Differential educational achievement: Class (Internal factors) Flashcards
What is Labelling?
Labelling theory suggests that teachers often attach a label to a pupil that has little to do with their actual ability or aptitude. Instead they form an opinion based on how close the student fits to the ideal pupil.
Labelling: Impact on achievement
SFP
Rejection of the Label - Fuller’s investigation of Black girls
Labelling evaluation
Deterministic
Focuses on the negative effects
Schools themselves might encourage teachers to label their students
What is SFP?
When students take on the label that is attributed to them by the teacher or school. This can either be positive or negative label.
SFP: Impact on achievement
A negative label is usually placed on w/c students and can lead to students forming anti-school subcultures and underachieving in school.
A positive label usually applied to m/c students due to ideal pupil characteristics can lead to a pro-school subculture and help students to achieve at school.
Evaluation
Deterministic
Rejection of the label - Fuller
What is setting/streaming?
Setting - the placement of students into ability classes within individual subjects
streaming - the placement of students into ability groups across all subjects.
Setting/streaming: impact on achievement
W/c students are usually places in the lower streams/sets which can lead to low self esteem and therefore underachievement. Being placed in lower streams can also limit student achievement by not allowing them access opportunities to achieve.
Evaluation
Setting and streaming allow high ability students to be stretched and low ability students to be supported which can lead to higher achievement
Anti-school subcultures
Lower streams
Rejection of school values
Truanting
Disruption
Not doing HW
Anti-school subcultures: impact on achievement
W/c are more likely to be apart of anti-school subcultures where by status is not achieved through educational achievement but through disruptive behaviour and therefore unlikely to achieve at school.
Evaluation
Not all students become part of anti-school subcultures
Class identity?
Habits - learned or taken for granted ways of thinking, being or acting that are shared by a particular social class (Bourdieu)
It includes their tastes, outlook on life, expectations and what is normal or realistic for people like ‘us’
Class identity: impact on achievement
M/c have power to set the habits of the school giving m/c pupils 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 is seen as undersirable ad unrealistic
