Ethnicity and Educational Inequality: An investigation of School Experience in Australia and France Joel Austin Windle To cite this version: Joel Austin Windle. Ethnicity and Educational Inequality: An investigation of School Experience in Australia and France. Humanities and Social Sciences. Université de Bourgogne; University of Melbourne, 2008. English. tel-00325698 HAL Id: tel-00325698 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00325698 Submitted on 30 Sep 2008 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Ethnicity and Educational Inequality: An Investigation of School Experience in Australia and France Ethnicité et inégalité scolaire : une enquête sur l’expérience lycéenne en Australie et en France Joel Austin Windle Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under a Cotutelle arrangement with The University of Melbourne and the Université de Bourgogne September 2008 Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia and Institut de Recherche sur l’Education (IREDU), Université de Bourgogne, France Abstract This thesis examines the contribution of ‘ethnic’ background to the school experiences of educationally and socially disadvantaged students in the senior years of high school (n=927). To investigate the role both of ethnic identification and its interplay with institutional factors, a comparative analysis of secondary student experiences in two national settings was undertaken. The case of Turkish- background students in Australia and France suggests that the influences of ethnic identity are thoroughly transformed from one setting to the other by distinctive pedagogical structures. Streaming and severe academic judgement in France lower academic self-esteem, while creating resentment and social distance between students and teachers. By contrast, the deferral of selection and judgement in Australia allows, temporarily, for a more convivial classroom atmosphere, but fails just as surely to successfully navigate students through the curriculum and achieve academic success. The accommodations of both systems to students in ‘peripheral’ locations constitute logics of marginal integration which enable and legitimise ‘exclusion from within’. Student efforts to make meaning of school life through peer cultures which share many similarities across institutional and national boundaries emerge as what I have called strategies of marginal integration. Ethnic-minority students appear to be particularly susceptible to those logics and strategies, which reinforce their position within the system as marginal. This study therefore identifies the difficulties facing both systems as emerging from common overarching structural qualities. Résumé Cette thèse examine, au niveau lycée, la contribution de l’origine ethnique aux expériences scolaires d’élèves désavantagés (N=927). Elle a pour objectif d’étudier les rapports entre inégalité sociale, expérience scolaire, et structure institutionnelle. Afin d’enquêter sur le rôle de l’identification ethnique et sa relation aux facteurs institutionnels, une analyse comparative a été menée dans deux pays. L’étude du cas des élèves d’origine turque en France et en Australie indique que les influences de l’ethnicité sont transformées d’un contexte à l’autre par des structures pédagogiques distinctives. En France, les filières et les jugements académiques sévères en réduisent l’estime de soi, en créant de l’aliénation et de la distance sociale entre élève et professeur. En Australie, au contraire, le différemment de la sélection et du jugement permet, de façon temporaire, une atmosphère plus conviviale en cours, mais ne réussit pas à assurer le succès académique des élèves. Les efforts des deux systèmes dans les sites périphériques constituent des logiques d’intégration marginales qui permettent l’exclusion de l’intérieure. Les efforts des élèves pour donner un sens à la vie scolaire à travers des cultures de pairs qui se ressemblent dans les deux contextes font partie des stratégies d’intégration marginale. Les élèves d’origine immigrée semblent particulièrement concernés par ces logiques et stratégies, qui renforcent leur position subordonnée dans le système. L’étude identifie alors les difficultés auxquelles sont confrontés les deux systèmes comme résultant de caractéristiques structurelles. i Declaration This is to certify that the thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD (ii) due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used, (iii) the thesis is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. Joel Windle Examination Panel/Membres du jury Professor Françoise Lorcerie Associate Professor David Beckett (also representing Dr. Ruth Lupton) Professor Marie Duru-Bellat Professor Richard Teese ii Acknowledgments I wish to thank my supervisors, Professor Richard Teese, Professor Marie Duru-Bellat and Associate Professor John Polesel, for their invaluable support and guidance. I also wish to thank the staff of the Center for Post-compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning and the Institut de Recherche sur l’Education for their assistance over the course of the project. In particular, Neil Day and Stephen Lamb at the University of Melbourne provided valuable assistance. I wish to acknowledge the support of the Victorian and French educational authorities and of all of the schools participating in the study. I am particularly grateful for the contribution of the staff and students who gave up their time to participate. I am also grateful to the members of the communities in which the schools are situated for their advice and background information. In particular, Joy Elley provided much assistance in the early stages of the project and her earlier work in the field was an inspiration. Discussions with my fellow post-graduate students at both research institutes also provided inspiration and insight. Finally, my thanks go to my family and friends, and especially my partner, Daniel, for their support throughout. iii Table of Contents Page Abstract………………………………………………………………………. i Declaration…………………………………………………………………… ii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………. iii Table of contents……………………………………………………………. iv List of tables and figures…………………………………………………… v Summary in French………………………………………………………… viii Chapter 1. Introduction.……………………………………………………. 1 Chapter 2. Inequalities in the context of ‘massified’ systems………….. 11 Chapter 3. Research methods and settings…………….……………….. 33 Part 1 : Australia Chapter 4. Turkish migrants in Australia…………………………………. 56 Chapter 5. The education of Turkish-background students in Australia 71 Chapter 6. Aspirations and pathways in Australia………………….…… 88 Chapter 7. Managing schoolwork in Australia…………………………… 129 Chapter 8. Social and pedagogical relationships in Australia…………. 177 Part 2: France Chapter 9. Turkish migrants in 216 France……………………………………. Chapter 10. The education of Turkish-background students in France. 233 Chapter 11. Aspirations and pathways in France…………………….…. 247 Chapter 12. Managing schoolwork in France…………………….……… 281 Chapter 13. Social and pedagogical relationships in France…………... 326 Part 3: Schooling in comparison Chapter 14. Dreams and disillusionment: cultural logics of meritocracy 358 Chapter 15. Conclusion…………………………………………………….. 380 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………. 388 Appendix 1. Glossary of terms…………………………………………….. 406 Appendix 2. Additional tables and figures…..……………………... 408 Appendix 3. Questionnaires and interview schedules….………………. 412 iv List of Tables Table Page 1.1 French and Victorian education systems compared 6 2.1 Summary of class ‘styles’ identified by Lareau 18 3.1 Occupational status by ethnic background (Australia) 38 3.2 Ethnic composition of schools (Australian sample) 40 3.3 Socio-economic composition of schools (Australian sample) 40 3.4 Occupational status by ethnic background (France) 42 3.5 Ethnic composition of schools (French sample) 44 3.6 Socio-economic composition of schools (French sample) 44 3.7 Teachers interviewed by school 47 3.8 Students interviewed by school 48 3.9 Parents’ country of birth (Arabic/Berber speakers) in French sample 53 3.10 Parents’ country of birth (Arabic/Berber speakers) in Australian 53 sample 3.11 Country of birth by background (Australia) 54 3.12 Country of birth by background (France) 54 4.1 Occupational status of parents of the second-generation by country of 59 birth 4.2 Employment status of parents of second generation aged 0-14 years 60 by parents’ birthplace 4.3 Unemployment rates of the second generation by age and ancestry 61 4.4 Broadmeadows ethnic Profile, 2001 Census 63 5.1 Enrolment in education of 2nd generation by age and parents’ 76 birthplace for Melbourne statistical division 5.2 Highest level of qualification by parents’ birthplace for Melbourne 77 statistical division 5.3 Completion of year 12 for second generation aged 20-24 (%) by 78 weekly household income (Melbourne statistical division, 2001) 6.1 Popularity of selected occupations by gender 97 6.2