Education - Class Differences in Achievement (Internal Factors) Flashcards
What is “labelling” ?
To label someone is to attach a meaning or definition to them, even with little knowledge or prior information about them. This is very common for teachers to do with their pupils
What do studies show about teachers methodology to labelling?
Studies show teachers often attach these labels regardless of the student’s actual ability or attitude. Instead it’s often linked to stereotyped assumptions about their class background, labelling working class students negatively and middle class students positively.
What did Becker (1971) find about a teacher’s “ideal pupil”
Based on interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers, he found that they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted an image of the “ideal pupil”, which was based on pupils work, conduct and appearance. They usually middle class students closest to ideal and working class students furthest from ideal.
What did Dunne and Gazeley (2008) argue about teachers attitude towards labelling?
They argue that “schools persistently produce working-class underachievement” and it is normalised amongst teachers, and were unconcerned by it as if they could do nothing about it. However they seemed to believe they could overcome the underachievement of a working class pupil
How can labelling lead to underachievement?
As a result of the teachers putting their time and effort into the students who they think will achieve highly, they will neglect the kids who genuinely need more help and who they have labelled as “underachievers”, leading for these kids to achieve as the teacher ‘predicted’ due to them not giving students the correct attention and help
What did Ray Rist (1970) find about labelling in primary schools?
His study observed an American Kindergarten, and he found that the teacher would base the children’s skill group off class and appearance. There were 3 tables. The Tigers, the table closest to the teacher which would receive the most encouragement - all tended to be neat in appearance and middle class. The other 2 tables were sat further away from the teacher - the cardinals, and the clowns. Most students of which tended to be working class. They were given lower level books , and in some cases were made to read as a group not individually.
What is a Self Fulfilling Prophecy?
A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction which comes true simply by the virtue of it having been made. An example of this would be someone being called unintelligent, and as a result begin to stop caring about their grades, so they don’t revise, underachieve, and the so called ‘prediction’ manifests into reality
How many steps are there to a self-fulfilling prophecy?
3
What is the step by step process to a self fulfilling prophecy (in the context of education)?
Step 1: Teacher labels a pupil and on the basis of this label will make predictions about them
Step 2: Teacher treats pupil based on that label , wether that’s negative or positive
Step 3: Student internalises the teacher’s expectations, and will integrate into their self concept, so now they become the kind of pupil the teacher believed them to be in the first place
What did Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) display in their experiment?
In an attempt to show how self-fulfilling prophecies effect people’s educational performance, Rosenthal and Jacobson told Oak Community School they specially designed a test to identify students who would “spurt ahead”. This was untrue as it was a simple IQ test, however the teachers believed what they had been told. The students took the tests, but then randomly selected 20% of pupils, and told the school they were “spurters” falsely.
What did the subjects of Rosenthal and Jacobson’s (1968) experiment perform like?
A year after 20% of students were randomly identified as “spurters”, 47% of these
What did the subjects of Rosenthal and Jacobson’s (1968) experiment perform like?
A year after 20% of students were randomly identified as “spurters”, 47% of these students made significant progress , showing that if teachers believe a pupils to be of a certain type, they can make him or her into that type.
What belief do Rosenthal and Jacobson’s research support?
They support interactionist principle: that what people believe to be true will have real effects, even if the belief was not true originally
What is “Streaming”?
Streaming is a process which involved separating children into different ability groups or classes called “streams”, which are all treated differently correlating to the teacher’s belief about that type of student.
Is it easy to move streams?
No - once streamed, it is difficult to move up to a higher stream, and children are more or less locked into their teacher’s expectation of them.
What did Douglas find about Streaming and IQ?
Douglas found that children placed in a lower stream at age 8 had suffered a decline in their IQ score by age 11. By contrast middle-class students which are more than often placed in a higher stream , at age 8 had improved their IQ score by age 11.
What is an “A-to-C” economy?
Gillborn and Youdell believe an A to C economy is a system which schools focus their time , effort and resources on those pupils they see as having the potential to get five grade Cs and so boost the schools league table position.
