class differences - internal

Question 1

What sociologists are interested in the labelling process?

Answer 1

interactionists

Question 2

What did BECKER’s chicago high school study find?

Answer 2

interviews with 60 teachers.
they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted the image of an ‘ideal pupil’
work, conduct and appearance influenced teacher judgement.
They saw M/C as closest to the ideal

Question 3

how does BECKER believe the self-fulfilling happens?

Answer 3

teachers’ interaction with students are based on the labels to do with the ideals.

Question 4

According to HEMPEL-JORGENSEN, how do the notions of the ideal pupil vary according to the social class make-up of the school?

Answer 4

In the largely W/C primary, where staff said discipline was a major problem, the ideal pupil was defined as quiet, passive and obedient - children defined in terms of behaviour>ability.
in the M/C primary, the ideal pupil was defined in terms of personality and academic ability, rather than as being a ‘non-misbehaving’ pupil.

Question 5

why does the prediction in a label eventually come true?

Answer 5

the teacher-student interactions are shaped by the label

Question 6

According to DUNNE and GAZELEY, how do schools persistently produce W/C underachievement?

Answer 6

interviews in 9 English state secondary schools - found teachers ‘normalised’ underachievement of W/C pupils and were unconcerned by it. They believed they could overcome the underachievement of M/C pupils.
They labelled W/C parents as uninterested and M/C as supportive.
Teachers dealt with underachieving pupils differently - extension work for M/C students and entering W/C into easier exams

Question 7

What did RIST’s study of US kindergarten show?

Answer 7

teacher used info about children’s background and appearance to place them into different groups seated away from each other.
‘tigers’ = M/C. seated close to her and recieved encouragement
‘clowns’/’cardinals’= W/C. seated further away. lower-level books and fewer opportunities to show their abilities.

Question 8

what is the self-fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 8

a prediction that comes true simply by virtue of it being made

Question 9

What was ROSENTHAL and JACOBSON’s study called?

Answer 9

Pygmalion in the classroom

Question 10

What did ROSENTHAL and JACOBSON’s study involve?

Answer 10

they told the teachers they had used an special test designed to identify ‘spurters’. They randomly labelled 20% of the pupils as ‘spurters’. A year later, they found that almost 1/2 of those ‘spurters’ had made significant progress
They argued that teachers’ beliefs about the pupils influenced their interaction with them. e.g. body language, amount of attention/encouragement.

Question 11

What do interactionalists view streaming as?

Answer 11

a form of institutionalised labelling

Question 12

How might streaming affect W/C children?

Answer 12

They are least like BECKER’s ‘ideal pupil’ and so are more likely to find themselves in lower stream. They get the message that teachers have ‘written them off’ - it is hard to move up streams. They internalise the low expectations and underachieve.

Question 13

how does DOUGLAS support the idea that streaming affects achievement?

Answer 13

children in lower stream at 8 suffered a decline in their IQ by age 11.

Question 14

What did GILLBORN and YOUDELL’s study show?

Answer 14

2 London secondary schools.
teachers used stereotypical notion of ability to stream pupils.
they were less likely to see W/C and black as having ability and they were placed in lower streams and lower tier exams.

Question 15

According to GILLBORN and YOUDELL, what does marketisation lead to?

Answer 15

A to C economy in schools.They focus on pupils with the ‘potential’ to gain 5 A*-C to improve their position on league table.

Question 16

What does the A-C economy develop?

Answer 16

educational triage

Question 17

what is educational triage?

Answer 17

schools categorise pupils:
1 - those who will pass anyway - M/C in top strems
2 - those with potential who will recieve help to get C
3 - hopeless cases - warehoused in bottom streams

Question 18

why do pupil subcultures emerge?

Answer 18

often a response to the way they have been labelled

Question 19

What does LACEY’s concept of differentiation mean?

Answer 19

process where teachers categorise pupils according to how they percieve their ability/attitude/behaviour. e.g. streaming

Question 20

what does LACEY’s concept of polarisation mean?

Answer 20

process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards of two opposite extremes.

