Ethnic Minority Education Research Articles

Immigrant optimism or anticipated discrimination? Explaining the first educational transition of ethnic minorities in England

Recent studies have shown that ethnic minorities of immigrant origin are more likely to continue in education than students of the majority group with similar levels of achievement. Even though most research on this topic is still descriptive, different explanations have been proposed for these findings. The first explanation emerges from the social stratification literature on primary and secondary effects, which considers students’ decisions to continue in education a product of a rational strategy. According to this literature, the perception of labour market discrimination increases the costs of dropping out for ethnic minority students, who will therefore decide to continue into upper-secondary education more often than native majority students performing at the same level. The other explanation emerges from the literature on immigrants’ optimism and the positive selection of migration flows. According to these theories, ethnic minorities’ high continuation rates in education are a reflection of their ‘immigrant optimism’ and drive for success in the destination country. Building upon these prior investigations, this study aims to explain the high continuation rates to upper secondary education of ethnic minorities in England. First, I examine whether students’ anticipation of labour market discrimination motivates an ethnic compensation strategy in education, which translates into high educational expectations and, subsequently, high continuation rates to post-compulsory education. And second, I analyse the impact of students’ prior educational expectations on their transition rates to upper secondary education, particularly whether ethnic minorities’ early optimism eventually translates into actual educational choices. The survey Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) and the student census National Pupil Database (NPD) are used to test the hypotheses. The results show that the ethnic gap in expectations relative to the White British majority is not related to anticipated discrimination, and ethnic minority students who anticipate labour market discrimination do not make different educational choices compared to those who do not anticipate discrimination. In contrast, prior educational expectations represent the main factor driving the transitions of ethnic minority students, thus supporting the immigrant optimism explanation.

The New Plan for the Prevention of School Failure in Catalonia (Spain)

This paper outlines the development of the Ministry of Education’s Compensatory Education Program focusing on the changes in Catalonia due to the Plan for Language and Social Cohesion. This program was the emblematic result of the reformist policy adopted in 1983 in the field of education. It was, therefore, a hopeful and optimistic discourse aimed at correcting social inequalities and producing higher levels of social justice. Despite the inherent weaknesses of this approach, the Compensatory Education Program has enabled carrying out interventions in particularly complex areas and, in addition, the range of activities has been very broad and ambitious. Currently, its disappearance and transformation poses a challenge to the government to address the education of ethnic minorities at risk of social exclusion as well as actions to promote school success, to reduce school failure (scheduled for 2018). The development of Education’s Compensatory Education Program will be useful to students of foreign origin in order to improve their academic opportunities and of continuing in the education system.

Chinese transnational students and the global education hierarchy

Recent years have seen a tremendous increase in transnational education mobility. The two trends of international integration and marketisation of higher education have made for a situation in which increasing numbers of aspiring young people worldwide seize the opportunity to study abroad as part of their higher education. No other nation sends more students abroad than China. In 2014, 459,800 students left the country to study abroad (Ministry of Education 2015); and 22 per cent of all international students enrolled in tertiary education in OECD countries in 2012 came from China (OECD 2014: 350). To explore the many dimensions of this huge wave of educational migration we hosted a conference at Aarhus University with the title Chinese Students Abroad: Reflections, Strategies and Impacts of a Global Generation in March 2014. The initial versions of the first three articles in this issue by Heidi Ross and Yajing Chen, Kirsten Jæger and Malene Gram, and Qing Gu were presented at this conference.2 The fourth article, by Naomi Yamada, examines the education of ethnic minorities inside China and thereby throws light on another, but related, effect of the marketisation of Chinese education.

Trapped in Politicization of Ethnicity: The Dilemma in China’s Ethnic Minority Education

China has fifty-six official ethnic groups, which comprise the majority Han and fifty-five ethnic minority groups. The designation of a minority status, according to official narrative, is based on...

