What factors might explain the high attainment of British Chinese pupils?
Introduction British Chinese pupils’ perceptions of the value of
education
This poster presentation seeks to evaluate British Chinese pupils academic
attainment and it’s affecting factors. Francis and Archer (2005) argue that British Chinese pupils are ‘more likely to rate mathematics and science as
this is greatly down to parents’ constructions of the value of education favourites’, moreover, British Chinese pupils, are more likely to self-identify as
(Francis and Archer, 2005). Therefore, British Chinese pupils tend to gain ‘good pupils’. Francis and Archer (2005) again conclude that these factors help to
cultural capital in the form of meritocracy. constitute a discourse of ‘valuing education highly’ (Francis and Archer, 2005, pp.
510-512). ‘The discourse of “Chinese value of education’’ is dependent on the
similar discourse of the ‘good Chinese pupil’, indeed, teachers expect Chinese
The educational ‘hyper-success’ of British Chines pupils to be ‘outstandingly diligent and high achieving’, not to mention, utilising
pupils another discourse, to be ‘true to traditional Chinese culture by valuing Disadvantages for British Chinese pupils in
education’ (Francis and Archer, 2005, p. 516).
British Chinese pupils tend to be labelled as ‘super-achievers’. In Archer and education
Francis’ study (2005), they found that British Chinese pupils are often
For most British Chinese pupils the articulation that if you work hard now you There is a racist stereotype of minority ethnic groups such as Chinese
constructed by teachers as high achievers ‘due to excessive diligence rather
will reap the benefits in the future, demonstrating a willingness of deferred pupils in Britain as ‘oppressed by their home culture’. Extensive evidence
than natural ability’ (Archer and Francis, 2005). Thus, the Western ideal
gratification to ensure rewards later in life. This deferment of rewards is shows that parental high expectation and surveillance of children’s
learner is constructed by discursive binaries deeply embedded in the
reminiscent of the attitudes of the White, academic ‘ear ‘oles’ in Willis’ Learning performance is routine in middle-class White families, and is a factor in
Western cultural vocabulary and imagination (Archer and Francis 2007).
to Labour (1977), and given that the British Chinese as a group are high- the reproduction of educational success in these families (Reay, 1998).
achieving in the British education system, it may be more than a coincidence This cultural capital is normalised as ‘correct parenting’, in spite of the
This illustrates how achievement via diligence is reinforced in a society that
that the two groups share this ethos. financial, cultural and socio-economic capitals that underpin it (Reay
constructs ‘genius’ as innate. Both pupils and teachers tend to produce
1998; Francis and Hutchings, 2013). Studies have often raised concerns
‘brilliance’ as natural and inherent, reproducing discourses prevalent in
There were other parallels between British Chinese practices and those of the about the impact of high expectation or ‘pressure’ on children in
popular culture (Francis et al, 2003). This construction is bound up with
White middle-classes that were illuminated in British Chinese constructions of minority ethnic families concerning educational performance, presenting
enlightenment discourses that produce intellect and rationality as
valuing education. For example, as well as sending children to weekend Chinese such pressure as oppressive (Siraj-Blatchford 1993; Basit 1997), while not
masculine, White and middle-class. Therefore, there is increasing
school (Francis, Archer, and Mau 2009), a number of the parents said that they recognising or problematising such parental ‘pressure’ in White middle-
recognition of the debilitating effects of the construction of ‘ability’ as
were paying for extra tuition for their children outside school hours. This did not class families (Francis and Archer, 2005).
innate, nevertheless such constructions retain a powerful hegemony.
appear to be related to social class, as some of the working-class parents were
paying for this extra provision (Archer and Francis, 2006). The ‘model minority’ construct is a racist discourse which disregards the
In terms of language and dialect, British Chinese pupils often utilise both
population’s complexity and ’Chineseness’ is seen as opposing Whiteness
‘community language’ of Chinese dialects and ‘foreign languages’ such as
Although Chinese parents may lack material capital and come from socio- (Yeh 2014).
English. Therefore, Chinese pupils and families try to ‘adopt standard British
English norms as well as the speech markers of other upwardly mobile’ economic backgrounds, they are willing to suffer ‘hardships and deprivations’ in
order to construct ‘value of education for their children’ (Francis and Archer, Orientalism is the prism in which British Chinese pupils can be
groups, in this way, Chinese pupils and families try to attain ‘middle-class
2005, pp. 96-98). This is reflected in Bourdieu’s definition of ‘cultural capital’, stereotyped through a framework of racist discourses. This ‘othering’
status’ through ‘high educational aspirations and attainment’. This is
which argues that Chinese pupils, ‘though often lacking resources which have effectively distances British Chinese pupils and attaches ‘Asian’
achieved by adopting ‘bilingualism’, fluency in the ‘heritage language’ and
traditionally been seen to constitute cultural capital, use an ethnically-specific stereotypes like ‘exotic, backwards, and submissive’.
‘middle-class’ speech styles (Pennington, Lau and Sachdev, 2011, pp. 183-
190). This notion could also be linked to Bernstein’s theory of language construction of identity as an alternative resource of cultural capital’ (Francis and
Archer, 2005, pp. 104-106). Pupils could be stereotyped by teachers as ’over-achievers’ or
codes. Whereby, middle-class children and particularly British Chinese
‘submissive’, and the fact that British Chinese pupils achieve so highly
pupils success at school is also due to acquiring this ‘elaborated code’ . The
British Chinese pupils’ attainment is also the product of using Bourdieu’s theory could be seen as an aspect of cultural norms and not of individual
educational success of the former stems from a semantic continuity
of ‘habitus’ that instils discourses of ‘high aspirations and achievement’, this achievement.
between home and school (Bernstein, 1973, p. 162).
discourse of ‘valuing education’ is defined by British Chinese pupils and families
as core to ‘Chineseness’. Archer and Francis (2006) found that despite Chinese Chinese pupils may possess an ethnically particular form of ‘cultural
Chinese complementary schooling, otherwise known as community schools
parents’ ‘hardships and lack of education’, the educational success of their capital’ that believes in social class mobility and is constructed in part by
also help pupils to develop educational linguistic competencies and to
children continues to be essential (Archer and Francis, 2006, pp. 40-45). their parents who may endure hardships and suffering in order to instil a
engage in discourses that construct Chinese ethnicity as ‘being the best’
value for education.
and helping to reinforce ‘educational competitiveness’ (Francis, Archer and
Mau, 2009, pp. 485-488). In state schools, Chinese pupils rely on strategies Through meritocracy, Chinese parents’ ‘valuing of education’ is a ‘Chinese form
of cultural capital’ (Francis and Archer, 2005, p. 104), that can ‘mobilise an Downside to the mobilisation of ‘ethnic capital’, however, is that British
such as ‘working extra hard’ and accounting for racist stereotypes and
ethnically particular cultural capital to progress social class mobility’ (Francis and Chinese pupils are expected to ‘perform’ their ‘Chineseness’ in the
abuse as a response to the attainment of ‘better grades’ (Francis and
Archer, 2005, p. 93). A further parallel is the parental high expectations, and classroom through ‘othering’ processes (Francis, Archer and Mau, 2009,
Archer, 2005, pp. 402-403).
their manifestation in ‘pushing’ children academically. This ‘pushing’ may to pp. 527-528).
Figures show that pupils from the Chinese ethnic group were most likely to some extent be a practical response from parents through other ways of
meet both the expected and higher standards (GOV, 2020). For example, supporting their children given their lack of educational experience and their
data for Key Stage 2: “80% of pupils from the Chinese ethnic group met the often long working hours (Archer and Francis, 2006). Thus, the notion of high
value of education as a feature of Chinese culture (Taylor 1987; Parker 1998) is Conclusion
expected standard” in “reading, writing and maths” and “28% met the
higher standard, the highest percentages out of all ethnic groups” (GOV, used to produce the Chinese as culturally distinctive from other ethnic groups.
2019). In addition, British Chinese pupils are the only minority ethnic group Overall, the ‘success’ of British Chinese pupils offers a significant case to
more likely than the White majority to attend a highly selective university Nevertheless, within a decade we have witnessed a discursive transformation examine both the socio-cultural practices that enable educational success
(Francis, Archer, and Mau 2009). from a silence on Chinese educational success to a media spray of allusion to it and potential mobility, and the reproduction of social inequalities in
so regularised that the construct has become naturalised in the public education. Analysis of the discursive ‘othering’ and educational practices
imagination. The following British media comments are typical: ‘China: The of British Chinese pupils sheds light on the classed cultural practices of the
world's cleverest country?’ (BBC 2012), “children in China achieve marks in White majority, and of Western assumptions about the ideal learner.
maths up to 30 per cent higher than English pupils of the same age” (Mail Online However, while it is important to recognise the educational success of
2014). Therefore, not only do parents and teachers reinforce ideals of British many British Chinese pupils, it is also important to acknowledge the
Chinese pupils as high achievers, but so does the media. continuing inequalities faced by this group of young people.
