An investigation of how cultural dimensions influence students’ achievements in secondary schools in London

Abstract

This research study aims to investigate how cultural dimensions influenced students’ achievements in secondary schools in London. This was achieved by exploring the relationship between cultural backgrounds, cultural dimensions, school activities and the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) grades of individual students from Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani ethnic groups from three state-funded sixth form secondary schools in London. This thesis focuses on the comparison of these three ethnic groups regarding their achievements in schools. Three research questions were created to address comparisons between the three ethnic groups. A quantitative approach was used for this research. A questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection. A sample of three hundred and six students fully completed and returned their questionnaires within the three schools. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation and multiply regression analyses were used to present and interpret the findings.
One of the main findings of my thesis was that there were no relationships between cultural backgrounds, cultural dimensions, school activities and GCSE grades of Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani students. At the same time, there were statistically significant relationships between cultural dimensions, school activities, and GCSE grades of the Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani students who took part in the study. Moreover, the low power distance of cultural dimension and the mediating factor of school activities (learners learning on their own and the use of examples from learners’ cultures in teaching) were the most statistically significant variables that influenced GCSE grades in all the three groups of students in the schools.
The findings of this research provide useful information, associated with greater multicultural teaching and learning environments, for the practice of teachers, and those involved in teacher training, curriculum development and leading learning and teaching in schools and universities.

Date of Award	21 Dec 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Roehampton
Supervisor	Richard Race (Director of Studies) & Anthony Thorpe (Co-Supervisor)