Analyse Two Ways Teaching and Learning May Affect Minority Ethnic Groups (10)

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Last Updated on October 27, 2026 by Karl Thompson

A worked answer to the 10-mark ‘analyse with Item’ question from AQA A-level Sociology Paper 1 (7192/1), Question 03, June 2021 series. AQA labels this paper June 2021, but because of the pandemic it was sat in November 2021.

In the 10-mark education question you get an Item which points you to two specific issues you need to analyse, and it’s good practice to give equal weight to both. It’s crucial to draw the links between the ’cause’ and the ‘effect’ explicitly. AQA’s mark scheme also credits analysis or evaluation of each way, for example how far it affects minority ethnic groups, so a short evaluative point at the end of each paragraph is worth including.

The question

Read Item A below and answer the question that follows.

Item A

Some sociologists claim that the curriculum taught in schools today prioritises some cultures over others. Research also suggests that teacher expectations can be based on stereotypes.

Teaching and learning in schools may affect the educational experiences of minority ethnic groups.

Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which teaching and learning in schools may affect the educational experiences of minority ethnic groups. [10 marks]

Source: AQA A-level Sociology, Paper 1 (7192/1), June 2021 series (sat November 2021), Question 03.

The mark scheme

The question is worth 10 marks: 3 for knowledge and understanding (AO1), 4 for application (AO2) and 3 for analysis and evaluation (AO3). AQA’s level descriptors:

Marks	Level descriptor (AQA)
8–10	Answers in the band will show good knowledge and understanding of relevant material on two ways in which teaching and learning in schools may affect the educational experience of minority ethnic groups. There will be two developed applications of material from the Item, eg the ethnocentric curriculum fails to provide as many positive role models for children of Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups; teacher labelling of pupils from Chinese backgrounds may lead to high expectations and increased pressure to succeed. There will be appropriate analysis / evaluation of the two effects, eg the extent to which teaching and learning in schools may affect the educational experiences of minority ethnic groups.
4–7	Answers in this band will show a basic to reasonable knowledge and understanding of one or two ways in which teaching and learning in schools may affect the educational experience of minority ethnic groups. There will be some successful application of material from the Item, eg minority ethnic group pupils may develop a range of ways of coping with their teachers’ expectations based on stereotypes of ethnicity. There will be some analysis / evaluation.
1–3	Answers in this band will show limited knowledge and understanding of one or two ways in which teaching and learning in schools may affect the educational experience of minority ethnic groups. There will be limited application of material from the Item. Some material may be at a tangent to the question, eg on educational experiences of the majority ethnic group. There will be limited or no analysis/evaluation.
0	No relevant points.

Sources may include the following or other relevant ones: Archer; Driver; Evan; Fuller; Lupton; Mirza; Moynihan; Sewell; Wright.

Source: AQA A-level Sociology 7192/1 mark scheme, June 2021.

What the examiners said

AQA’s report on this exam said:

In general, this was a well answered question. Most students were able to identify the hooks in the item i.e ‘curriculum prioritising some cultures’ and ‘teacher expectations based on stereotypes’. Many were then able to develop these hooks in explaining ways in which the ethnocentric curriculum and teacher labelling may affect the experiences of some minority ethnic groups, for example, leading to the self-fulfilling prophecy and affecting their self-esteem. Additionally, the most successful answers were able to apply studies and research in providing further detail and analysis of the ways in which minority ethnic groups may be affected by these processes. Furthermore, some were able to provide some explicit evaluation and discussion of the extent to which minority ethnic groups are affected, for example by labelling, in applying Fuller’s research that outlines the ways that pupils may reject their labels.

Source: AQA Report on the Examination, A-level Sociology 7192/1, Autumn 2021.

Possible answer

The two hooks in the Item are:

the curriculum prioritising some cultures over others
teacher expectations based on stereotypes

Because this is a question about minority ethnic groups, it makes sense to discuss each of these in relation to a range of different groups, and to treat the two hooks separately.

The curriculum prioritising some cultures over others

As Item A says, some sociologists claim that the curriculum taught in schools prioritises some cultures over others. This is known as the ethnocentric curriculum: one that focuses on the culture and experiences of the majority ethnic group, which in British schools means White British and white European culture. Examples include history taught from the point of view of the colonising powers rather than the colonised, European languages being offered rather than Asian or African ones, and a school year built around the Christian calendar, with holidays at Christmas and Easter while festivals such as Eid fall in term time.

