Parental support 'is key for black pupils'

Black children who do well at school have strong support from parents and community churches, research shows.

This helps them to develop the "resilience" needed to overcome problems associated with peer pressure and "low teacher expectations", according to a study of African-Caribbean adults from London, the South-East and the Midlands.

The research, published today in a book, Eagles Who Soar, was conducted by Dr Jasmine Rhamie at Southampton University.

Dr Rhamie said: "It appears that the positive influence of parents and the support of the community - particularly the black church - engenders resilience in young African-Caribbean people which helps them to counteract the impact of negative school experiences."

Black Caribbean pupils under-perform at GCSE relative to other ethnic groups.

A Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills study found that 23 per cent of white males intended to go to university, compared with 65 per cent of Chinese, 66 per cent of Indian and 43 per cent of black African boys. The only groups in which males were less likely to attend university than whites were those classed as black Caribbean and "black other".

Dr Rhamie's research involved analysing responses from 78 questionnaires and 32 interviews with adults in their twenties, thirties and forties.

She found that parents of high-fliers, many but not all of whom worked in the professions, had "very high academic expectations" and gave their children plenty of support, for example with homework. If they had negative experiences at school, they had been able to "move on very quickly", Dr Rhamie said.

In contrast, those who had left school with few or no GCSEs at grades C and above had a lack of support at home and had often been scarred by clashes with teachers.

Dr Rhamie said teachers may not be aware of their negative attitudes to black pupils and called for "diversity training" to be extended, so every school had at least one member of staff trained to help colleagues understand where misunderstandings and flashpoints could occur.