A LEVEL SOCIOLOGY ethnicity and education example answers
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Course
Education
Institution
AQA
Includes 4 markers, 6 markers a 10 marker and a 30 marker on ethnic differences in education. Example answers to sociology questions in the education topic from Paper 1. Scoring highly from teacher.
Outline two cultural factors that may affect ethnic differences in educational achievement (4
marks)
● Intellectual and linguistic skills are one reason for ethnic differences. Bereiter and
Engelmann see the language spoken by low-income black families as inadequate for
educational success. It is seen as ungrammatical and disjointed so puts them behind white
middle class pupils who speak in the elaborated code needed for success.
● Another reason is attitude and values. Many have argued black children are part of a
subculture with a fatalistic way of thinking, which makes education devalued in their culture
and educational achievement less likely compared to middle class white pupils whose
culture values education.
Outline two ways in which the ethnocentric curriculum may operate in education (4 marks)
● One way is in history the national curriculum purely focuses on Britain’s history and ignores
ethnic diversity by promoting an attitude of ‘little Englandism’.
● Another way is by only teaching European languages like French, Spanish and German and
lack teaching Asian languages.
Outline three policies aimed at improving the experiences of ethnic minority groups (6 marks)
● One policy is assimilation. This is the need for pupils from minority ethnic groups to
assimilate into mainstream British culture as a way of raising their achievement and helping
them to fit in within school and other pupils.
● Another policy is multicultural education. This helped to make all cultures valued in the
school curriculum to raise the self -esteem of ethnic minorities.
● Another policy is social inclusion where they amended the race relations act and monitored
ethnic minority students in order to improve their experiences.
Outline three processes within school that affect the achievement of ethnic minority groups (6
marks)
● Labelling is one process that affects the achievement. Studies show teachers often see black
and asian pupils as being far from the ‘ideal’. Black pupils are often labelled as disruptive and
asians as passive. Negative labels can lead to self fulfilling prophecies which leads to these
minorities failing.
● Another way is the assessment process. Foundation stage profiles are racially biassed as they
are the result of teachers’ judgements, who are often institutionally racist. These increase
the risk of stereotypes affecting results so ethnic minorities appear to succeed less than their
white counterparts.
, ● A final way is marketisation. Ethnic minorities are not seen as the ideal pupils when going
through the school admission process and marketisation has led to schools using more
selection. As a result, ethnic minorities are ending up in more unpopular schools which limits
their educational achievement.
Item A
On average, pupils from some ethnic groups achieve more highly at school than others. For
example, Chinese and Indian pupils generally out-perform white pupils at GCSE.
Teachers within school play a significant role in certain minority ethnic groups' achievement.
Structures within the family also impact on this.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two reasons why pupils from some minority ethnic groups
achieve above average results in school (10 marks)
Asian pupils are 60% likely to gain a 5 or above in English and Maths which is above average. One
reason for this could be “structures within the family”. Firstly, during colonisation, Asian cultures,
unlike Black cultures, did not lose their family structures, religion or languages. This may mean Asian
pupils have a higher self esteem. Also, Asian families often place a high value on the extended
family and so pupils may benefit from their Grandparents knowledge and culture passed down to
them. Sewell believes Asian pupils achieve above average results due to their difference in
socialisation and attitudes compared to Black families. Sewell states black boys are being nurtured
by MTV, damaging educational achievement, whilst Asian pupils are clocking up educational hours.
Asian pupils benefit from supportive families that have an ‘Asian work ethic’ and place a high value
on education. Lupton states adult authority in Asian families is similar to the model that operates
within school and so Asian pupils are used to following authority so pay attention in class and seek
approval. This may be why they achieve well to impress their parents and teachers. Asian families
may also see education as a way up for them in society so place an emphasis on their children doing
well and taking opportunities. However, one weakness of this explanation is Pakistani and
Bangladeshi pupils underperform so it cannot just be Asian families that play a role.
Another way minority ethnic groups can achieve above average is due to the role “teachers within
school play”. Teachers label minority ethnic groups negatively, such as black pupils as disruptive,
however research shows pupils can respond to this by working extra hard to prove the label wrong.
Negative labels do not automatically turn into a self fulfilling prophecy. Fuller showed this in her
study of Year 11 black girls in a London comprehensive school. These girls challenged their anger at
the negative label, however did not seek approval of teachers or change their friend group. They
conformed only as far as the school work and relied on their own efforts. These girls were high
achievers in school which was untypical and were able to maintain a positive self image. Showing
how negative teacher labelling does not always lead to failure and can actually cause
overachievement from what is expected. However, this is not always possible as Mirza showed in
her study. These girls failed to achieve as they had inadequate coping strategies to deal with their
negative label such as not asking for help and only taking part in certain lessons. This is a weakness
as it shows despite efforts not all ethnic minority students can resist the label and perform above
average.
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