This can affect minority ethnic pupils’ experience of school in several ways. If pupils from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups rarely see people like themselves in what they learn, they have fewer positive role models, and they may feel that school is ‘not for them’. As early as 1971, Bernard Coard argued that the British school system gave West Indian children no positive image of themselves, which lowered their self-esteem, their motivation and, in the end, their achievement. Many pupils in British schools already speak Asian, African or Middle Eastern languages, but rarely have the chance to study them, which can send the message that their culture is less valued than the majority’s.

However, it is hard to argue that the ethnocentric curriculum seriously damages achievement, because most minority ethnic groups taught the same curriculum now do better than White British pupils at GCSE; Indian and Chinese pupils have the highest results of all. So its effect may be more on how included pupils feel than on their grades.

Teacher expectations based on stereotypes

Item A also says that research suggests teacher expectations can be based on stereotypes. Interactionists argue that teachers label pupils, and that these labels can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, where pupils come to live up (or down) to their teachers’ expectations.

David Gillborn (1990) found that teachers in an inner-city comprehensive saw African Caribbean pupils’ behaviour as a challenge to their authority even when none was intended, and disciplined them more than other pupils. Cecile Wright (1992) found that, in primary schools, teachers expected African Caribbean pupils to behave badly and gave them a lot of negative attention. If Black Caribbean pupils experience school as a place where they are watched and punished more than others, it may damage their trust in teachers and their willingness to work hard. They are also more likely to be excluded: in 2022/23 Black Caribbean pupils were permanently excluded at a rate of 0.18 per 100, against 0.13 for White British pupils.

Stereotypes can be positive as well as negative, but they still affect pupils’ experiences. Wright found that teachers assumed Asian pupils had a poor grasp of English and often left them out of class discussion. Teachers often expect British-Chinese pupils to do well; Francis, Mau and Archer (2017) found that even these high-achieving pupils experienced ‘hidden racisms’, with teachers criticising their ways of learning, and high expectations can also mean added pressure to succeed.

However, pupils don’t always accept their labels. Mary Fuller’s study of Black girls in a London comprehensive found that the girls rejected the negative labels, and worked hard for their qualifications to prove their worth. Heidi Safia Mirza (1992) similarly found that the Black girls in her study kept high self-esteem despite some teachers’ low expectations. So the effect of stereotyping on minority ethnic pupils’ experiences may depend on how pupils respond.

KT’s Commentary

DRAFT: KT to rewrite (delete this box, keep your text).

The examiners said this question was generally well answered, so the marks are lost on the details rather than on understanding.

The commonest slip is drifting into ‘majority ethnic group’ material. AQA’s mark scheme names this in the bottom band, so keep every paragraph on minority ethnic groups, and name the group you’re talking about.

The second is forgetting that ‘expectations based on stereotypes’ can be positive. AQA’s own example in the top band is high expectations of Chinese pupils leading to pressure to succeed, so a paragraph that only covers negative labelling of Black boys is leaving marks on the table.

Third: finish each paragraph with a line of evaluation. The examiners specifically praised answers that used Fuller to show pupils can reject their labels. One sentence like that per paragraph is enough.

There is lots more material relevant to this question in these posts:

For the 30-mark question on ethnicity from the June 2019 paper, see evaluate sociological explanations of differences in educational achievement between ethnic groups (30 marks).

Sociology of Education Revision Bundle

If you like this sort of thing, then you might like my sociology of education revision notes bundle, written by Karl Thompson, who taught A-level sociology for eighteen years and spent twelve as an AQA examiner, marking all three papers on the current specification.

Sources

AQA (2021) A-level Sociology 7192/1: question paper, mark scheme and report on the examination.
Coard, B. (1971) How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Sub-normal in the British School System.
Francis, B., Mau, A. and Archer, L. (2017) ‘The construction of British Chinese educational success’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(14).

Gillborn, D. (1990) ‘Race’, Ethnicity and Education.
Mirza, H. S. (1992) Young, Female and Black.
Wright, C. (1992) Race Relations in the Primary School.
Ethnicity facts and figures (2024) Permanent exclusions, 2022 to 2023.

Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which teaching and learning in schools may affect the educational experiences of minority ethnic groups (10 marks)