differential education achievement: class (internal factors) Flashcards
middle class
occupations that are mostly white collar and professional jobs, highly educated
working class
mostly blue collar and manual jobs.
low educational achievement
internal factors
factors inside of the school which influence educational achievement
educational triage
putting students into 3 streams.
M/C in top streams, C/D boarder line, W/C in lower streams
A-C economy
schools are judged based on the number of students who achieve A-C grades of GCSE
Labelling
labelling theory suggests teachers often attach a label to a pupil that has little to do with their actual ability or aptitude.
instead they create an opinion of the student based on how close the student fit the ideal pupil.
Becker suggests teacher/ pupil interactions are based upon these labels and can lead to a self fulfilling prophecy where the students take on the label and act accordingly
labelling impact on achievement
self fulfilling prophecy
rejection of the label - Fuller’s - black girls were labelled as low-achievers, but responded to this negative labelling by knuckling down and studying hard to prove their teachers and school wrong.
labelling evaluation
*deterministic
*focuses on the negative effects
*attributed too much importance to ‘teacher agency’
*structural sociologists might point out that schools themselves encourage teachers to label students
self fulfilling prophecy
when students take on the label that is attributed to them by the teacher or school. this can either be a positive or negative label
self fulfilling prophecy impact on achievement
*negative labels are usually placed on W/C students which can lead to students forming an anti-school subculture and underachieving at school
*positive labels usually applied to M/C students due to ideal pupil characteristics can lead to a pro-school subculture and help students achieve at school
self fulfilling prophecy evaluation
*deterministic
*rejection of label - Fuller’s research on black girls in a london comprehensive school found that the black girls she researched were labelled as low-achievers, but their response to this is negative labelling was to knuckle down and study hard to prove the teachers and their school wrong
setting/ streaming
*setting is the placement of students into ability classes within individual subjects
*streaming is the placement of students into ability groups going across all subjects
setting/ streaming impact on achievement
*W/C students are usually placed in the lower streams/ sets which can lead to lower self esteem and therefore under achievement
*being placed in lower streams can also limit student achievement by not allowing them access to opportunities to achieve
setting/ streaming evaluation
*allow for higher ability students to be stretched and lower ability students to be supported which can lead to higher achievement
pupil subculture - anti-school subculture
*lower streams
*rejection of school values
*truanting
*disruption
*not doing homework
pupil sub cultures- pro-school subcultures
*committed to school values
*gain approval/ status through academic success
pupil subcultures impact on achievement
*W/C are more likely to be part of an anti-school subculture where by status is not achieved through educational achievement but through disruptive behaviour and therefore unlikely to achieve at school
pupil sub cultures evaluation
*not all students become part of a pro or anti school subculture
pupil’s class identity
*Habitus - learned or taken for granted ways of thinking, being or acting that are shared by a particular social class (Bourdieu)
*includes their tastes, outlook on life, expectations and what is normal or realistic for people ‘like us’
pupils class identity impact on achievement
*M/C have power to set the habitus of the school giving M/C students an advantage
*W/C habitus is devalued by schools and W/C students felt that they had to change who they are in order to be academically successful
*W/C habitus sees HE as undesirable and unrealistic
pupil’s class identity evaluation
*postmodernists argue that class doesn’t have as much of an impact on students identity anymore due to the pick and mix culture
what did Rosenthal and Jacobson find?
Students randomly labelled as ‘high achievers’ performed better due to higher teacher expectations.
What did Ball find streaming reproduced?
Class inequalities as m/c were placed in higher streams and achieved better grades.
What did Douglas find teacher expectations influenced?
Achievemnt - m/c students received more encouragement.
What did Willis’s study of ‘the lads’ show?
W/c boys resisted school authority but this led them into w/c jobs reinforcing class inequality.
What did Bourdieu suggest school values?
M/c cultural capital (language, manners and knowledge) which disadvantages w/c students.
