This thesis focuses on the experiences of Bangladeshi pupils attending schools in England in the context of their perceived underachievement in the English school system. Statistical studies in the 1970s and 1980s established that Bangladeshi pupils were doing very poorly in school while later surveys in the 1990s continued to show Bangladeshi pupils as low achieving. The study explores 'What is it in the lives, backgrounds and schooling experiences of Bangladeshi pupils that helps and hinders them in learning and achieving in the English school system?' The study also questions the appropriateness of considering pupils in terms of their ethnicity in relation to achievement. An ethnographic case study approach was adopted so that the micro-processes of learning and being a pupil could be examined. Six Bangladeshi children were identified in one predominantly white, rural county. The six children were attending three different schools in the same city. The research was thus conducted in three different classrooms over the period of one year. Data were collected through unstructured observations and in-depth semistructured and unstructured interviews. Families, teachers and other children in the classrooms were included in the research. The case studies show how the children's teachers came to assess the case study children and their learning needs through the ways in which the children took part in teacher-pupil classroom interaction. Each case study shows how these teacher assessments affected each child's access to resources such as support and to opportunities for using language and learning in the classroom. The case study pupils were particularly vulnerable because their under-resourced teachers rarely recognised their English as an Additional Language (EAL) needs. As a result 'within-child' explanations, often connected to mistaken assumptions about the child's home, culture or Muslim identity, were then called on to explain poor work or inattention. The case study children were also vulnerable because their teachers only considered their academic performance in relation to other Bangladeshi or EAL pupils and not in relation to the other White English language background children in the classroom. Where pupil needs were recognised and provided for the focus of support was on modifying behaviour so that pupils behaved like an 'ideal pupil' rather than on developing the appropriate English language needed for accessing the curriculum and becoming or remaining an achieving pupil. Other kinds of support resulted in 'fragmented' learning experiences and being placed in supported lower sets from which movement into higher sets was not possible. The case studies also show how some of the case study children took part in reading interactions with their teachers and appeared as successful readers although they were not able to read for meaning. These particular case studies demonstrate that learning the interaction patterns of reading in the Early Years classroom is not enough to allow a pupil to become a successful reader and that what counts as reading in different contexts and literacy practices needs to be given attention. The case studies also reveal how some of the case study children were hindered in their learning and achievement in school by their lack of access to resources outside school. These included having someone at home to help them with their English school reading and homework as well as their access to pre-school education. The study concludes by suggesting that to focus on achievement in terms of ethnicity conceals the language needs of many Bangladeshi pupils and the role that these play in achievement. To this end a trajectory of what needs to be acquired in terms of language and literacy to be a successful pupil in English schools is provided. The question of why Bangladeshi pupils have been one of the lowest achieving pupil groups in England is then addressed and it is concluded from the data provided by the study that having few economic, social and cultural resources can make it difficult for a pupil to achieve in school, as can being an EAL pupil with unmet language needs or being a pupil with home literacy and learning practices that are different to the literacy and learning practices of English schools. Taken alone none of these situations necessarily predicates underachievement, yet some of the pupils in this study found themselves disadvantages by all three situations.

This thesis aims to compare the relative chances of occupational success of Chinese in Great Britain and the United States. The study uses data from British national Labour Force Surveys (1983 to 1989) and American Census of Population and Housing Public Use Microdata Samples (1980). Using various methods of statistical analysis, mainly logit modelling, the thesis looks at three aspects of the research question. First, analysis is conducted on the relative level of occupational attainment (in access to the service class and avoidance of unemployment) of Chinese immigrants in Britain through comparisons with whites, Indians, Pakistanis, African Asians, West Indians and Irish. Secondly, similar analysis is done for foreign-born and native-born Chinese in the U.S. through comparisons with whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Japanese, Filipinos, Koreans, Indians and Vietnamese. Thirdly, comparisons are made directly on the relative chances of occupational success for being Chinese in Britain versus being Chinese in the U.S.A. In the thesis, specific attempts are made to bring out the effects of education in determining occupational success for Chinese as well as other ethnic groups in the two countries.

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No description available.

