Download Cultural Explanations for Differential Educational Achievement

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EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES STATEMENT
The Further Education National Consortium (FENC) believes that discrimination and prejudice on
the grounds of ethnicity, gender, religion, marital status, sexual orientation and social class is
incompatible with the principle of Equal Opportunities.
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Objectives
In this quantum you will explore cultural explanations for differences in
ethnic attainment in schools.
You will be expected:
xý
to consider the questions of what is the social cause of the
low attainment of some ethnic minority children. Sociologists
have tended to move away from and sometimes reject the
more psychological explanations but have not agreed on the
social causes themselves
xý
to consider such issues as the cultural background and social
class position of ethnic minority children as well as the
general issue of racism
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PRE-REQUISITES
It is assumed that you will have a general understanding of the various
sociological perspectives, and to accompany this quantum it is
suggested that you read:
HARALAMBOS, M (1995) Sociology: Themes and Perspectives Collins
Educational 4th edn
PILKINGTON, A. (1984) Race Relations in Britain NTP
LORD SWANN (1985) Education for All HMSO
HARALAMBOS, M. (1985) Sociology New Directions Causeway
WILLIAMS, M. (1986) Society Today MacMillan
FIELD, S. (March 1986) Trends in Racial Inequality in Social Studies
Review
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WELCOME
The following definitions will help you to understand the differences
between the terms used to describe ideas contained in this quantum.
Race
The nature of the physiological make-up of peoples who originate from
different genetic backgrounds. Often what is implied in this term is that
different racial groups possess different characteristics, which are
either inferior or superior. Sociologists have therefore preferred to use
the terms 'ethnicity'.
Ethnicity
This term refers to people who, through long-standing association of
kinship, culture, and often religion share a common sense of identity.
An ethnic group may or may not share a common territory.
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Racialism/Racism
Racialism means the belief that there are significant
differences between racial groups which defer on
them superior or inferior characteristics such as
intelligence or morality etc.
Racism is the belief that such differences provide
the grounds for treating the different groups in
different ways.
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CULTURAL EXPLANATIONS FOR DIFFERENTIAL
ACHIEVEMENT
It can be said that whilst ethnic under-attainment generally can be
explained by their experience of language, culture, class location and racial
discrimination it is also the case that the particular experiences of different
ethnic groups in any or all of these categories will be highly varied.
In the late 1960s and 1970s a popular explanation for the differential
achievement between Afro-Caribbean and Asian students was seen to
be cultural background.
Asians, it has been argued, have managed to maintain cultural forms
which predate British penetration of the Asian sub-continent. During the
period of Imperialism, traditional languages, religions and family
systems survived.
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Migration to Britain has threatened, but not led to the erosion of these
cultural forms, and children are taught distinct beliefs and values. They
enter the education system with a clear, positive sense of ethnic
identity.
For Afro-Caribbeans, the results of British Imperialism were far more
far reaching. Transportation from Africa to the slave plantations in the
West Indies deprived them of their cultural heritage. Plantation life
resulted in the dismemberment of the family system.
Ken Pryce in his book 'Endless Pressure' (1979) argues that it is due to
the experiences of slavery that the Afro-Caribbean family system has
suffered cultural deprivation still felt today in many contemporary
families. As a result children receive a less secure picture of their own
personal identity.
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They internalise a eurocentric cultural point of view which gives limited
importance to the cultural heritage of Africa. It may not be surprising
that Blacks may internalise these values and develop a negative self
image of themselves and their ethnic identity.
Read the section Ethnicity and Family Diversity in HARALAMBOS, M.
(1995) Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, pages 351–354.
Activity 1
1ý
Suggest some factors which show the strength of the Asian family.
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2ý
In what ways does the Afro-Caribbean family differ from the Asian
family?
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Afro-Caribbean parents generally do have a high regard for the
importance of education and look for their children to do well in
schools. However, attention was turned on the child-rearing practices
of the family.
M. Taylor in 'Caught Between' (1981) suggests that although AfroCaribbean parents have high aspirations for their offspring, they often
lack an understanding of the importance of play, toys, and child-parent
interaction in the early years of a child's development.
