Reasons for the Poor Performance of Afro-Caribbean Students - Literature review Example

INTRODUCTION Despite the large number of elementary and high school Afro-Caribbean in the country, only a handful of them become high achievers in their schools. Many attribute this poor performance to the bigotry suffered by Afro-Caribbean citizens, which persists even to this day, and the long record of the enslavement of their people. Some researches, however, believe that there are still many other reasons for this underachieving phenomenon, which is more prevalent among Afro-Caribbean male students. To fully view the extent of this problem, one must look at the physical, societal, racial, regulatory, and financial state of affairs of Afro-Caribbean students. This wider view of the issue is the main topic of this report. The report will attempt to find out the reasons why Afro-Caribbean student do not show a high level of achievement despite the high quality of education in the country. It will also generate suggestions based on the various data gathered. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Poor performance of pupils from marginalized cultural groups, especially from the Afro-Caribbean families, has become a nationwide concern. According to statistics provided by The London Development Agency (2003), majority of the schools today yield pupils who show poor learning achievement despite the high quality of education our institutions provide. The highest percentage of these students comes from the Afro-Caribbean minority group. One of the main reasons is the presence of prejudice in our society despite the many laws created against such actions, for instance the Race Relations (Amendment) Act of 2000, and the recently presented government schemes to support the Black Child (Mayor of London, 2004, pp. 4, 25; London Development Agency, 2003). Afro-Caribbean students still experience inequality, which are glaringly evident in society—teasing from classmates, teachers and administrators showing a dislike for them just because of preconceived notions about their culture. Even policies are against them through lack of support from administrators, unfair rules imposed on their group alone. Since Afro-Caribbean pupils do not enjoy the same representation as the major groups in society do, they have been denied some rights and privileges. They lack access to information, they are given poor amenities. lack facilities Many researches have found that the top three obstacles to good performance in school are the poor financial and social aspects of the students’ lives, the lack of support and belief teachers have towards their students, and the subculture traditions Afro-Caribbean children develop among their own friends (Bhattachayyara, Ison & Blair, 2003; Gillborn and Mirza, 2000; Sewell, 1997; Tikly, Caballero, Haynes & Hill, 2004, p. 1). Looking at the socio-historical aspect, these Afro-Caribbean children come from families which travelled to this country hoping for a better life. Unfortunately, upon arriving in the land they would love to call home, they ended up becoming second class citizens and experiencing the inequalities that they wanted to leave behind. These children have imbibed the dejected spirits of their parents and older family members. Children who perform poorly lack motivation in their schooling. It does not help that the educational system has a deficient way of developing motivation in ethnic children. The method teachers used on their students has a great impact on whether these children will be motivated to perform well or not in school (Potter, McCormick and Busching, 2001, p.1). For example, with proper guidance a teacher can push a student to write and create heartfelt papers based on their experiences. This will allow students to come out of their shells and express themselves more. In turn, this activity may motivate students to want to achieve more in future endeavours. A teacher, however, who pays more attention to matters like proper grammar and syntax, will only alienate students even more. Students lose the confidence that they can write substantial albeit not so grammatical works. Unfortunately, studies show that the latter behaviour is more prevalent among teachers in many schools. They ignore the laws of learning and indulge in the prejudices against the very students that they should be educating (London Development Agency, 2003, pg. 34). Some researches say that this perceived racial discrimination performed by teachers against their students do not have any obvious and convincing proof that it is the main reason of poor performance among Afro-Caribbean students (Foster, 1996, p.105). However a connection can be seen between inequity and poor performance. Students from Caribbean families go through established forms of unfairness such as lack of support and verbal abuse from teachers. They are also usually not included in school activities, and most of the time, are not asked to participate in class discussions (Tikly, Caballero, Haynes & Hill, 2004, p. 1; Mayor of London, 2004, p. 51). In his study, Wright (1992) presented Marcus, a four-year old Afro-Caribbean who was ostracized and prevented from enrolling in a school of his choice simply because of his heritage. The reason for this can be found in Pilkington’s study (1999) where he wrote that administrators bar Afro-Caribbean students from their schools because these institutions have found that Afro-Caribbean children tend to disobey the rules of the schools. Preventing the students from enrolling is not a subject of protecting the name of the school. Rather, it seems to be a biased way of sifting through the students and taking out the unwanted ones right away. Woods (1992) pointed out that even though these prejudiced customs of educational institutions cannot be directly connected to a student’s poor performance, many proofs and data could lead any researcher to deduce that a teacher’s demeaning and even hostile attitude towards Afro-Caribbean students has a big mental and emotional influence on the students’ educational performance. Concurring with Woods’ study, Pilkington (2000, p. 415) revealed that although some schools announce that they do not condone discrimination in their institutions, the actions and policies of these schools speak a very different tune. The need for action to validate the words is evidently missing and the purposeful cultural disparity in the way they handle Afro-Caribbean students show a different picture. Case in point, a school once banned their Afro-Caribbean students from putting their hair in ethnic patterns. The ban was put into order without any proper communication to the students affected. Afro-Caribbean protested because other students were allowed to do what they wanted with their hair (Pilkington, 2000, p.415). For these Afro-Caribbean students, using an ethnic design for their hair was not only a cultural. It was also a product of the sub-societal tradition that males had developed in order to stop discrimination against Afro-Caribbean (Sewell, 1997, p.166). It was never meant to be an attempt to violate the rules of the