Discuss factors within schools that may lead to the educational under-achievement of pupils from some minority ethnic groups.

One internal factor that may lead to the educational underachievement of pupils from some minority ethnic groups is labelling and teacher racism. Gillborn (1990) and Gillborn and Youdell (2000) studied teacher racism to black students. Teachers often labelled black pupils as a cause for concern and disruptive. Gillborn found that teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils than others for the same behavior. Asian pupils are often also subject to teacher racism as teachers held ethnocentric views. Teachers often gave Asian pupils easier work and spoke to them in simpler English even if they were fluent in English. This left them at a disadvantage as they were not receiving the same level of education as white pupils. Another internal factor that may lead to the educational under-achievement of pupils from some minority ethnic groups is the ethnocentric curriculum. The National Curriculum teaches mainly British ideals and history and ignores the history and culture of ethnic minorities. Coard (1971; 2005) explains how the ethnocentric curriculum may produce under-achievement. For example, in history the British are presented as bringing civilisation to the ‘primitive’ peoples they colonised. This image of black people as inferior undermines black children’s self-esteem and leads to their failure. A third factor that may lead to the educational under-achievement of pupils from some minority ethnic groups is pupil responses and subcultures. Mirza (1992) studied ambitious black girls who faced teacher racism. The girls failed to reached their ambitions because their coping strategies restricted their opportunities and resulted in under-achievement. Mirza found that racist teachers discouraged black pupils from being ambitious through the kind of advice they gave them about careers and option choices. A large majority of teachers in the study held racist attitudes. This discouragement leads to under-achievement as it discourages pupils to work hard for their future if they are told they have a bad future ahead.