One factor here is undoubtedly economic disadvantage experienced,
disproportionately, by Afro-Caribbean parents.
A second factor may be the higher than average number of one-parent
families which leads to the use of a childminder if the parent is to find
employment.
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Barbara Tizzard et al's study 'Young Children at School in the Inner
City' (1988) looked at the childrearing of both black and white working
class children. It was a longitudinal study, carried out between 1982
and 1985, with 343 children, 171 white and 106 black across 30
schools.
She found that the stereotype of the working class mother,
uninterested in their child's education was completely false. Parents of
both black and white children were intensely interested and involved in
their children's development, especially black parents.
They read to them, gave them help with homework, provided them with
books for school. However, relatively few Afro-Carribean families have
the experience or tradition of seeking higher education, so it was
primary and secondary education that they were most concerned for.
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The study intended to explore differences in attainment between black
and white, and between boys and girls. They found few differences
between the different groups in the initial stages, but as the groups
progressed through school, black girls emerged ahead of other groups,
with black boys doing worst, especially in reading.
One of the early findings was that once at nursery school and infant
school, the children's engagement with language become much
poorer. Instead of asking innumerable questions, their role was limited
to answering them, and they became much less active in the learning
process.
They suggest that teachers' attitudes towards their pupils affected their
progress. At later stages in their education, they suggest that racism
may play a part.
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SELF IMAGE
A negative self-image has been seen as a factor in the developmental
disadvantage of Afro-Caribbean students.
David Milner investigated the self-images of 100 English, 100 Asian
and 100 Afro-Caribbean children aged 5–8. They were either shown
pictures or dolls representing their own ethnic group or the main ethnic
group in the area. When asked the question, 'If you could be one of
these two dolls, which one would you rather be?'
All of the white British children chose the white doll, 65% of the Asian
and a stunning 82% of the Afro-Caribbean children made the same
choice. Even more disturbingly children from ethnic minority
backgrounds described the dolls from their own ethnic group using
unfavourable stereotypes.
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Bagley, Bart and Wong, studied 1900 students, from mixed ethnic
backgrounds, aged 14–16 from 39 schools spread over England. They
found that the self-esteem of students from an Asian background did
not differ from that of white students.
However, black children, who were in schools where the ethnic
concentration was low, had poor self-esteem. These children appeared
to accept negative stereotypes transmitted through wider society. Black
children in schools with high levels of other black children confirmed
positive images of black culture.
Worryingly it was discovered that black males had generally low selfesteem, which may lead to the conclusion that the lack of success of
black males may, in part, be due to negative images that are picked up
through socialisation.
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Geoffrey Driver's study of school leavers in five multi-racial inner-city
schools showed that Afro-Carribean pupils, especially girls, achieved
results which were generally better than those achieved by white boys
and girls. He attributes the girls' success to the strength of the matrifocal family tradition, carried over from the West Indies. However, the
study does not control for social class variables, so he may be
comparing groups from different class backgrounds.
Mary Fuller's study (1982) also points to the strong self-image of black
girls committed to educational success, but not to conforming to the
values of the school. She, like Driver, emphasises the relatively
independent and central role of women in the Afro-Carribean
Community, both domestically and in paid work. They are accustomed
to hard work and to coping.
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Mirza (1992). In an ethnographic study of two south London
comprehensives found similar results. Young black girls aspired to
careers in social classes 1 & 2 – 74% of the sample, as opposed to
27% of black boys.
The girls despised the idea of economic dependency on men and
looked forward to relationships 'which have joint responsibility towards
the household', within the relative autonomy between the sexes, which
is a feature of West Indian family life.
Positive attitudes towards education and lack of restrictions on female
participation in the labour market provide important motivation for the
girls. In contrast, for males of that community, the image of masculinity
does not accord with academic success. They are also more likely to
come into conflict with the authority system of the school, and of
society at large.