Ethno-Education (Etnoeducación) in la Guajira, Colombia: Shaping Indigenous Subjectivities Within Modernity, Neoliberal Multiculturalism, and the Indigenous Struggle

Ethno-education (etnoeducación) – formal education for ethnic minorities – is one of the key features defining Colombia as a multicultural nation. For the state and mainstream Colombian, it means the materialization of the push for modernity and inclusion, as ‘other,’ of indigenous peoples into a neoliberal multicultural nation. While for indigenous peoples, it is a pivotal mechanism of resistance, based on their struggle to maintain their ethnic identity, seek self-determination, and gain the necessary knowledge to successfully adapt to an intercultural context. As the Wayuu of Siapana, La Guajira, conceptualize it,etnoeducación is the instrument that allows them to ‘salir adelante’ (get ahead) and ‘ser alguien en la vida’ (to become someone in life), that can help them take control over their present and future, while redeeming the failures of the past. Etnoeducación – and thus the subjectivities it fosters – results from the convergence of many different processes and interests. Drawing from my ethnographic research in a Colombian Wayuu Internado (boarding school) and its surrounding community, this paper elucidates how these forces constitute the subjectivities of Wayuu students, shaping their desires, decisions, meanings, and possibilities, while placing contradictions and challenges in the Wayuu struggle for self-determination happening under a context of unequal power relations.

Functions of Turkish complementary schools in the UK: Official vs. Insider discourses

Complementary schools in the United Kingdom (UK) are community organised schools with the general aim of teaching younger generations their ‘native’ languages and cultures. However, the aims and practices of these schools are predominantly dependent on changes in the social and political contexts both in the host country (in this case the UK) as well as in the respective ‘home’ countries of these children. This study focuses on one such Turkish complementary school in London, aiming to describe and analyse the functions of these schools more broadly, by means of a variety of perspectives and using a social constructivist approach. Data collected from official documents, participant observations, as well as interviews with parents, teachers, students and organisers of the schools, were analysed, focusing on the emerging themes in relation to the functions and practices of the schools. The analysis revealed that the official discourses, which stress the issue of underachievement amongst young people from Turkish speaking backgrounds in the UK, differ strikingly from the participants’ perceptions of the functions of the school, as well as the actual teaching and learning practices found there. This discrepancy is attributed to trends in current neo-liberal educational discourses and the discourses surrounding ethnicallyoriented educational provisions in the UK. Keywords : complementary schools, ethnic minority education, neoliberalism, Turkish schools

The Impact of a National-Goal-Driven Higher Education Policy on An Ethnic Minority Serving Institution in China

This paper examines the implementation of Project 985 at Minzu University of China, an ethnic minority serving university in China. As a university established specifically for the education of ethnic minorities, the paper examines in what ways the implementation of a policy uniformly mandated to serve national higher education goals by China’s Central government impacts the unique institutional philosophy and mission at one particular university. The paper focuses primarily on the ways in which the university’s function to serve the needs of the nation’s ethnic minority population has become diffused amid other priorities.

The Status Quo and Development of Mathematics Education for Ethnic Minorities in China

AbstractThis article addresses how mathematics education in the People's Republic of China, a unified and multinational country, is implemented to cope with the challenges of cultural diversity. The article begins with a general overview of ethnic minority education, and then attempts to articulate the various mathematical cultural practices in ethnic minority groups. The article then examines the reform, exploration, and development of mathematics education for ethnic minority groups, including curricula, teacher education, and studies in mathematics education. Finally, the authors propose a new starting point for further implementation of cultural diversity in mathematics education.

The challenge of promoting ethnic minority education and cultural diversity in Hong Kong schools : from policy to practice = El desafío de promover la educación de los grupos étnicos minoritarios y la diversidad cultural en las escuelas de Hong Kong : de las políticas a la práctica

An important feature of Hong Kong’s education reform over the past decade has been the articulation of the “no loser principle”. This policy statement was meant to signal that all students are valuable and will benefit from both basic and senior secondary education. Yet barriers remain for the 2.9% of students under the age of 15 who can be classified as ethnic minorities. Until the 2008 Racial Discrimination Ordinance (RDO), the educational needs of these students remained an invisible issue for the school system. This article examines the policy context in which Hong Kong schools have made provisions for ethnic minority students, and reviews classroom practices that operationalize these policies on a daily basis. In an interview study involving 32 teachers’ narratives of how they managed the cultural diversity of ethnic minority students in classrooms (Hue & Kennedy, 2012, 2013), it was reported that at the practical level, teachers struggle to meet the diverse needs of students and to conceptualize a new rationale for responding to cultural diversity. The implications of promoting ethnic minority education at the three levels of policy, practice and research are discussed

