Class differences in achievement - internal factors Flashcards
Role of schools
what does Sir Michael Wilshaw (Chief Schools Inspector in England, 2013) say about schools?
Sir Michael Wilshaw (Chief Schools Inspector in England, 2013) accepted that schools were still failing poor students in many areas. He suggested:
* there was a problem in attracting the best teachers to schools in disadvantaged areas; if this issue were tackled, this could help to increase achievement for the poor.
* partner weaker schools with more successful establishments
Interactionism
what do interactionists focus on?
- processes within the educational system.
- examines how pupils and teachers react to one another in the education system.
- small-scale interaction between individuals shapes people’s behaviour.
Interactionism
How can labeling influence a person’s behavior and self-concept?
- While interacting with others, people interpret behaviour and attach meanings to the behaviour of those around them.
- This in turn affects people’s image of themselves (their self-concept), and self-concept in turn shapes behaviour.
- For example, if pupils are labelled as deviants (people who contravene social norms or break rules) their behaviour will tend to be seen as deliberate attempts to cause trouble. The reaction of teachers will lead to the pupils seeing themselves as deviants and because of this they will tend to act in more deviant ways.
Self-concept
what is a self-concept and what do interactionists belive about it?
- Your self-concept is simply the sort of person you think you are (e.g. lazy or hard-working, successful or a failure)
- To interactionists, your self-concept is strongly influenced by what others think of you (or at least what you believe they think of you).
- You might not always accept other peoples’ view, but it is difficult, for example, to think of yourself as clever or hard-working if people keep telling you otherwise.
Labelling
what is labelling?
- Characteristics are ascribed to individuals based on descriptions, names or labels.
- These labels are simplified descriptions and often draw upon common stereotypes about certain types of people, usually negative ones (for example scrounger, delinquent, chav and so on).
- Once a label is applied, they will be seen through that lens.
Becker (1971) - Labelling
what did Becker do in his study?
Carried out interviews with 60 high school teachers in Chicago. Teachers judged students based on how closely they fit the image of an ‘ideal pupil.’
Ideal pupil - Middle class, organised uniform, well-mannered, female, south and east asian
Hampel-Jorgensen (2009) - Labelling
what did Hampel-Jorgensen do in his study and what did he find out?
Studied two English primary schools and found different teachers have different ideas of the ‘ideal pupil.’
First school was largely working class and discipline was a major problem. Ideal pupil was:
* Quiet
* Passive
* Obedient
Second school was largely middle-class and had very few discipline issues. Ideal pupil was:
* Not just a non-misbehaving pupil
* Strong academic ability
* Polite
Differences between primary and secondary education
what are the differences between primary and secondary education?
Secondary schools:
Dunne and Gazeley (2008) – teachers labelled working-class parents as unsupportive, and middle-class parents as supportive and involved.
- Working class underachievers were entered for easier exams.
- Middle class underachievers were supported and given extra work.
Primary schools:
Rist (1970) – teacher formed labels for students based on home background and separated them into groups. The groups would be seated together.
- Tigers – fast learners – sat closest to the teacher and received a lot of enthusiastic encouragement.
- Cardinals and clowns – weaker and more likely to be working class – sat further away, given lower-level work and less challenging tasks e.g. reading as a table rather than as individuals.
Harvey and Slatin (1976)
what did Harvey and Slatin study and what did they find out?
- Harvey and Slatin used a laboratory experiment to investigate if teachers had preconceived ideas about pupils from different social classes.
- Used a sample of 96 teachers and 18 photographs of students from diverse social backgrounds.
- Teachers were asked to rate them based on their performance, attitudes, etc.
- They found more experienced teachers rated working-class children lower and that this was often based on their own experiences and preconceived ideas about successful pupils
Self-fulfilling prophecy
what is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
- Something happens because people expect it to happen.
- For example, predicting that a pupil will succeed in education may give them self-confidence and enhanced motivation.
Hargreaves, Hester and Mellor (1975) - Self-fulfilling prophecy
what did Hargreaves, Hester and Mellor say about self-fulfilling prophecy and lebelling?
- factors such as pupils’ appearance, how they respond to discipline, how likeable they are, their personality and whether they are deviant leads to teachers attaching labels to pupils as ‘good’ or ’bad’ pupils.
- These labels are associated with class, and working-class pupils are more likely to fit the stereotype of the ‘bad’ pupil. Once a student has a label, teachers tend to interpret that student’s behaviour in terms of the label, and the student tends to live up to the label they have been given.
- This results in a self-fulfilling-prophecy, in which the label results in the behaviour predicted by the teacher.
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) - Self-fulfilling prophecy
what did Rosenthal and Jacobson study about self-fulfilling prophecy and lebelling and what did they find out?
- Rosenthal and Jacobson carried out a field experiment on a Californian Primary School.
- They informed the school that they had a special test that would reveal which children would likely to be ‘spurters’ or have particular academic abilities. In reality, this was simply a normal IQ test.
- Teachers gave the tests to children and the researchers randomly picked 20% of the sample and reported falsely to teachers that these students were spurters.
- The results was that, a year later, nearly half of those children labelled as ‘spurters’ had made the most gains in terms of their abilities. This experiment shows the effects of student labelling and self-fulfilling prophecies.
Gentrup et al. (2020) - self-fulfillig prophecy and labelling
what did Gentrup et al. find out about self-fulfillig prophecy and labelling?
- Despite teacher expectations were inaccurate but expectations significantly predicted students’ end-of-year achievement
- Positive teacher expectations were associated with greater achievement in reading and mathematics, whereas inaccurately negative teacher expectations were associated with lower achievement in reading only.
Streaming
what is streaming?
Another result of labelling can be observed through sets and streams.
- Sets: Ability-based groups for one subject
- Streams: Ability-based groups for multiple subjects
Keddie (1971) - streaming
what did Keddie find out about streaming within schools?
- Lower streams, teachers simplified the content to the extent that learning was largely based on common-sense ideas. Those asking questions were often misinterpreted and their questions were seen as an attempt to disrupt the class. They were often ignored or dismissed as irrelevant.
- Higher streams were taught more in terms of abstract concepts, giving them much more opportunity to develop their understanding. Questions from pupils in higher sets were taken seriously and answered in detail.
