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Assess Sociological Explanations of Ethnic Differences in Educational Achievement

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Assess sociological explanations of ethnic differences in educational achievement. (20)

Tony Lawson and Joan Garrod (2000) define ethnic groups as ‘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.’ When talking about culture we use terms such as customs, language and religion that is, about all of the things that are learned, shared and valued by a social group. It is a mistake to think of ethnic groups as always being defined by physical features such as skin colour. Although many ethnic minority groups in the UK are non-white, this is not applicable to all groups. According to Crystal (03), well over 100 languages are in routine use in the UK. Today, children from minority backgrounds make about21% of the pupils in English schools. The level of achievement of different ethnic groups varies greatly in Great Britain. This may be due to factors such as home background, class, language and in-school factors. Recent studies highlight the effects of racism. It is believed that ethnicity influences such factors, leading to an impact upon their education.
When ethnic minority students do underachieve in education this may be explained partly by social class disadvantages and partly by educational disadvantages related specifically to their ethnicity.
Although members of ethnic minorities are found throughout the UK class structure, Afro-Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin students are especially likely to be found in the lower sections of the working class and to experience poverty. Social theorists working with a relative definition of poverty usually define poverty to exist where individuals are receiving an income below 60% of the median income in the UK as a whole and relative poverty in the UK can be shown to be widespread; approximately 20% of Whites, 25%

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