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Assignment 1
Go to the local library and consult Sue Sharpe's
book 'Just Like a Girl, How Working Class Girls
Learn To Be Women' (1976) and/or read
M.Haralambos: 'Sociology: Themes and
Perspectives' (Unwin Hyman 1995) pages 770–777.
Write a short account of 200 words of the role selfimage plays in the relative achievement of ethnic
minority groups and females. Compare and contrast
the position of the two groups on this issue.
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Explanations for the under-achievement of male blacks,
which focus on self-esteem or the level of development in
pre-school years, focus largely on the culture of the family.
However, it is true to say that research such as that by
Bagley, Bart and Wong begins to point to the role of wider
society.
Explanations focusing on the family have been very popular
in understanding black under-achievement and have been
used as a basis for explaining general working class underachievement in The Plowden Report (1967). As a result
Educational Priority Areas were established in Britain to
compensate for the disadvantaged backgrounds of certain
students.
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Activity 2
Consult M. Haralambos 'Sociology: Themes and Perspectives' (1995)
pages 754–756.
1ý
What is meant by the terms 'Cultural Deprivation' and
'Compensatory Education'?
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2ý
What are 'Educational Priority Areas' (EPAs)?
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3ý
What are the criticisms levelled at theories of 'Compensatory
Education'?
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LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES
It has been suggested that language may hold back Afro-Caribbean
students because of the linguistic deficiencies of 'Patois' or 'Creole'.
Evidence on this matter is contradictory, but there does not seem to be
any evidence that Creole is deficient.
However, Creole may well be grammatically different from standard
English, and Afro-Caribbean students may need support and
understanding from their teachers in learning to distinguish between
the grammar of the two language forms.
Bernstein argued that education into standard English was education –
necessary to develop the understanding of abstract concepts, which
characterises advanced study.
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Labov, in his analysis of Negro Non-Standard English usage in
America, has shown that the language itself is no bar to complex,
original and abstract thought. The problem it does present is in others'
reaction to language, particularly teachers.
If teachers are constantly criticising the language of a child's home, the
language they come to school with, then not only does it contribute to a
poor self-image, it restricts willingness to take part in school activities.
It was the judgement of the 'Rampton Report,' a pre-cursor to the
Swann Report, that it was the attitude of the school toward Creole,
rather than Creole itself which posed a problem for the Afro-Caribbean
student. The report concluded that it was important that Afro-Caribbean
dialect is seen in a positive light in the classroom in order to ensure a
high level of motivation to achieve by students.
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The discussion of language has moved the focus from the language
itself towards the attitudes of the education system. Similar criticisms
have been levelled at the idea that slavery weakened the AfroCarribean family system. Rather, it is suggested, slaves resisted the
break-up of the African elements of religion, language and culture
contained in the family. To point to the poorer achievement of AfroCaribbean students as stemming from the home is a form of
eurocentric racism blaming the black community and deflecting blame
from the education system and wider society.
Mirza (1997) has studied black supplementary schools in London,
which she regards as part of the transformative social movement
developed by black women. Women give up their Saturdays to teach
black children what mainstream education fails to provide.
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Mac an Ghaill (1991) carried out similar research into a black voluntary
school in the Midlands, Marcus Garvey, and suggests that more
positive attitudes towards black culture may improve the provision of
mainstream schools.
Although most of the children attending the voluntary schools attended
schools with a majority of black pupils they still felt they were white
institutions.
At Marcus Garvey, the school did not marginalise black culture,
literature and history. The teachers were from the same area and had
high expectations of the pupils. A positive use of Creole was promoted,
though there was a strong recognition that standard English was also
necessary. High priority was given to numeracy and literacy so that
pupils could follow high academic courses.
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The socialisation of Afro-Caribbean children needs to be
seen in the light of material disadvantages and racism that
many Afro-Caribbeans face.
TO SUM UP
Cultural deprivation can relate to at least three main areas:
poor pre-school development, low self-image and language
difficulties.
Activity 3
What criticisms could be levelled at the cultural explanation
for problems in these three areas?
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POOR PRE-SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT
LOW SELF-IMAGE
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LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES
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