1. Internal explanations for social class differences in education

Question 1

What are internal factors?

Answer 1

• External assumes factors are beyond the school, criticised by Interactionists
  -.social action approach roots in interpretative sociology, derive social process from social interaction
  -attempt to understand interaction and how individuals define situations

Question 2

What is a self-concept?

Answer 2

• Interaction with others shapes how people define themselves

Question 3

What is labelling?

Answer 3

Specific expectations of certain people, can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 4

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 4

When a label is applied to someone and they start to conform to it

Question 5

How does labelling impact achievement?

Answer 5

• (Hargreaves et al) used interviews and observations to examine how teachers “got to know their pupils”
• 1. Speculation: teachers made guesses on types of pupils based on ability, appearance, conformity 2. Elaboration: teachers hypotheses tested 3. Stabilisation: teachers now feel they know pupils (evaluated on label)

Question 6

What did (Becker) call a standard ideal pupil?

Answer 6

• Observations in a Chicago high school found classifications, judgements and evaluations were made in terms of a standard ideal pupil
  -middle class non manual backgrounds
  -conformity to discipline, polite, good attendance, high grades, good attitude

Question 7

How do teachers affect pupils progress?

Answer 7

• (Cicourel and kitsuse) examined tutors decisions in an American highschool, they helped determine students access colleg e
• instead or evaluating on ability: middle class origins were seen as natural prospective college students
• influenced by a whole range of non-academic factors

Question 8

How does a self-fulfilling prophecy impact achievement?

Answer 8

-( rosenthal and Jacobson) study in Californian elementary school, standard intelligence test selected random pupils of who would make the most progress→ later tested and all was based on teacher expectations (positive labels)

Question 9

How have interactionists been criticised? (Sfp)

Answer 9

• Generalise the effects of labelling, making pupils seem passive and unable to resist labels
  -ative labels can motivate students to prove teachers wrong
• e.g. Year 11 black working classlgirls wereaware of low expectations → anti schoolbutpro education so proved them wrong (fuller)

Question 10

What is setting and streaming?

Answer 10

• Ways of grouping pupils according
  to ability
• setting: whole classes put into different groups/sets for particular subjects
• streaming: grouping students for all subjects

Question 11

How does setting and streaming impact achievement?

Answer 11

• Being placed in lower sets may undermine pupils confidence with lower expectations and less ambition

Question 12

What did (keddie) find on setting and streaming?

Answer 12

• Higher sets were expected to behave better and do more work with more knowledge and greater opportunities
• WC pupils may underachieve as they have not been given access to the knowledge required for educational success
• disadvantaged label may make students less ambitious

Question 13

What did (ball) find on setting and streaming?

Answer 13

• Research at beachside comprehensive school with top stream students “warmed up” by encouragement for high’ academic results
• lower stream students were “cooled out” and encouraged to follow lower status vocational and practical courses → leave school at earliest opportunity
• contribute to underachievement of WC pupils

Question 14

How do pupil subcultures impact achievement?

Answer 14

• (Hargreaves) bottom stream pupils often rebel against the school and develop an alternative set of values, attitudes and behaviour opposing academic aims
• provides a means for improving self-esteem, through success and status within a peer group→ further contributes to underachievement

Question 15

What did (Lacey) find on pupil subcultures?

Answer 15

• Study of a boys grammar school found streaming polarised boys into pro and anti school subcultures
• either achieved status through approved academic route or anti school peer group

Question 16

Why may anti-school subcultures develop?

Answer 16

• Only way to gain self esteem
• wc may feel inadequate academically and can only gain status in peer group
  -streaming splits people into pro and anti school subcultures → further contribute to underachievement

Question 17

What is habitus?

Answer 17

• (Bourdieu) the taken for granted ways of thinking, being and acting based on social class
• claim middle class can define habitus as superior and impose it on the education system → therefore these preferences gain symbolic capital

Question 18

What is symbolic violence?

Answer 18

• The withholding of symbolic capital
• (archer) found WC students felt to be educationally successful they had to change how they talked and presented themselves
• felt university and professional careers were “not for the likes of us” with society looking down on them
• this led to me creation of alternative ways of creating self worth, status and value → earn symbolic capital through meaningful class identities

Question 19

What is a Nike identity?

Answer 19

• Conforming to the standards of peer groups, all wearing strictly Nike branded clothing to gain social acceptance
• schools middle class habitus clash with WC pupil identity leading to stigmatisation

Question 20

How are pupils class identities a barriers to success?

Answer 20

• Although many progress to university, there is a clash between WC identity and the habitus of university
• partly due to self exclusion as many feel university is “not for the likes of us”
• pattern of a mc education system which devalues wc experiences and choices as worthless
• forced to choose between WC identity or conforming to mc standards to succeed

Question 21

How does the school impact educational achievement?

Answer 21

• (Rutter et al) study “fifteen thousand hours” argues good schools make students more likely to succeed
• WC less likely to be in good schools due to the location

Question 22

What is marketisation?

Answer 22

• Schools exist in a culture where they have to market themselves like a business in order to improve and gain highly achieving students
• eg. Open evenings, leaflets, websites, league tables, of stead reports