Class Differences- Internal Factors

Question 1

What are 5 Internal factors that affect achievement that occur within schools?

Answer 1

1) labelling
2) self-fulfilling prophecy
3) streaming
4) pupil subcultures
5) pupil’ class identities and the school

Question 2

Becker - Labelling

Answer 2

Argues that the M/c teacher teacher have an idea of an ‘ideal pupil’ that is m/c. He argued that m/c pupils were closest to the ideal pupils and w/c were the furthest.
W/c are subject to negative labelling due to their appearance, attitudes, language and where they live.

Question 3

Dunne and Gazeley - secondary schools labelling

Answer 3

through labels, schools produce w/c underachievement. They used interviews and found that underachievement of W/c was ‘normalised’ by teachers and they believed they could do nothing about it.

Question 4

What are the 3 steps of the self-fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 4

1. internalise
2. accept
3. act it out

Question 5

Rosenthal and Jacobson - teachers expectations

Answer 5

designed a fake test in schools to show ‘spurters’, in reality it was just an IQ test - but teachers believed it was real.
The positively labelled children led to a self-fulling prophecy in which students believed the labels given to them due to the greater encouragement and attention they received. This shows the SFP has big impact on educational achievement.

Question 6

What is the Halo-effect?

Answer 6

The M/c self fulfilling prophecy, their cultural capital and habitus is similar to the education system which means that teachers have higher expectations and in turn develop positive SFP in pupils that benefit them.

Question 7

What is streaming?

Answer 7

placing students in different ‘sets’ based on their abilities.
w/c = lower streams
m/c = higher streams
children are ‘locked in’ their sets due due to teachers consistent low expectations - can lead to SFP
M/c benefit due to being placed in higher streams and fitting image of ‘ideal pupil’.

Question 8

A- C Economy - Gillborn and Youdell

Answer 8

link streaming to the policy of publishing exam league tables. They rank schools according to exam performance. Schools will only focus their time an effort on those pupils they see as having the potential to get 5 grade C’s and above. W/c neglected as they are placed into lower streams. This widens the class gap in attainment.

Question 9

Educational Triage

Answer 9

The A-C economy produces an educational triage:
1. those who will independently pass
2. those with potential, who will be helped for a higher grade
3. ‘hopeless cases’, they are doomed to fail and will suffer an education death.
The need for a good position on the league tables drives the educational triage which is the basis of streaming.

Question 10

What doe New right say about educational triage?

Answer 10

They argue that marketisation also widens this gap due to the competition of league tables.

Question 11

Abolishing streaming - Ball

Answer 11

studied a comprehensive school that was switching from streaming to teaching mixed-ability groups. He found anti-school subcultures declined and the basis for polarisation was removed.
Differentiation still occurred due to teacher labelling

Question 12

What is a pupil subculture?

Answer 12

A group of pupils who share similar values and behaviour patterns, often emerge as a response to the way pupils have been labelled and a reaction to streaming.

Question 13

Lacey - ‘differentiation’ and ‘polarisation’

Answer 13

1. Differentiation- process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive their ability, attitude or behaviour e.g. streaming
2. Polarisation - process of how they respond to streaming (pro-school or anti-school)

Question 14

What is pro-school subcultures?

Answer 14

• largely m/c as they are placed in higher streams
• their values are those of the school and gain their status through academic success

Question 15

What is anti-school subcultures?

Answer 15

Largely W/c as placed into lower streams. They suffer a loss of self-esteem as they are placed in a position of inferior status by the school. They find alternative ways of gaining status e.g. amongst their peers.
EXAMPLE: Willis and ‘the lads’
Lacey says joining this subculture is likely to become a SFP of educational failure.

Question 16

Woods- other pupil responses (4 responses, IRRR)

Answer 16

1. Ingratiation - ‘teachers pet’
2. Ritualism - going through the motions and staying out of trouble
3. Retreatism - daydreaming and ‘mucking about’
   4.Rebellion - rejecting schools values

Question 17

Furlong - pupil responses

Answer 17

Pupils aren’t fixed to one response, it can vary between different lessons and teachers.

Question 18

Bourdieu- Habitus

Answer 18

Habitus is the learned values and ideas or set of norms, the idea that each class has its own cultural framework. Education system based on M/c values - M/c can apply their habitus leading to achievement.

Question 19

What is symbolic capital?

Answer 19

M/c values gain this as their tastes and preferences seem to have worth and value e.g. going to museums.
- For the W/c, school devalues their habitus, seeing their tastes as worthless

Question 20

What is symbolic violence?

Answer 20

W/c values are seen as worthless and withholding this symbolic capitalism leads to symbolic violence as it reproduces class inequality and keeps them ‘in their place’.
Their is a clash between W/c pupils habitus and school’s M/c habitus, so their experience of education is alien and unnatural.

Question 21

Archer - Nike identities

Answer 21

W/c pupils had to ‘lose themselves’ in the M/c habitus in order to succeed educationally as they would have to change their identity.
Symbolic violence led to W/c pupils finding other ways to gain status. They constructed class identities revolving around fashion brands. Not conforming is ‘social suicide’ , the right appearance gains symbolic capital from their peers.
HOWEVER, this leads to further conflict as more exclusions and sanctions are processed base on their appearance.