https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1362950/working-class-children-neglect-education-matthew-goodwin
Some 20 years ago - give or take - there was an article published with rather revealing stats in The Times Educational Supplement. Sadly, I have been unable to locate it. (Such articles apparently no longer appear - at least, I have not seen one!)
The piece split examination success/failure into differing racial and social groups as well as by gender.
Girls of Caribbean and Chinese origins were performing best; Caribbean boys performed the worst; white working class were barely above their Caribbean counterparts.
It is the success of the girls here which is the interesting point. If Caribbean children had the greatest success and the least, that told us that gender rather than racial origin was critical.
I might suggest that 'education is not cool' has become the norm for both black and white boys. Both are outpaced by their female counterparts.
Both are embracing a culture designed for academic failure.
As a teacher, I may not have had favourite pupils or groups but I always had an inner smile when teaching Chinese children and girls who were non-white. To me, they seemingly had a tendency to work harder and more intelligently.
Nobody should be offended by what I have written - it is merely observation.
