Item A
Educational attainment appears to vary with ethnicity, although it is not the case that white
pupil’s consistently perform better in schools than black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.
Instead the picture is more complicated, with children of Chinese and Indian origin as a
group generally performing better than average and children of Pakistani and Black
Caribbean origin doing less well
Applying material from the item and your knowledge, evaluate
sociological explanations for differences in attainment as a result of
ethnicity (30 marks)
Attainment differs as a result of ethnicity in that generally, groups such as Black
Caribbean and Bangladeshi students perform lower than average and other
minority groups such as those of Chinese origin tend to outperform other
students. This can be for a number of reasons such as the social and cultural
values that the students and their families hold of education. It may also be due
to external social factors other than ethnicity, such as gender or social class
within the ethnic minority groups.
One explanation for differences in attainment as a result of ethnicity is the fact
that schools teach and transmit an ethnocentric curriculum. This means that the
curriculum gives priority to the culture of White British viewpoints whilst ignoring
that of other minorities, for example ridiculing other types of language or
grammar. Coard (2005) suggests that this can lead to under-achievement of
ethnic minorities in the form of a self-fulfilling prophecy, for example, history
curriculum often covers white history and the British bringing civilisation to
places that they colonised, creating an image of black people as inferior and
teaching from a one-sided perspective, undermining the self-esteem of minority
students that then may lead to failure. Item A suggests that educational
attainment appears to vary with ethnicity, however, the concept of the
ethnocentric curriculum may imply that this appearance is simply because of the
content being taught and tested on, and a more diverse curriculum in subjects
such as history, English, art and music may allow minority students to learn more
about and to express their own cultures, thus encouraging more engagement
from these pupils and potentially aiding to close the gap in educational
attainment. An issue with this, however, is that attainment rates within ethnic
groups differ. For example, it could be argued that because schools have a white
British curriculum, both black Caribbean and Chinese students would be at a
disadvantage, however Chinese students tend to have high levels of
achievement, and those of Black Caribbean origin generally do not. This
suggests that although the ethnocentric curriculum plays a role in creating
attainment differences, there must be further considerations contributing to the
gap.
Item A puts forward the idea that it is not the case that white pupils perform
better, and so differences in attainment may be more accurately measured by
factors such as social class as opposed to ethnicity due to attainment differing
within different ethnic groups. Compared to one in five White British people, one
in three Black Caribbeans live in poverty and are consequently more likely to
have more social problems such as ill health and unemployment. Furthermore,
the percentage of Chinese and Indian Asian students that are eligible for free-
school meals Is below average, because they are more likely to come from
middle-class backgrounds. This shows that different ethnic minorities experience
school differently and therefore have different levels of achievement and so not
Educational attainment appears to vary with ethnicity, although it is not the case that white
pupil’s consistently perform better in schools than black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.
Instead the picture is more complicated, with children of Chinese and Indian origin as a
group generally performing better than average and children of Pakistani and Black
Caribbean origin doing less well
Applying material from the item and your knowledge, evaluate
sociological explanations for differences in attainment as a result of
ethnicity (30 marks)
Attainment differs as a result of ethnicity in that generally, groups such as Black
Caribbean and Bangladeshi students perform lower than average and other
minority groups such as those of Chinese origin tend to outperform other
students. This can be for a number of reasons such as the social and cultural
values that the students and their families hold of education. It may also be due
to external social factors other than ethnicity, such as gender or social class
within the ethnic minority groups.
One explanation for differences in attainment as a result of ethnicity is the fact
that schools teach and transmit an ethnocentric curriculum. This means that the
curriculum gives priority to the culture of White British viewpoints whilst ignoring
that of other minorities, for example ridiculing other types of language or
grammar. Coard (2005) suggests that this can lead to under-achievement of
ethnic minorities in the form of a self-fulfilling prophecy, for example, history
curriculum often covers white history and the British bringing civilisation to
places that they colonised, creating an image of black people as inferior and
teaching from a one-sided perspective, undermining the self-esteem of minority
students that then may lead to failure. Item A suggests that educational
attainment appears to vary with ethnicity, however, the concept of the
ethnocentric curriculum may imply that this appearance is simply because of the
content being taught and tested on, and a more diverse curriculum in subjects
such as history, English, art and music may allow minority students to learn more
about and to express their own cultures, thus encouraging more engagement
from these pupils and potentially aiding to close the gap in educational
attainment. An issue with this, however, is that attainment rates within ethnic
groups differ. For example, it could be argued that because schools have a white
British curriculum, both black Caribbean and Chinese students would be at a
disadvantage, however Chinese students tend to have high levels of
achievement, and those of Black Caribbean origin generally do not. This
suggests that although the ethnocentric curriculum plays a role in creating
attainment differences, there must be further considerations contributing to the
gap.
Item A puts forward the idea that it is not the case that white pupils perform
better, and so differences in attainment may be more accurately measured by
factors such as social class as opposed to ethnicity due to attainment differing
within different ethnic groups. Compared to one in five White British people, one
in three Black Caribbeans live in poverty and are consequently more likely to
have more social problems such as ill health and unemployment. Furthermore,
the percentage of Chinese and Indian Asian students that are eligible for free-
school meals Is below average, because they are more likely to come from
middle-class backgrounds. This shows that different ethnic minorities experience
school differently and therefore have different levels of achievement and so not
