According to Item A, Wright argues that teachers may affect the achievement of ethnic minority groups, compared to white pupils. One explanation for this is labelling.

Another reason is that the school curriculum has been criticised for being ethnocentric. This means that it excludes knowledge of different cultures and concentrates only on White British events. For example, in the ‘art subjects’, black literature is not explored. This neglect means that ethnic minority groups can feel excluded and de-motivated in learning and lack self-esteem. These ideas can mean that schools themselves promote ‘institutional racism’.

The above explanations help us understand that some ethnic minority children may form subcultures as a response to negative labelling and low self-esteem. Ethnic- minority boys in particular are most likely to rebel against education and take a fatalistic attitude. They reject education and conform to the ‘black macho lad’ stereotype. Also racism and discrimination in wider society can mean that job prospects for ethnic minority students may be difficult and so they may feel that qualifications are a waste of time.

Another school factor may be due to setting and selection procedures. Black children and some Pakistani children are often in the lower sets in subjects. This leads to racial segregation and reinforces the belief that they are inferior to white children.

However, not all ethnic minority children are underachievers; Indian children tend to do well in schools. This is because their culture and upbringing emphasises positive values on education. Douglas argues that external factors contribute more to educational success than school factors, as is emphasised in Item A. Cultural deprivation may determine educational attainment. Often working-class families (i.e. Pakistani families) do not place much value on education and want their children to enter employment at the earliest age. Another factor may be material deprivation. Some ethnic minority families may be working class and may not be able to afford extra resources to benefit their child’s education, like computers. Finally, Bernstein says that many ethnic minority kids have speech differences which disadvantage them in education and this is a factor which accounts for their underachievement compared to white children.