CLASS DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT (INTERNAL FACTORS) Flashcards
What are internal factors in education?
Internal factors are those within schools and the education system, such as interactions between pupils and teachers, and inequalities between schools.
What are external factors in education?
External factors are those outside the education system, such as the influence of home and family background and wider society.
What does labelling mean in the context of education?
Labelling is to attach meaning or definition to a pupil, such as being seen as bright or troublemaker.
How do teachers typically label pupils?
Teachers often label pupils based on stereotyped assumptions about their class background, usually labelling working-class pupils negatively and middle-class pupils positively.
What did Howard Becker’s study reveal about teacher perceptions?
Becker found that teachers judged pupils based on how closely they fit the image of the ‘ideal pupil’, with middle-class pupils seen as closer to this ideal.
How did Amelia Hempel Jorgensen’s study differ from Becker’s?
Jorgensen found that notions of the ideal pupil vary according to the social class make-up of the school.
- In the largely working-class Aspen primary school, where staff said discipline was a major problem, the ideal pupil was defined as quiet, passive and obedient-that is, children were defined in terms of their behaviour, not their ability.
- By contrast, the mainly middle-class Rowan primary school had very few discipline problems and here the ideal pupil was defined instead in terms of personality and academic ability , rather than as being a ‘non- misbehaving’ pupil, as at Aspen.
What is the impact of labelling in secondary schools according to Dunne and Gazeley?
They argue that schools produce working-class underachievement due to teachers’ labels and assumptions.
What did Dunne and Gazeley find about teachers’ beliefs regarding home backgrounds?
Teachers labelled working-class parents as uninterested and middle-class parents as supportive, affecting how they dealt with underachieving pupils.
What did Ray Rist’s study show about labelling in primary schools?
Rist found that teachers used home background and appearance to group children- seating each group at a different table, leading to different expectations and treatment.
- For example - Those the teacher decided were fast learners, whom she labelled the ‘tigers’, tended to be middle-class and of neat and clean appearance. She seated these at the table nearest to her and showed them greatest encouragement
- The other two groups-whom she labelled the ‘cardinals’ and the ‘clowns’-were seated further away. These groups were more likely to be working-class. They were given lower-level books to read and fewer chances to show their abilities. For example, they had to read as a group, not as individuals.
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy in education?
A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true because it has been made, often influenced by teacher expectations.
- The teacher labels a pupil (e.g as being very intelligent) and on the basis of this label, makes predictions about him (e.g he will make outstanding academic progress.
- The teacher treats the pupil accordingly, acting as if the prediction is already true (e.g by giving him more attention and expecting a higher standard of work from him).
- The pupil internalises the teacher’s expectation, which becomes part of his self-concept or self-image, so that he now actually becomes the kind of pupil the teacher believed him to be in the first place.
What did Rosenthal and Jacobson’s study demonstrate?
Their study showed that teachers’ beliefs about pupils could influence their academic progress, exemplifying the self-fulfilling prophecy.
What is streaming in education?
Streaming involves putting all pupils of similar ability into the same class or group, which can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies leading to different subcultures.
How does streaming affect working-class pupils?
Working-class pupils are often placed in lower streams due to teachers’ low expectations, leading to underachievement.
What is the A-to-C economy according to Gillborn and Youdell?
The A-to-C economy is a system where schools focus resources on pupils they believe can achieve five grade Cs to improve their league table position.
What are pupil subcultures?
Pupil subcultures are groups of pupils who share similar values and behaviors, often emerging in response to labelling and streaming.
What is differentiation in the context of education?
Differentiation is the process of teachers categorising pupils based on perceived ability, attitude, or behavior.
What is polarisation in education?
Polarisation occurs when pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two extremes, forming pro-school or anti-school subcultures.
What did Hargreaves find about anti-school subcultures?
Hargreaves found that pupils in lower streams formed anti-school subcultures as a response to their perceived failure and loss of status.
For example, Hargreaves (1967) found a similar response to labelling and streaming in a secondary modern school. From the point of view of the education system, boys in the lower streams were triple failures: they had failed their 11+ exam; they had been placed in low streams ; and they had been labelled as ‘worthless louts’.
One solution to this status problem was for these pupils to seek each other out and form a group within high status went to those who flouted the school’s rules. In this way, they formed a delinquent subculture that helped to guarantee their educational failure.
What was Stephen Ball’s finding regarding abolishing streaming?
Ball found from his study of a comprehensive school called Beachside that abolishing streaming reduced pupil polarisation (pupil subcultures) but did not eliminate differentiation and labelling leading to a self-fulfilluing prophecy whereby M/C students outperformed W/C students.
What are criticisms of labelling theory?
- The labelling theory has been accused of determinism. That is , it assumes that pupils who are labelled have no choice but to fulfil the prophecy and will inevitably fail. However, studies such as Mary Fuller’s (1984) show that this is not always true.
- Marxists also criticise labelling theory for ignoring the wider structures of power within which labelling takes place. Labelling theory tends to blame teachers for labelling pills but fails to explain why they do so.
What is symbolic capital in education?
Symbolic capital refers to the status and recognition gained by pupils who fit the school’s middle-class habitus.
What does ‘symbolic violence’ mean?
Symbolic violence is the devaluation of working-class pupils’ tastes and lifestyles by the school, reinforcing class structures.
What are ‘Nike’ identities?
Nike identities are class identities formed by pupils through consuming branded clothing, which provide status and self-worth.
What conflict arises from street styles in schools?
Street styles conflict with the school’s dress code, leading to opposition from teachers who view them as ‘bad taste’ or a threat.
How does Archer describe the impact of the school’s middle-class habitus on working-class pupils?
Archer argues that it stigmatises working-class pupils’ identities, making their performances of style a struggle for recognition.
What do working-class pupils perceive Nike styles as?
They see Nike styles as a means of generating symbolic capital and self-worth, despite being viewed as tasteless by the middle class.
Why do working-class pupils reject higher education?
They view it as unrealistic for ‘people like us’ and undesirable because it conflicts with their preferred lifestyle.
What is a reason working-class pupils find higher education unrealistic?
They believe it is for richer, posher, cleverer people and that they would not fit in.
What do working-class pupils fear about student loans?
They fear that living on a student loan would prevent them from affording the street styles that contribute to their identity.
What does Archer et al suggest about working-class pupils’ investment in ‘Nike’ identities?
It causes educational marginalisation and reflects their preference for a particular lifestyle, leading to self-exclusion from education.
What did Nicola Ingram’s study reveal about working-class boys in Belfast?
It showed that their working-class identity was tied to their locality and that street culture was integral to their habitus.
What pressure did grammar school boys face in Ingram’s study?
They faced pressure to conform to their working-class neighbourhood while navigating the middle-class expectations of their school.
What is symbolic violence as described in Ingram’s study?
It refers to the pressure on pupils to abandon their working-class identity to succeed in a middle-class educational environment.
What barrier to success do working-class pupils face regarding higher education?
They experience self-exclusion due to a belief that elite universities are ‘not for the likes of us.’
Class idenitity and exclusion
What did Sarah Evans find about working-class girls and elite universities?
She found they were reluctant to apply to elite universities and felt hidden barriers to fitting in.
How does self-exclusion affect working-class pupils’ options?
It narrows their options and limits their success in education.
What consistent pattern do studies by Evans, Ingram, and Archer reveal?
They reveal a middle-class education system that devalues the experiences and choices of working-class people.
What dilemma do working-class pupils face in education?
They must choose between maintaining their working-class identities or conforming to the middle-class habitus to succeed.
