It is evident that Afro-Caribbean pupils do not achieve as well as other ethnic groups as in comparison at degree level, they are at the very bottom, with Chinese at the top and Asian in the middle. I have identified one of the main reasons for under achievement to be due to ‘Teacher racism and labelling’. It has observed that often Afro-Caribbean boys have the label ‘unruly’ and ‘disrespectful’ applied to them as Gillborn (1990) found that teachers interpreted their manner to be a challenge of their authority. I believe that teacher labelling is an extremely important issue as this causes students to be less positive towards the school and education system as other pupils pick up on the attitudes of teachers thus causing them in some circumstances, to be victims of racism from white pupils. Cecil Wright 1992 noted of teacher labelling, ‘[Afro-Caribbean] hold expectations of bad behaviour along with disapproval, punishment and teacher insensitivity to racism’. She also affirmed that of primary school children, Rastafarians in particular were perceived as a threat to classroom management and often treat more harshly.
Sociologist Bernard Coard (1971) used impressionistic evidence and personal experience to prove his hypothesis ‘The education system makes black children become educationally subnormal by making them feel inferior in every way’. Following his research he found that the word white is associated with ‘good’ and the word black with ‘evil’, especially in children’s books. Furthermore he noted that books often only contain white people and black music, art and culture are absent from the curriculum. I believe that his research completely supports his hypothesis as it is inevitable that some young children that associate black will ‘evil’ will resent black children and therefore they attract hostility from other children which makes their school life extremely unpleasant.
Gender differences is also a linked to differences in educational achievement between different ethnic groups Drew 1995 found that West Indian females although they suffer initial disadvantages at school, they tend to do even better than white pupils in their GCSE’s. Fuller 1984 explains that this is due to the fact that they want to appear ‘cool’ to the boys and teachers by presenting a positive self-image and recognise the importance of achieving good qualifications. However this is not true for West-Indian boys as they tend to get fewer GCSE’s and poorer grades than any other group. Cecil Wright affirms of white children that they often refuse to play with Asian children and many suffer from intimidation, rejection and physical assault which evidently wouldn’t encourage Asian children to work hard at school if they are always subjected to violence and intimidation.
Cultural disadvantages have also been linked to educational achievement between different ethnic groups. This term refers to ‘cultural deprivation’ a theory which suggests that some pupils’ backgrounds are in some way deficient. For example West Indian under achievement has been blamed on high numbers of one-parent families in Afro-Caribbean communities. Politicians have suggested that as some families are female-headed West Indian boys in particular lack the discipline of a father figure. For girls however, the role model provided of a strong, independent single mother presents a motivating influence and thus explains their relative success in education. Recent research into language has also identified that the middle-class succeed merely because they use the preferred way of communicating. Language has been seen as a problem for West Indian children as many of these children come from homes where a language other than English is spoken.
It has been established that Afro-Caribbean children in particular do not gain from the educational system as they are found at the very bottom in terms of educational success. I believe that this has a direct link to ‘Teacher labelling’ as Cecil Wright recognised that Afro-Caribbean pupils receive disproportionate amount of teachers’ negative attentions. Furthermore Wright argues that often black children are ridiculed, teased and harassed. This would definitely not make a child’s school experience a happy one if they never feel welcome or accepted and this can explain why often black children don’t always behave as well as they should if they are constantly taunted and made to feel inferior. African-Asian children however, especially females tend to do much better and it has been suggested that this is due to the fact that their culture emphasizes a respect and success through education and many have professional backgrounds, thus role models and material advantages.