Educational Equity in the Access to Post-Secondary Education: A Comparison of Ethnic Minorities in China with Aboriginals in Canada

This study provides insight into equity issues in post-secondary education by exploring and assessing the history, the reality and the potential developments in higher education for minority students in China, in comparison to post-secondary education for aboriginal students in Canada. It highlights access to post-secondary education by these minorities in both countries in terms of educational policy enactment, orientation, and its enforcement. The study examines both commonalties and differences in the educational policies of both countries to shed light on how each country is able to grapple with the issue of equity in their respective post-secondary educational systems in response to the principles of liberty, equity and dignity as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This study employs a historical approach to identify the common trends by examining issues concerning access to post-secondary education for ethnic minorities in China and the aboriginals in Canada. Specifically, the study employs a comparative method analyzing how access and equity are defined, how policies have evolved, and the impact that the policy has on the minority students in China and aboriginal students in Canada. The assessment of the access issues in these two countries not only reveals some common trends in the evolution of access norms in the post-secondary education of both countries, but also identifies certain differences in response to their historical traditions, national cultures, and diverse educational structures. The findings are presented in three sections: growth and gap, equality versus equity, and equity and the difference among the difference.

Primary and secondary education for ethnic minorities in post-revolutionary Russia

The author studies the process of creation and functioning of the first stages of national education in post-revolutionary Russia. There is attention of the authorities to this issue. It is concluded that the increase in the number of educational institutions for minorities in 1920-1930 was a part of the national policy of the Bolsheviks.

English Learning in Chinese Minority Areas: The Challenges and New Directions

This paper examines the English teaching, the use of English, and the attitudes towards English learning amongst university students coming from Chinese minority areas. Starting with the introduction of China’s ethnic minority education, this paper explores the situation of current English education in minority areas in China. After the brief introduction, the paper describes the current English curriculum requirements in universities and schools based on the Chinese Educational System, including both major parts and ethnic minority areas. This is followed by a discussion of the research design to investigate the differences in students’ attitudes on English extracurricular between minority students and students coming from urban areas. Afterwards, research findings are provided. In conclusion, it provides suggestions and discussions of the challenges and new directions for minority English education.

The ‘smallness’ of minimalist tolerance

This article critically examines how Malta, the smallest EU state, has developed specific ‘small’ or ‘minimalist tolerance’ discourses and practices in the education of ethnic minorities and immigrants. As a previous colony of Britain, now a ‘new’ host country with, relative to its size, the largest influx of undocumented immigrants, Malta faces particular challenges in adjusting to new forms of ethnic diversity. Whilst not arguing a path dependency, Malta’s history of domination and its resort to Roman Catholicism as a marker of ethnic identity position it in particular discursive practices which generate ‘small’, minimalist, even negligible and negligent approaches to cultural and ethnic diversity in its schools. Starting with a brief history and an account of contemporary education policies, the article constructs the theme of ‘smallness’ through an analysis of the discourses of key education policy-makers and school principals. With contradictions between the declared policy objectives and the implementation, or lack thereof, in schools, there is a ‘discretionary’ model in place. The educational experience of ethnic minority and immigrant children is at the discretion of school principals and teachers and their ‘classes of toleration’ (Dobbernack and Modood, 2012:2). Obstacles to an expanded concept of tolerance derive mainly from a definition of the national identity as Roman Catholic, as well as specific ‘smallness’ discourses. On the ground, actors argue that the ‘smallness’ of Malta and its attachment to its Catholic identity makes it unable to move beyond this very minimalist toleration of ethnic diversity. The article deconstructs these discourses.

Enhancing the Relevance and Effectiveness of Water Safety Education for Ethnic and Racial Minorities

In this paper we explore the ways in which culturally based beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors influence participation in and the development and delivery of water safety education programs. We examine existing data pertaining to ethnic and racial minorities’ drowning rates and argue that these groups’ high rates of drowning are related to a failure to understand and account for non-Eurocentric beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, and issues of social exclusion. We then summarize health communication strategies and provide real-life examples of these strategies at work in water safety education. Finally, we identify four overarching promising practices to enhance the relevance and effectiveness of water education programs targeted at ethnic and cultural minorities. In short, we argue that literature pertaining to cultural aspects of water safety needs to be translated into evidence-based approaches that fundamentally change the ways in which water safety education programs are designed and delivered.

