Preview

What Are The Sociological Explanations Of Ethnic Differences In Achievement

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
921 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Are The Sociological Explanations Of Ethnic Differences In Achievement
Examining ethnic differences in achievement

1. The definition of an ethnic group is a group of people of the same race or nationality that share the same cultural norms and values. 2. Three ways in which the education system may encourage separation between children of different ethnic backgrounds are: Labelling and teacher racism, many teachers label their students and studies by interactionist sociologists found out that many teachers labelled black children as disruptive and they didn’t want them in their class. Another reason is the ethnocentric curriculum. Troyna and Williams describe the curriculum in British schools as ethnocentric because it gives priority to white culture and the English language; this causes separation between white pupils and other ethnic pupils. A final reason is the selection and segregation available to schools. David Gillborn argues that marketization has given schools greater scope to select pupils. This puts some ethnic minority pupils at a disadvantage because selection gives more scope for negative stereotypes to influence decisions about school admissions. 3. There are many ways in which factors in children’s home background may lead to differences in achievement levels between ethnic groups. The first way is cultural deprivation; this is split into 3 aspects. The first is intellectual and linguistic skills. Cultural deprivation theorists argue that many children from low-income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences. Bereiter and Engelmann consider the language spoken by
…show more content…
The differences in educational attainment between different groups of pupils have been a major focus of much sociological research. These differences can often be seen to be largely due to different social class, but also gender or ethnicity. Social class is the most significant and dominant factor when looking at these differences, but ethnicity also has a relative impact on educational

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    |Ethnic group |Ethnic groups are groups set apart from others because of their national origin or distinctive cultural|…

    • 3349 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    |Ethnic group |Group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage often consisting of a|…

    • 2122 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When it comes to a child’s education in today’s society race does have an influence on one’s educational experience. There is an inequality that is faced by minorities in the struggle to success. In the article by Motoko Rich from the New York Times called “School Data Finds Pattern of Inequality along Racial Lines” it compares different races and their achievement in school. In a study it stated that a quarter of high schools with the highest percentage of minorities such as, black and Latino students do not offer any Algebra II courses, and more than a third do not have any chemistry classes.” Whites have a full range of courses offered while minorities from low-income neighborhoods do not have these courses available. The studies also found that more than 70 percent of white students attend schools that have a full range of math and science courses and are well-rounded. For minorities, this does not expand their education. The article also mentions that minorities that attend these types of schools also have teachers who do not meet the teaching requirements. The lacks of all of these services does put a strain on our children’s education when it comes to being a minority.…

    • 315 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    For years, there has been an incredibly large gap in terms of achievement between children of different ethnicities. Dr. Beverly Tatum is a clinical psychologist who has focused much of her career on the idea of race affecting education. Likewise, Dr. Diane Ravitch is a respected education historian, who has written many articles on various issues in our school systems. In this article we will be observing the viewpoints of both of these writers and comparing their independent solutions for the issues that come from stereotyping in schools. As a matter of fact, race and racism has always played an extremely vital role in education, it determines how children are perceived by the school system and how they are viewed by their peers.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Appendix D Race and Religion

    • 2914 Words
    • 12 Pages

    |Ethnic group |People of the same race or nationality who share a distinctive culture. |…