school. Teachers and administrators, on the other hand, viewed this custom as a blatant sign of lack of respect. Because of the hostile stance each party exhibited, and due to the lack of communication between them, some of the protesting students were expelled from the school. This sad result, according to Pilkington (2000, p.415), was one of the most cruel punishments that any school could give to their students. It was even harsher because the issue that started everything was not meant to be insulting in the first place. One of the most important reasons behind a student’s performance is the student’s household (Heath, 1983, p. ii; Taylor, 1983, p. xix; Weinsten-Shr, 1993, p. 273). Heath (1983) wrote that the way parents bring up their children can influence their children’s capabilities to perform well in school and to understand a variety of information including literature. Although these parents themselves may not have had any education, they can ensure that their children will have a better chance at schooling. Parents can encourage their children to learn, parents can cooperate with teachers in what and how to teach their children, parents can guide their children towards the path of achievement (Mayor of London, 2004, p.19). According to Klein and Jimerson (2005, p. 23), the kind of words and the way they are said in the homes of students taking up the Stanford Achievement Test – Ninth Edition (SAT-9) can have an influence on their results. This is particularly true for the oral reading portion of the exam. This is because the way a student has been taught to pronounce a word at home will be the way he will pronounce the word during the exam. This example stresses even more the important role parents play in whether their children will perform well or not in school. The financial aspect of a student’s family is also an important matter when assessing the reasons why a student performs poorly in school. A number of researches state that most of the Afro-Caribbean boys who perform poorly in school come from poor families (Osborne, 1999, p. 555; Tikly et al., 2004, p.8; Steele, 1997). Some studies have also found out that a direct connection can be seen between financial deprivation and underachievement (Simmons, et al, 1978). Students whose parents lack stable work or whose families have only a meagre combined income will focus their attention more on problems like payment for tuition fees and educational supplies rather than on their studies. Because of this vicious cycle of inadequacy and lack of support, many Afro-Caribbean students have lost faith in their own capabilities and in the value of schooling (Steele 1992, 1997). Because getting a good education presents too much trouble and obstacles, some of these Afro-Caribbean students would rather deal with the facets of their lives that, for them, need more immediate attention such as their poverty. Because of this, many students would rather look for jobs or alternative ways of living rather go to school (Steele 1992). For these children, getting good grades may be nice, but getting money for food is better. With the many programs that aim to help students from ethnic minority groups that the government has been establishing, it would be for the good of the students if Afro-Caribbean families will become active in these programs. One good example would be the Black Child program led by the London Development Agency, which aims to promote scholastic development among Black children. Although our country advocates for the freedom to state your own individual and cultural customs, it is still recommended that an antagonistic attitude towards rules and regulations must be restrained. It is better to put away those attitudes when in school premises. Following the Black Child’s central goals, Afro-Caribbean students might benefit more with some unbiased guidance and therapy from school officials. They could be pointed to the right direction with regards to the consequences of, for example fighting in schools and its impact on their academic performance. Their eyes could also be opened to the fact that taking on a less belligerent attitude may help in changing their teachers’ notions of them. Following the thought that what goes around comes around, teachers who take on a more positive view of their Afro-Caribbean students’ capabilities might, subsequently, make a big difference in transforming the students’ attitudes and outlook about themselves and about education. Another recommendation is for schools to hire more Afro-Caribbean teachers to teach in schools where many Afro-Caribbean students are enrolled in. This will ensure that the students will have some teachers whom they can relate and open up to regarding problems in school and at home. These Afro-Caribbean teachers will be better equipped to handle counselling sessions with their counterpart students. Having pointed out the importance of parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling, it is suggested that parents become more engaged in educating their children. Parents should join activities sponsored by the school. They should also take notice of the words that they use in the presence of their children. Young students are very susceptible to imitating cussing and vulgar words when they hear them from family members. To all government organizations, it is highly recommended that officials participate in all endeavours that promote a social change in the way we think so that the problem of poor performance among Afro-Caribbean students can be better tackled. More programs and investigations are needed to provide the solutions so this problem. Policies that will promote educational progress are especially needed by our Afro-Caribbean students. To the general citizenry, a call is given that better understanding of the cultural and social differences between people be practiced. Name-calling, teasing, fighting just because of the colour of someone’s skin is an unpleasant attitude for anyone. Working together is the only way to attain equality for Afro-Caribbean students who are divested of so numerous rights and chances, including the chance to achieve a high academic performance. REFERENCES Bhattachayyara, G. Ison, L., & Blair, M. (2003). Minority Ethnic Attainment and Participation in Education and Training: The Evidence. London: DfES. Foster, P., Gomm, R. and Hammersley, M. (1996). Constructing Educational Inequality (Lewes, F.). p.105. Gillborn, D. & Mirza, H.(2000). Educational Inequality: Mapping Race, Class and Gender: a Synthesis of Research Evidence, London: OFSTED. Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. New York: Cambridge University Press. Klein, J.R. and Jimerson, S.R. (Spring, 2005). Examining Ethnic, Gender, Language, and Socioeconomic Bias in Oral Reading Fluency and Caucasian Students. School Psychology Quarterly; 20, 1; ProQuest Psychology Journals, pg. 23-50 Mayor of London. (July, 2004). 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Early Education: multiracial primary school classrooms, in: D. Gill, B. Mayor, & M. Blair (Eds) Racism and Education. Buckingham, Open University. Read More