Equality Of Education

8 Pages 1982 Words

nd. Another materialist explanation put forward concerning the link between ethnic minority pupils and working class pupils is that “because they are middle class institutions, schools inevitably disparage (however obliquely) everything that working class children bring with them to the classroom – language, behaviour, values” (unit 13, the open university, 1982, p11). If this is true of working class pupils then surely this problem is worse with ethnic minority pupils as not only is school a middle class institution, it is a white middle class institution. Therefore the greater differences between the pupils means there is a greater chance they will be overlooked, or worse still, belittled.

It is true that many ethnic minority pupils do feel belittled to a certain extent, and this is obviously linked to their underachievement “these continually inhibit the qualifications obtained, courses followed, and opportunities available to female and black students” (Troyna, B. 1987, p2). Of course this belittlement of other cultures may be unintentional, however it merely adds to the case of institutionalised racism within the British education system. The choice of curriculum often excludes the ethnic minority group’s heritage and effectively makes them an ‘out group’. Much of the curriculum is built around the achievements of white Europeans while black achievement is forgotten or looked down upon. This leaves a growing percentage of pupils unable to relate to the things they are taught. Inevitably this has an effect on levels of achievement as if a child cannot relate to...