Which statement best captures the 'myth of cultural deprivation' according to the material?

• A. Cultural deprivation is victim blaming.
• B. Children cannot be deprived of their own culture.
• C. The education system is middle class dominant.
• D. Cultural deprivation explains all differences in achievement.

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is that blaming students’ home culture as the reason for lower achievement is a form of blaming the victims. This critique—often called the myth of cultural deprivation—argues that saying a pupil’s culture or family background is deficient shifts responsibility away from schools and the broader social inequalities that shape learning.

So, the statement that cultural deprivation is victim blaming best captures this concept. It highlights that attributing gaps in achievement to students’ cultural backgrounds flatly places the fault on the child or their family, rather than examining how schooling, teacher expectations, and unequal access to resources contribute to those gaps.

The other options miss this central critique: one contends children cannot be deprived of their culture, which isn’t the point; another points to the school system being middle-class dominant without addressing the victim-blaming aspect; and the last suggests cultural deprivation explains all differences, which the myth argues against.