    • 2914 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many cultural deprivation theorists argue that the working class homes lack books, educational toys and activities that would stimulate a child’s development in the education system. J.W.B Douglas found that working class children scored lower on tests of ability than the middle class children. He argues that this is because working class are most unlikely to support their children’s intellectual development through reading with them or other educational activities in the home. Middle class…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some sociologists suggest that external factors have a hug effects, such as from cultural deprivation with the socialisation experience of children, values, expectations and norms transmitted at home. Driver and Ballard 1979 argued that high achievement in some Asian groups might be linked to the presence of close knit extended families. However with some ethnic groups many tend to have low income, which may explain why black pupils tend to underachieve as many children from low income black families lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences. Family structure and parental support can also have an affect, with failure to socialise children adequately is the result of dysfunctional family structures as many black families are headed by lone mothers and have poor care due to lack of money. This is a vicious cycle as someone who failed at school will affect their child’s educational achievement as the child may not get the extra help on work like other pupils may get, which can lead to their own failure causing a vicious cycle.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ethnicity is a group that is set apart from others because of its national origin or distinctive cultural pattern. Ethnicity also factors in ancestry and belief such as religion. A great example to demonstrate how ethnicity is different from race is how an African American culture is dramatically different from an African from Africa. I am a Black American Christian who can not relate to any of the culture that originated in Africa including their traditions and language.…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Berthoud modood and smith (1997) define ethnic group as follows: a community whose heritage offers important characteristics in common between its members and which makes them distinct from other communities. There is a boundary, which separates ‘us’ from ‘them’, and the distinction would probably be recognized on both sides of that boundary. Ethnicity is a multi-faceted phenomenon based on physical appearance, subjective identification, cultural and religious affiliation, stereotyping, and social exclusion.…

    • 2725 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Instead, they argue, institutional racism must be focused on. Institutional racism is discrimination against ethnic minorities that is built into the way institutions such as schools and colleges operate on a routine basis, rather than the intentions of individual teachers. The ethnocentric curriculum is an important example of institutional racism. ‘Ethnocentric’ refers to attitudes or policies that prioritise a culture or one particular ethnic group whist disregarding others. Many sociologists have argued that the curriculum within British schools is ethnocentric. Troyna and Williams note that it gives priority to white culture and the English language. Whilst Ball sees the history curriculum in British schools as recreating a ‘mythical age and past glories’, while at the same time ignoring the history of black and Asian people. This may result in minority ethnic group pupils feeling that they and their culture are not valued in education and this diminishes their sense of self-esteem, which has a negative effect on their educational achievement as they feel as though they are worthless causing them to…

    • 1938 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It is important to recognise that ethnic minority pupils may fall into the category of low class low achievement. (Battle and Lewis 2010 pg35) said “a person’s education is closed linked to their life chances, income and wellbeing” it’s therefore, fair to say that ethnic minority communities are most likely to underachievement than others because of their socio-economic conditions.…

    • 3671 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Now we discuss the concept of ethnicity; Ethnicity is defined as the changes in a group on the basis of culture, trends or traditions. Such as drum dance is in the culture of Africans which differentiate it from other cultures, thus defining ethnicity.…

    • 151 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Children will be part of different ethnic backgrounds, cultures, environments and circumstances; with their families going through different changes school may not be aware of it. Deprivation and poverty can effect pupil’s development, statistics show that children who come from deprived backgrounds are less likely to achieve well in school as parents find it difficult to manage their needs. Some children may come from a home schooling environment so when they start a new school it will be difficult for them to adapt to different teaching methods so they will need additional support.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    ethnic differences essay

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The expectations of teachers on ethnic minorities have caused differences in educational achievement. Bernard Coard believes that teachers expect “Black” children to fail therefore labelling the child as a failure. Interactionalists are concerned with how teachers “pigeonhole” students this is the labelling theory, this is where the teacher makes a judgement of the child based on the child’s appearance, behaviour, previous family members and relationships with other students. However most labels are based on stereotypes rather than evidence, the reality is that once a label starts it is difficult to get rid of and this can cause problems for a student’s educational achievement. Teachers will discuss the students label in the staff room and other teachers will attach the same label to the child and this can lead to the child not being allowed to attend school trips. If a student is labelled as a failure by a teacher then the teacher is likely to put the student into a lower tier exam thus the pupil can only achieve a maximum of a grade C and can’t achieve to the best of their ability. When a student is labelled as a failure the student can begin to believe that the label is true and begin to make it part of their part of their identity, become a failure this is known as the self-fulfilling prophecy thus creating ethnic differences in educational achievement within the school system. David Hardgreves argues that anti school sub cultures can be formed as a result of negative labelling. However Maureen Stone and Swann both indicate that those who are labelled may not accept their labels.…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays