Race And Underachievement In Britain
1. Critically assess Gillborn’s (2008) claim that race trumps social class and gender in explaining the level of educational attainment in Britain.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to to fish and you feed him for a life time.”
This ancient proverb illuminates the importance of education in our daily lives. Education teaches students the basic norms and values of society, assisting them to develop their individual identity and knowledge. In Britain, formal schooling is seen as a necessity, however it is the quality and fulfillment of this education that has a major impact on a child’s life.
Gilborn states that race overrides social class and gender in relation to educational achievement in Britain. In …show more content…
This included 10,000 teenagers that did not succeed in gaining any qualifications at all. (Balls 2009).
One of the predominant factors contributing to this is race. Race is defined as “a category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of society deem socially significant” (Macionis and Plumer,2007 P350). I will discuss how institutionalised racism and language barriers lead to the underachievement of certain races in Britain.
The problems hindering ethnic minority pupils cannot be fully comprehended without looking at institutionalised racism, “It’s like looking at why someone drowns, without looking at oxygen intake” (Gilborn, 2000).
Black Caribbean pupils, in particular are subject to institutionalised racism in British schools which can drastically undermine their chances of academic fulfillment. Teachers are routinely under-estimating the abilities of some black pupils. A survey, carried out by Dr.Steve Strand that tracked 15,000 students throughout the educational system, added substance to this theory that low achievement among some black students is worsened because teachers expect them to fail. A high percentage of Black Caribbean pupils are being excluded from sitting higher-tiered papers at the age of 14 with no academic explanation. This exclusion hinders them from an early age, shaping what GCSE’s they will take and already reducing …show more content…
Working-class homes have less money to buy books, piano lessons, secound language lessons and holidays in cultural places, because of this they are disadvantaged from an early age. Parents who are less well off have little choice in which school their children attend, often having to settle with a nearby school regardless of the schools standards. This effects working-class children as these schools offer less resorces and opportunities for these working-class children.
“What school a child goes to makes far more difference than what ethnic group he or she belongs to “ ( Smith and Tomlinson 1989:281)
Data based on GCSE results shows that students in the most deprived areas just 30% achieved five or more A*-C GCSEs, in comparison to 70% of pupils in the least deprived decile. (Duckworth,Akerman,Morrison,Vorhaus, 2009). These statistics directly highlight the importance of class in educational attainment, the higher you are in society the more likely you are to succeed in educational
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to to fish and you feed him for a life time.”
This ancient proverb illuminates the importance of education in our daily lives. Education teaches students the basic norms and values of society, assisting them to develop their individual identity and knowledge. In Britain, formal schooling is seen as a necessity, however it is the quality and fulfillment of this education that has a major impact on a child’s life.
Gilborn states that race overrides social class and gender in relation to educational achievement in Britain. In …show more content…
This included 10,000 teenagers that did not succeed in gaining any qualifications at all. (Balls 2009).
One of the predominant factors contributing to this is race. Race is defined as “a category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of society deem socially significant” (Macionis and Plumer,2007 P350). I will discuss how institutionalised racism and language barriers lead to the underachievement of certain races in Britain.
The problems hindering ethnic minority pupils cannot be fully comprehended without looking at institutionalised racism, “It’s like looking at why someone drowns, without looking at oxygen intake” (Gilborn, 2000).
Black Caribbean pupils, in particular are subject to institutionalised racism in British schools which can drastically undermine their chances of academic fulfillment. Teachers are routinely under-estimating the abilities of some black pupils. A survey, carried out by Dr.Steve Strand that tracked 15,000 students throughout the educational system, added substance to this theory that low achievement among some black students is worsened because teachers expect them to fail. A high percentage of Black Caribbean pupils are being excluded from sitting higher-tiered papers at the age of 14 with no academic explanation. This exclusion hinders them from an early age, shaping what GCSE’s they will take and already reducing …show more content…
Working-class homes have less money to buy books, piano lessons, secound language lessons and holidays in cultural places, because of this they are disadvantaged from an early age. Parents who are less well off have little choice in which school their children attend, often having to settle with a nearby school regardless of the schools standards. This effects working-class children as these schools offer less resorces and opportunities for these working-class children.
“What school a child goes to makes far more difference than what ethnic group he or she belongs to “ ( Smith and Tomlinson 1989:281)
Data based on GCSE results shows that students in the most deprived areas just 30% achieved five or more A*-C GCSEs, in comparison to 70% of pupils in the least deprived decile. (Duckworth,Akerman,Morrison,Vorhaus, 2009). These statistics directly highlight the importance of class in educational attainment, the higher you are in society the more likely you are to succeed in educational