Class differences in achievement (2) internal factors Flashcards
state the 4 internal reasons for class differences in achievement
- labelling
- streaming
- pupil subcultures
- pupil identities
define labelling
where teacher attach meanings (labels) to pupils regardless of their actual ability or attitude
state the stereotypical assumption about the levels of MC pupils and WC pupils
- MC are labelled positively
- WC negatively.
labelling: what did Becker (1971) do to study labelling
Studied labelling by interviewing 60 Chicago high school teachers
labelling: what did Becker (1971) find in his study
found teachers attach labels to pupils depending on how close the match the ideal pupil.
- judgements were made using pupils’ work, conduct and appearance
- teachers saw MC pupils as closest to the idea pupil, and saw WC pupils as badly behaved
labelling: what did Hempel-Jorgensen (2009) argue?
the ‘ideal pupil’ depends on the overall class of the school
labelling: Hempel-Jorgensen (2009) state the two schools that were compared and how the ideal pupil is defined in each school
- WC primary school (Aspen primary school) ideal pupil is quiet, obedient and passive, defining them by behaviour instead of ability.
- MC primary school (Rowan primary school) - ideal pupil is defined by personality and academic ability, instead of just a “student who is not misbehaving” at the WC school.
labelling: what did Dunne & Gazeley (2008) believe
schools reproduce WC underachievement
because of teacher’s labels and assumptions
Labelling: how did Dunne and Gazeley (2008) carry out their study
Interviewed 9 schools
Labelling: what did Dunne and Gazeley (2008) find
found teachers normalised WC pupils’
underachievement and didn’t think they could do anything about
it, all while thinking they could overcome MC underachievement.
Labelling: state the reason for Dunne and Gazeley’s findings and state what this causes?
Reason: teachers have different beliefs about pupils’ home
backgrounds, labelling WC parents as uninterested and MC parents as supportive.
- causes class differences
- in class where the teacher will address and help MC underachievement and do nothing for WC pupils.
Labelling: what did Rist (1970) find in their study?
- found teachers use info about pupils’ home background/appearance to sort them into groups, seating each group at different tables
- she labeled the groups:
- ‘Tigers’- were MC ‘fast learners’ who have a clean appearance. They received the most help and
attention.
• ‘Cardinals & Clowns’- WC groups were given lower level books and ability work. They received less help/attention and were seated further away from the teacher.
Labelling: define self fulfilling prophecy ?
a prediction that comes true by virtue of it having been made
Labelling: state the process of self fulfilling prophecy? (4 steps)
- Teacher labels pupil (EG: trouble-maker) and makes a prediction based on this (EG: pupil will underachieve).
- Teacher treats pupil like the label and acts like the prediction already came true (EG: ignoring/not helping the pupil)
- Pupil internalises the teacher’s expectation of them, and it becomes part of their self-image. (EG: pupil gets no help, so resigns themselves to being a trouble- maker)
- The prophecy is now fulfilled.
Labelling: Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968) state what they did and how their study shows the self fulfilling prophecy at work
Study of US primary school shows the prophecy at work.
- They told the school that they had a new test designed to identify those pupil who would ‘spurt’ ahead
- Their experiment made pupils do a regular IQ test, but told teachers the ‘special’
test had identified spurter pupils who would do really well. - A year later- the randomly picked pupils had actually improved academically. This is because the teachers labelled the pupils as achievers and gave them more encouragement and support than other pupils. This led to a self-fulfilling prophecy where the pupils succeeded academically.
Define streaming
sorting children into groups (‘streams’) based on their ability, so they can be taught separately.
Is the process of self fulfilling project more likely to happen when pupils are streamed
Yes
Streaming: what does Becker’s ideas about the ‘idea pupils’ say about working class pupils
WC pupils aren’t seen as the ideal pupil, they are seen as badly behaved
Streaming: as a result of Becker’s ideas about the ideal pupil, what does this mean for working class pupils and streaming
makes it harder for them to move up streams, as teacher expectations put them in the lower ones.
This causes a self-fulfilling prophecy where the pupil lives up to the expectation of underachieving.
Streaming: as a result of Becker’s ideas about the ideal pupil, what does this mean for middle class pupils and streaming
benefit from streaming, as teacher expectations place them in high ability groups, boosting their self-concept and helping them succeed.
Streaming: what does Douglas say
children placed in a lower stream at age 8 had suffered a decline in their IQ score by age 11 + and children placed in a higher stream at age 8 had improved their own score by age 11
Streaming: state Gillborn & Youdell (2001)’s study and what did the study show.
study of 2 high schools
- shows how teachers use stereotypes of ‘ability’ to stream pupils
- WC/black pupils- seen as low ability, so
are placed in low streams and entered for foundation papers.
This denies them the knowledge and opportunities needed to get better grades.
Streaming: how did Gillborn & Youdell (2001) link streaming to exam league tables
- schools need a good position to attract pupils and funding, which is based on how many A-C grade pupils get.
- This means schools will focus on pupils with the potential to get a grade C or better so the table position is boosted.
Streaming: how does Gillborn & Youdell define educational triage
Where pupils are sorted into those who will pass anyway, borderline pupils (can get a C, so receive the most resources/help), and hopeless cases who will fail regardless.
Streaming: what process did Gillborn & Youdell coin
The educational triage
Streaming: as a result of Gillborn & Youdell’s educational triage, what does this mean for WC and black pupils
mostly labelled as hopeless cases, and are therefore put in low streams. This makes a self-fulfilling prophecy where these pupils end up failing.
