism.’ This according to Bernard Coard creates an inferior image of black people and leads to low self esteem and failure. Although this could explain reasons for ethnic differences in achievement outside of the home background, it isn’t clear how much of an impact it has. This is because, even though it may ignore cultures like Chinese, their achievement levels are higher than the national average and therefore the curriculum cannot be that significant. Also, even with post modern society placing more emphasis on multi culturalism, the differences in achievement still remain.