Doctor of Philosphy

Summary: Implemented in 2003, the TVNZ Charter is a one-page document that outlines the broadcaster�s objectives to deliver programming that represents New Zealand�s ethnically and socially diverse population. This thesis will examine issues surrounding the representation of diversity especially in the context of the state-commercial television network. Using the notion of �cultural citizenship�, or the demand from minority groups within a society to be represented and included in the institutions of the state, I will examine how TVNZ is attempting to meaningfully represent New Zealand as a bicultural society and a multicultural society, while remaining commercially focused. This thesis argues that institutions of the state, of which the media is the most visible and, possibly, the most pervasive, always function as a tool of society�s dominant culture, therefore any bicultural or multicultural inclusion represented on TVNZ will always be controlled, and be at the discretion, of that singular dominant cultural force.

Doctor of Philosphy

This thesis investigates how sports organisations and discourses have impacted on the sports participation of women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Australia. A series of national participation studies have documented that women from minority ethnic backgrounds have significantly lower participation rates in sports and physical activity than Anglo-Australian women. However, the explanations and dimensions of this difference have not been examined in previous research. The experiences of women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are used in this thesis to explore sports discourses and organisation and the embodiments of their interrelationship. The present research proposes that sports organisations and discourses within Australia have historically served to marginalise women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The arguments for this position are explored using a local narrative which details the situated nature of women????s experiences of sports. These experiences are located within a historical context that traces migration policies, the growth and development of sports and women????s social relations since white settlement of Australia. It is argued that contemporary sports discourses and organisation are inextricably tied to Australia????s colonial and imperialist past. Theories of ethnicity, gender and sports are analysed. The theoretical perspective taken in this thesis builds on feminist ideologies and ethnicity studies. Empirical analysis is undertaken using gender relations to situate sport as a site of cultural struggles best understood through investigations of history and diversity. Aspects of power, control and influence are central to this thesis. The empirical component of this thesis uses secondary data sources, surveys and interviews to investigate the research proposition. This is achieved on two levels. The first level interrogates existing data to create a macro level analysis of women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in sports. A survey of 972 schoolgirls was undertaken to collect information on sports participation and attitudes to sports. This was followed by 30 interviews with women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds that explored individual sports experiences and perspectives on sports. The second level of investigation employed the case study of netball to examine the research question as it related to a specific sports organisation. The case study component of the research involved document and archival analysis, a survey of 372 netball players and interviews with 18 women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and former and current netball administrators. The thesis analyses the empirical data as it relates to the organisation and discourse of sports in Australia. The principal conclusion reached is that sports organisation and discourses are located within a societal power structure that places women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds on its margins. Sports participation is predicated on conformity to existing cultural practices and expectations and it does little to facilitate cultural diversity. The women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who participated in the research did not perceive sports as particularly inclusive of gender and culture. The examination of netball demonstrated that netball has not been concerned with ????other???? women, rather it has focussed its efforts on appealing to ????mainstream???? women. While netball has not explicitly excluded the involvement of women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, neither has it actively encouraged cultural diversity. This thesis makes a contribution to knowledge in the field of sports studies with its empirical research and through the ensuing development of a framework for locating the implications of inclusion or exclusion in sports organisations and discourses. This understanding can be used to assess and inform future sports policy development and practice. Principally, the thesis seeks to acknowledge and legitimise the sports experiences of women from diverse backgrounds and in doing so provides insights into a better theoretical understanding about the nexus of gender, ethnicity and sports.

This study examines the views of twenty Sunni Muslim Lebanese families about issues of family, ethnicity, gender and racism. It provides insights into some of the complex ways these participants tend to define and experience ethnicity in Australia. This thesis also considers some of the ways Sunni Muslims narrate the ethnic self in regard to their social and cultural practices in contemporary Australia. It highlights the similarities and differences between the views of Sunni Muslim families from a community perspective. This study also made important connections between the notion of ethnicity and issues of class, gender and generation. This thesis provides a seven part analysis. The first part of this study provides an outline of contemporary issues relating to the social network of the Islamic Lebanese community in Victoria. The next part is about applying the methodology of this thesis. The methodological themes of interview-narratives were explored in this chapter. In so doing, it outlines the advantages of family group interviews in ethnic community-based studies. (For complete abstract open document)

Raising ghosts examines the political and cultural climate in Australia in the mid-20th century, and proposes that e?migre? and migrant artists to a significant extent were the catalysts of change and progenitors of new forms of painting in the post-war years. It uncovers a largely hidden but fertile terrain in Australian modernism. / thesis (PhDVisualArts)--University of South Australia, 2000.