Question 21

what did LACEY’s study of Hightown grammar school find?

Answer 21

those in high stream - M/C - remain committed to values of school and gain status in approved manner.
pro-school subculture
those in lower stream - W/C - suffer loss of self esteem - the school undermined their self-worth by placing them in position of inferior status.
They search for alternative ways to gain status - usually involves inverting the school’s values.
anti-school subculture which involves smoking etc.

Question 22

how does joining an anti-school subculture create further problems, even if it does solve lack of status?

Answer 22

becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of educational failure. He joins because his work is poor and finds the group encourages behaviour that keeps it that way, if not worse.

Question 23

What did BALL find in his study of Beachside comprehensive?

Answer 23

they abolished banding and the basis for pupils to polarise into subcultures was largely removed and influence of anti-school subculture declined.
differentiation continued - teacher's categorised pupils and viewed M/C as more able. the positive labelling was reflected in exam results.
shows class inequalities can occue as result of labelling, even without effect of subcultures and streaming.

Question 24

What other responses to labelling and streaming does WOODS note?

Answer 24

ingratiation - being ‘teacher’s pet’
ritualism - going through motions. staying out of trouble
retreatism - daydreaming/mucking about
rebellion - outright rejection of school’s values.

Question 25

what has the labelling theory been accussed of?

Answer 25

determinism - assumes pupils have no choice but to fulfill the prophecy and secure their failure. FULLER’s study shows this isn’t true.
Marxists argue that it ignores the wider structures within which labelling takes place.

Question 26

what does ARCHER et al focus on?

Answer 26

the interaction between W/C pupil’s identities and school and how this = underachievement.

Question 27

How does symbolic capital and violence relate to success/failure?

Answer 27

ARCHER et al found that W/C felt to be successful, they would have to change how they talked/presented themselves. Ed. success = process of losing yourself.

Question 28

How did the W/C react to symbolic violence?

Answer 28

sought alternative ways of creating self-worth/status.
They constructed meaningful class identities by investing heavily in ‘styles’ - especially branded clothes.
girls adopted hyper-heterosexual feminine style
style performances policed by peers - social suicide

Question 29

how was the W/C reaction met by school?

Answer 29

conflict with the dress code.
reflecting the schoo’s M/C habitus, teachers opposed ‘street styles’.
ARCHER - school’s M/C habitus stigmatised the working class pupils’ identities

Question 30

Other than a cause of their educational marginalisation by the school, what else are ‘Nike identities’?

Answer 30

an expression of their positive preference of a lifestyle. Not only do they ‘get the message’ that education isn’t for ‘them’, but they actively reject it becuase it doesn’t fit with their identity/way of life.

Question 31

What does INGRAM’s study show?

Answer 31

2 groups of W/C Catholic boys from highly deprived area.
1 had passed 11+ and went to grammar school. the other failed and went to local secondary.
grammar school had M/C habitus of high expectations
W/C identity was inseperable from belonging to W/C locality. as in ARCHER’s study, streetwear was key part of the boys’ habitus and sense of identity.
W/C communities place emphasis on conformity.
grammar school boys had tension between differing habitus’
One boy was ridiculed for wearing tracksuit on non-uniform day - example of symbolic violence - pupils forced to abandon ‘worthless’ W/C identity if they want to succeed.

Question 32

what did EVANS study find?

Answer 32

group of 21 W/C girls from south london comprehensive. reluctant to apply to Oxbridge - those that did felt sense of hidden bariers/not fitting in.
they had strong attachment to their locality - only 4 intended to move away

Question 33

what does REAY point out which relates to EVANS’ study?

Answer 33

self-exclusion from elite/distant universities narrows the options for W/C pupils and limits their success.

Question 34

how do W/C identities formed externally, impact achievement?

Answer 34

conflict with school’s M/C habitus = symbolic violence and pupils feeling ed isn’t for the ‘likes of them’.

Question 35

How might restricted speech code have internal consequences?

Answer 35

labelled by teachers as less able = self-fulfilling prophecy