Transcript Educational aspirations in inner city schools

MA School Based Explorations



Major goal of UK government- keep young
people in education
Key to this, young people’s aspirations at
beginning of secondary school
Early nurturing of positive attitudes to school
prior to Year 9.





Current research suggests that educational aspirations are
strongly associated with specific attitudes and influences that
may underlie the link between aspirations and attainment.
Low aspiration- associated with poor academic self concept, low
home educational aspirations, low peer support, dissatisfaction
and a low commitment to schooling.
Differences between educational aspirations amongst ethnic
groups are largely mediated by these factors, with contrasting
cultures of aspiration within the home seen as a key mediator.
For those groups where the home environment does not provide
young people with the navigational capacity to aspire ‘nurtured
by the possibility of real world….then the school is needed to fill
the gap.
If the capacity to aspire is essentially a cultural capacity, then it
will require more than an additional strand of skills within the
curriculum, rather schools will need to reassess themselves as
cultural institutions and find ways to connect their normative
values of aspiration with the lived curriculum of their pupils.




Theoretical perspective on the
interpretation of educational aspiration and
its significance for future behaviour
Aspirations are a cognitive state that drives
young people to strive for academic success
Personal dimensions (students’ perceptions
of own attributes/ significant others) and
social dimensions (quality of schooling/
parental social class)
Parents/ economic/ social circumstances
•
Commitment to school
Academic self concept
•
Teacher support
•
•
Positive peer support
Negative peers
•
Laissez faire
•
•
Home education aspirations
•
Home support for learning



‘Push’ factor- avoidance of unemployment
‘Pull’ factor- expected high earnings
Educational aspiration is purely a rational
judgement based on current economic
circumstances

Questionnaire

Focus groups

Gender dynamics within focus groups



Lowest aspirations amongst white British
(lowest academic self concept/ home
aspirations)
Highest Black African, Asian other (highest
academic self concept/ commitment to
schooling/ home)
Gender less of a factor (although boys
generally a lower academic self concept)


White British- ‘learning won’t change
anything’/ support at home may be unrelated
to school work.
Capacity to aspire for white British children is
more readily constrained by their social class


‘Involuntary minorities’ (Ogbu 1978)-
descendents who found themselves in the US
against their will- often adopt an oppositional
identity to mainstream culture in response to
discrimination/ glass celing imposed or maintained
by dominant white group
‘voluntary’ minorities- chose to come to the
US

Both parents’ racial consciousness influenced their
expectations of their son’s school experience. Whilst
the history of segregation and experience of
immigration shaped the way that both parents viewed
education as the only way for their child to succeed,
racial consciousness also differed for both parents. The
Chinese mother, part of the voluntary minority,
emphasised her son’s need to fit in and get the best
possible education including extra study after school.
The father, part of the involuntary minority, emphasised
preparing his son, both physically and emotionally, for
potential racism. This involved a push for activities at
school such as karate rather than extra study.



Immobility and stagnation
‘Anticipatory socialisation’- (Merton) aspiring
to middle class values and norms
Stagnation- those groups who have been
located the longest within an area of social
deprivation may feel reluctant to embrace the
educational aspirations that promise an
escape from it (‘disengaged’- Reily)
•
•
•
Map of norms which lead to future success
Capacity to connect / forge realistic pathways
connecting learning, achievement and career
choices (usually associated with more affluent in
society)
Explains mismatch of White British achievementpoor lack the opportunities and pathways to
achieve this success- immediate survival- do not
have the luxury of linking present actions with
future beneficial outcomes (80% aspired to 5 A*C, 34% achieved)


If educational aspirations reflect socio
economic inequalities it would be
expected that white students- on
average from more privileged
backgrounds would have higher
aspirations than other ethnic groups
Yet ‘cultural’ explanations of ethnic
group differences in aspirations- many
emphasise parental aspirations and
cultural orientation towards schooling



Challenging an uncritical interpretation of
aspirations
Psychological dispositions to achieve?
A simple causal relationship between
aspirations and subsequent attainment?


Black African, Pakistani, Bangladeshi groups
had the highest educational aspirations,
they were also groups with the lowest
educational attainment at age 14.
Are high levels of intending to stay in FTE
reflecting students’ knowledge of the
greater risk of unemployment for ethnic
minority groups relative to whites if they
enter workforce at 16 as well as fear of
discrimnation?



Distinctions between abstract aspirations
and concrete attitudes
High aspirations in the form of ideological
beliefs- ‘education is the key to success in
the future’
Yet concrete attitudes derived from their
experience of unequal returns to education
for family- ‘people in my family haven’t
been treated fairly at work no matter how
much education they have’-it is these
attitudes that most strongly inform
achievement behaviour and school grades

Evidence suggests a ‘pragmatic
rationality’- middle position that
recognises role of structural constraints
but also young people’s own attitudes,
predispositions and personal history
(Payne 2003)


What might be some of the parallels
between the case study and issues raised
in Strand’s paper?
Are there any parallels with your own
school contexts?










Since 1998 there has been a 10% decline in the White British
population in Lambeth- they no longer represent the largest
group
Other groups change and move on and out. This group is stuck.’
(headteacher)
We are the ethnic minority now’ (parent)
‘I am the only white person in my housing block’ (parent)
‘Where I am now there is only me and every other culture and
country’
‘There are bonds that tie other community groups together- the
church as a family focus, the church places expectations on you
of helping and supporting…the mosque…the ethos of hard work.
There is nowhere for the white community…no sense of cultural
identity…(headteacher)
The British identity is lost. It’s not celebrated anymore….Our
children have to celebrate everyone else’s culture….What about
ours? (parent)
We think it’s good to learn about other cultures, but no one
celebrates ours. We just want a balance…..’ (parent)
There may be an assumption that because you are white you are
included in things- but do we celebrate being British? (teacher)
Hopelessness and a lack of self esteem

‘They have low aspirations, a family history of little school

‘Gap between the high aspirations of the schools and low
aspirations of the families’ (Headteachers focus group)



success, a lack of employment and employability within the
family. There is a fast pace of change in Lambeth but these
families don’t change. There is a feeling of hopelessness in some
families.’ (headteacher)
The children can be passive…..education does not have a high
priority at home and this impacts on how they feel about their
work at school….a boy in Year 1, ‘I don’t need to get a job.’
(Teacher)
Lack of knowledge and understanding of the world, a ‘self
imposed glass ceiling, they don’t go anywhere, they stay in their
flats watching TV.’
Lack of forward thinking coupled with a culture of instant
gratification. This manifests itself in e.g. behaviour, diet.