Researching Changing Language Learning Identities for Ethnic Minority Education Policy Formulation: A Case Study of Macau S.A.R., China

In this paper the authors discuss preliminary findings from research on language learning identities of ethnic minority groups for education policy formulation. The research aims to identify and interpret changing language identities, preferences, modes of learning, and discourse affected by the transformation of the economic, social, and cultural environment of Macau since the territory was designated as a Special Administrative Region (S.A.R.) following the return of sovereignty from Portugal to China in 1999. The research is particularly concerned with identifying the perceptions held by ethnic minorities of the determinants for achievement and success in an education system polarized by language preference and priority. The case of the cross-cultural identity of the ‘Macanese’ is presented as a preliminary study to inform education policy and advocate further research on ethnic minorities in Macau.

Barriers to accessing 16-19 education for ethnic minorities: a study of isolated bilingual students

Barriers to accessing 16-19 education for ethnic minorities: a study of isolated bilingual students

Bilingual education in southwest China: a Yingjiang case

Yingjiang is a frontier county in southwest Yunnan, China, with distinctive ethnic and cultural diversity. Bilingual education (BE) has been a prominent feature in Yingjiang since the 1950s due to supportive policies and measures at various levels. BE in Yingjiang developed so well in the 1980s that a bilingual school was awarded the title of ‘flower of ethnic minority education’. However, since the late 1990s, BE in Yingjiang has gone dramatically downhill. The old ‘followers of bilingual education’ are in danger of withering. This can be seen from the shrinkage of the scale of BE and the dramatic reduction of bilingual schools and bilingual students. At the same time, the number and quality of bilingual teachers has been called into question. This paper, based on a document review and a field study, discusses the challenges and prospects for BE in Yingjiang. It is argued here that as the ethnic minority people in Yunnan are trying to make socioeconomic progress like other places in China, it is necessary to promote BE by reviewing the current BE mechanism, social reality and to take more sensible measures to revitalize BE, as was done in the late 1980s.

Development and implementation of a culturally tailored diabetes intervention in primary care

Diabetes education for ethnic minorities should address variations in values underlying motivations, preferences, and behaviors of individuals within an ethnic group. This paper describes the development and implementation of a culturally tailored diabetes intervention for Puerto Rican Americans that can be delivered by a health care paraprofessional and implemented in routine clinical care. We describe a formative process, including interviews with providers, focus groups with patients and a series of multidisciplinary collaborative workshops used to inform intervention content. We highlight the intervention components and link them to a well-validated health behavior change model. Finally, we present support for the intervention's clinical effects, feasibility, and acceptability and conclude with implications and recommendations for practice. Lessons learned from this process should guide future educational efforts in routine clinical care.

The education of ethnic minorities in Beijing

This article investigates the operations of minority schools, and the subsequent on-the-ground experiences of ethnic minorities in Beijing at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The article suggests that the ‘inter-sectionality’ of ethnic identities, particularly minority-majority, rich-poor and urban-rural, must be factored in when examining the varying differences between minorities who have graduated from Beijing's minority schools and non-Beijing ethnic minorities, who have enrolled in the capital city's universities. The article draws upon recent statistical data, interviews with minority actors and public stakeholders, and participant observation in the city's schools and universities.

Education of national and ethnic minorities in contemporary Poland

The transformation process that took place in Poland after 1989 has introduced a change in the nationalities policy of the state as well as in the legal status of national and ethnic minorities. The right to native language teaching has been constitutionally and statutorily guaranteed. It was also strengthened by international obligations of Poland within the frame of bilateral agreements with neighbouring countries as well as approved documents of international institutions defending the rights of national minorities. According to GUS (Central Statistical Office), teaching of Belorussian, Kashubian, Lithuanian, Lemko, German, Slovak, Ukrainian, Russian, Hebrew and Armenian language was offered in the school year 2009/2010 in various organizational forms and on the level of different types of schools.