ethnic differences in educational achievement

Ethnicity And educational attainment

Learning objectives

» By the end of this lesson you will be able to» Define ethnicity» Summarise the problems of categorisation of

ethnic groups» Draw a chart showing educational achievement

and ethnicity» Create a mind map of external factors of ethnic

differences in educational achievement.

Race

» The term “race” relates to supposed biological differences such as differences in skin colour, hair texture or shape of eyes as between different social groups.

» However it can be shown that it is perfectly possible that if we consider at random, say, two white people and one black person, the overall genetic characteristics of one white person and the black person may be more similar than those of the two white people.

Race

» For this reason most sociologists do not consider “race” to be a meaningful concept .

» Ethnicity is a more useful concept.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity

»What is ethnicity?˃ Write your own definitionLawson and Garrod (2000) – Ethnic groups are “people who share common history, customs and identity, as well as, in most cases, language and religion, and who see themselves as a distinct unit”.

Ethnicity

» Problems with ethnicity?

˃ Who to include?

˃ Mixed ethnicity?

˃ How you feel or who your parents are?

˃ 2nd/3rd generations

Ethnicity

» Ethnicity is not something that ‘other people’ have.

» Everyone has an ethnicity» Ethnicity is not necessarily defined by physical

features» Although many ethnic minority groups in the UK

are non-white, not all of them are

Ethnicity

» David Crystal (2003)

» Well over 100 languages are in routine use in the UK

Multiculturalism

» The UK is multicultural

» Children from ethnic minority groups make up 21% of the populations of schools

Using the information on the following slide create a bar chart on your graph paper

Percentage of pupils gaining 5 or more GCSE grades A* - C by ethnicity and gender 2006Ethnic group

Boys Girls

Black 40 55Pakistani 45 58Chinese 73 84Bangladeshi 51 61Indian 68 76White 51 61

Ethnicity and educational attainment

1. What is significant about the difference between boy’s and girl’s performance

2. Which ethnic group perform best overall?

3. Which group perform second best?

4. Which group perform worst overall?

Ethnicity and educational attainment

» A common mistake in exam questions on this topic is to say that children from ethnic minorities underachieve in education.

» There are class and gendered differences within all ethnic groups

Ethnicity and educational attainment

»

INTERNAL FACTORS EXTERNAL FACTORS

Learning objectives

» By the end of this lesson you will be able to» Define ethnicity» Summarise the problems of categorisation of

ethnic groups» Draw a chart showing educational achievement

and ethnicity» Create a mind map of external factors of ethnic

differences in educational achievement.

Tiger Mothers

a strict or demanding mother who pushes her children to high levels of achievement, using methods regarded as typical of childrearing in China and other parts of East Asia: