Exploring the Reasons for the Underachievement of Ethnic Minority Children

Exploring the Reasons for the Underachievement of Ethnic Minority Children

Rational

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Every child goes through the same education system, every child works

through the same ‘curriculum 2000’ set by New Labour and every child

sits the same exams up to the age of 16. So why are there marked

differences in educational attainment for ethnic minority students?

My main aim is to find out if racism is the main cause of the gap

between different ethnic groups in education, which can lead to some

ethnic minority groups being over represented in low-status, low paid

jobs.

My investigation will look at the different explanations that

sociologists have used over the years to explain why

African-Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi students are less likely

to achieve 5 A*-C than white and Indian students. To do this I will

use secondary evidence, statistics and studies to show the traditional

and more modern explanations for the ever-widening dissonance between

ethnic groups.

My primary research will be done by using informal interviews with

members of the Norfolk and Norwich national equality council. This

will help me find out what the situation is like in Norfolk, and if

people believe that the underachievement of some ethnic groups is due

to reasons such as cultural deprivation or institutional racism. Also

I would like to see if the situation has changed much over time,

therefore I will be using more dated research on top of more recent

research. I also hope that there may be a snowball effect once I

interview one group as they may suggest other people who are involved

in racial equality of education within...

... middle of paper ...

...other subjects were more glossed

over, like I felt that I didn’t like enough information about culture.

Therefore if I were to do this study again I would do a pilot study

and take more control in the interview. I was glad that I had sent a

summary of my context via email before my interview because it meant

that my respondent knew what I was studying, and it saved time in the

interview because we started talking about the subject straight away.

Overall I believe that I got all the data I needed, and I felt that

the conclusions I reached were valid. I would like to do some further

study into the subject, however I would like to travel to other parts

of the country and do some observational studies, to find out how

children think and feel about the situation, because I felt that the

area I live in does limited me.