Streaming EVALUATION: Gillborn & Youdell
- show how teacher
labelling/stereotypes combined with streaming causes a MC/WC achievement gap. - they don’t explain that pupils are not passive puppets, and that the prophecy isn’t always fulfilled.
defne pupil subcultures
groups of pupils who share similar values/behaviour patterns.
pupil subcultures: what do subcultures emerge in response to and as a reaction to?
emerge in response to labelling and as a reaction to streaming
pupil subcultures:According to Lacey (1970), how do pupil subcultures develop?
- Differentiation- the process of teacher categorising and labelling pupils based on how they see their behaviour/ability/attitude.
- Polarisation- process of pupils responding to streaming by moving to one ‘pole’/extreme.
pupil subcultures: why is streaming considered a form of differentiation
gives high status to ‘able’ pupils and an inferior status to less able pupils in lower streams.
pupil subcultures: what did Lacey find - polarisation
at a boys grammar school, Lacey found streaming polarised boys into a pro school and an anti school subculture.
pupil subcultures: describe a The pro-school subculture (Lacey)
- Were mostly MC pupils placed in high streams, and were committed to and shared the school’s values.
- Gaining status- in the approved manner (academic success).
pupil subcultures: describe a The anti-school subculture (Lacey)
- Were mostly WC pupils placed in low streams, and had low-self esteem due to the school giving them an inferior status.
- label of failure pushed them to get status by inverting school values like obedience and being on time.
- Status was also gained through peers, by cheeking teachers, not doing homework, etc.
(Led to a fulfilled prophecy of failure)
pupil subcultures: what did Ball(1981) study
studied a comprehensive that was switching from streaming to teaching mixed-ability groups
pupil subcultures: with streaming abolished, what did Ball (1981) find in his study
found anti-school subcultures declined, and the basis for polarisation is removed
pupil subcultures: despite streaming being abolished, what did Ball say still occurred
differentiation still occurred, teachers still categorised pupils and labelled the MC more favourably.
pupil subcultures: overall, what did Ball (1981) suggest
class differences continue due to teacher labelling, as streaming removes the issue of subcultures.
pupil subcultures: what did Woods (1979) argue - criticism (Lacy)
argues there are many responses to labelling/streaming than just 2 subcultures
pupil subcultures: what’s does Furlong (1984) add on about the ideas of Woods (1979)
pupils aren’t fixed in one response, it can change between certain lessons and teachers.
pupil subcultures: state the 4 responses that Woods (1979) identified in response to streaming/ labelling
- Integratiation- being a teacher’s pet.
- Ritualism- go through the motions, stay out of trouble.
- Retreatism- daydreaming & messing about.
- Rebellion- outright rejecting everything school stands for.
State a Marx evaluation point for labelling and streaming
it’s not teacher’s individual prejudices, it’s that their own job stems from a system that reproduces class inequality.
EVALUATION: Describe how labelling/ streaming may be deterministic
assumes pupils will passively accept label
Pupil identities: define habits
This is the learned and taken-for-granted ways of thinking, being or acting in a social class
Pupil identities: state what type of habits school have and what may MC pupils who have this type of habitus have
Schools have a MC habitus, so MC pupils who are already socialised into it at home have symbolic capital
Pupil identities: define symbolic capital
Status/recognition from the school that they’re superior.
Pupil identities: what do schools do to the habitus of the WC
school devalues WC habitus, seeing their tastes, such as clothing, as tasteless and worthless = WC pupils feel alienated and unnatural
Pupil identities: define symbolic violence
withholding of symbolic capital
Pupil identities: state what Archer said about WC pupils in response to symbolic capital and symbolic violence
WC pupils felt they had to ‘lose
themselves’ in the MC’s habitus in
order to succeed educationally
Pupil identities: state what symbolic violence led to the creation of and describe
- Symbolic violence led WC pupils to finding other ways to obtain worth and status.
- They did this by constructing class identities revolving around fashion and brands such as Nike.
- These style performances were policed by peers, so not conforming was ‘social suicide’.
- The right appearance gained pupils symbolic capital from their peers, as education already denied them of it
Pupil identities: as a result of Nike identities, what did this mean for schools habitus vs identities
the school’s MC habitus clashed with WC identities as it went against rules and dress codes, and risked pupils being labelled as rebels
Pupil identities: state what Ingram (2009) studied and what they did in their study
studied 2 groups of WC boys in the same deprived neighbourhood:
- One group passed the 11+ and went to grammar school
- the other failed and went to a local high school.
Pupil identities: state what Ingram (2009) found about the habitus of the 2 groups in their study
- WC grammar boys- had MC habitus of high expectation and academic
achievement. - WC local boys- had the school’s habitus of low expectations and educational failure.
Pupil identities: state what Ingram (2009) found in their study
found the WC identity is inseparable from the WC habitus
- habitus put emphasis on conformity and this can cause other WC boys to experience symbolic violence.
Pupil identifies: despite more WC pupils going to uni, what may there be a barrier to WC pupils
Even though WC pupils go to uni more now, the clash between their WC identity & HE habitus is a barrier to their success.
Pupil identities: what did Evans (2009) study and state what she found
studied 21 WC girls who were doing A-levels,
- she found they didn’t applied to elite unis, and the ones who did were worried about hidden barriers and not ftiting in.
Pupil identities: state what the study of Evans (2009) means for WC pupils
means WC students will self exclude themselves from elite spaces like Oxford as they believe they won’t fit in with the Habitus
