DJs: Internal explanations Flashcards
How are internal explanations different to external explanations?
The concentration is on the internal processes of the school. The sociologists criticise other sociologists for not giving enough attention to the impact of schooling itself.
Define self concept:
-your view of yourself, produced by interaction with others.
Define labelling:
-Teachers having specific expectations of pupils and more general expectations of particular streams.
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
- When labelling starts to affect the self-concept of a pupil to the degree that they might start to act in terms of it.
How can setting a streaming lead to underachievement?
- Being placed in a low set or stream may undermine pupils’ confidence and discourage them from trying. Teachers may have lower expectations and be less ambitious and give less knowledge to lower set/stream pupils.
LABELLING: What did Hargreaves et al (1927) find about labelling?
They found that teachers ‘got to know’ their pupils in three stages: 1) Speculation - teachers making guesses on the type of pupils they were dealing with based on factors like appearance and enthusiasm to work. 2) Elaboration - the teachers prediction is confirmed or contradicted and the teacher is confident in their judgement. 3) Stabilisation: teachers now feel that they know the pupils and are therefore not surprised by their behaviours. The pupil is now evaluated in terms of their label.
LABELLING: What did Becker (1977) find out about labelling?
Becker conducted observation in a Chicago high school. He found that judgements and evaluations of students were made in terms of a standard ‘ideal pupil’ and found that pupils from middle class non-manual backgrounds came closest to this ideal. He claimed that the way a teacher assesses and evaluates their student have significant effects on attitude and behaviour in the classroom, as well as achievement. Their expectancy influenced how they worked and interacted with other students.
LABELLING: What did Cicourel (1963) and Kitsuse find on labelling?
-After a study of American high school tutors, they concluded that teachers evaluated students on a whole range of non-academic factors rather than ability. Tutors labelled pupils according to social class background e.g. middle class students were seen to be ‘natural’ prospective college students.
SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY: What did Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) conclude after their research of SFP’s?
Would this study be permitted today?
They tested the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy. In a Californian elementary school they examined the effects and consequences of teachers expectations of pupils. They gave the teacher the names of students who the teacher believed had achieved the highest in a standard intelligence test (the names were picked out at random). A year later, another standard intelligence test was carried out in the class and the pupils who’s names had been given to the teacher, had achieved the highest. Their conclusion was that due to the teacher labelling the students as high ability, the teacher then must have communicated their higher expectations to those pupils, and the pupils acted accordingly to these standards (a SFP)
This study today would be deemed unethical, because it is deceptive to teachers, and could encourage them to spend more time with certain students.
Evaluate the conclusions of interactions who studied the effects of labelling:
Who’s work proved the criticisms of this idea to be true?
Interactionists have been accused of generalising the effects of labelling. They have been criticised for assuming that the same type of label is applied to a pupil by all teachers and for believing that labelling always leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. They deem pupils as passive, when in reality they have their own agency and can choose to resist labels. For example, a negative label placed on a student can actually motivate them and have positive effect.
Research by Fuller confirmed this, where in London, Black working class girls who believed they had been negatively labelled due to their ethnicity, gender and class, were pro-education and achieved highly despite the lack of faith in them and expectations of them.
