Education- Class differences in achievement (internal factors) Flashcards
What are internal factors?
Internal factors are processes in the school which cause differences in achievement between different classes.
Define Labelling
This is where teachers may attach a meaning or definition to a pupil, and label them as bright or thick, troublemaker or hardworking. Studies show teacher’s attach labels based on stereotyped assumptions about their class background and not on their academic ability, e.g. labelling working-class pupils negatively and middle-class positively. Becker (1971) found that teacher’s would label pupils based on how close they came to fitting the image of the ‘ideal pupil’. The pupil’s work, appearance and conduct were key to influencing teacher’s judgements.
Labelling in primary schools
Rist found that the teacher used information about children’s home background and appearance to place them in separate groups, seating each group at a different table in an American
kindergarten. The pupils the teacher decided were fast learners, she labelled the ‘tigers’ tended to be MC and of neat and clean appearance. She seated these at the table nearest to her and showed them the greatest encouragement. The other two groups were labelled the ‘cardinals’ and the ‘clowns’ and she seated them further away. These groups were more likely to be WC. They were given lower-level books to read and fewer chances to show their abilities e.g. they read as a group, not as individuals.
Labelling in secondary schools
Dunne and Gazeley (2008) found that in 9 state secondary schools, teachers ‘normalised’ the underachievement of WC pupils, and felt like they could do nothing about it. However they would overcome the underachievement of MC pupils. As they labelled WC parents as uninterested in their children’s education, but labelled MC parents as supportive. This led to the teachers setting extension tasks for underachieving middle-class pupils but entering working-class pupils for easier exams.
What are the steps of the SFP?
Step one: the teacher labels a pupil (e.g. intelligent) and on the basis of the label, makes predictions about him (e.g. he will make outstanding academic progress)
Step two: the teacher treats the pupil accordingly, acting as if the prediction is already true (e.g. give him more attention and expecting a higher standard of work)
Step three: the pupil internalises the teachers’ expectation, which becomes part of his self-concept or self-image so that he now becomes the kind of pupil the teacher believed him to be in the first place. He gains confidence, tries
harder, and is successful. The prediction is fulfilled.
This can work both ways i.e. if the teacher has low expectations of a pupil, and communicates these expectations in their interactions, these children may develop a negative self-concept. They may come to see themselves as failures and give up trying, thereby fulfilling the original prophecy.
Teacher’s expectations study
Rosenthal and Jacobson told a school they had a new test specially designed to identify those pupils who would ‘spurt’ ahead. This was untrue, because the test was an IQ test. But the teachers believed what they had been told. They tested all of the pupils, but then picked 20% of them purely at random and told the school, again falsely, that the test had identified these children as ‘spurters’. On returning to the school a year later, they found almost half (47%) of those identified as sputters had made significant progress, with a greater effect on younger children. The teacher’s beliefs had been influenced by the ‘test’, and these beliefs had then been conveyed onto the children, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy in the pupils as a result.
What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?
This is a prediction that comes true simply by you living up to the label given to you. . Interactionists argue that labelling can affect pupils’ achievement by creating a self-fulfilling prophecy;
What is streaming?
Streaming involves separating children into different ability groups or classes called ‘streams’. Each ability group is then taught differently from the other. WC children tend to be streamed into lower ability classes, whereas MC children tend to be streamed into higher ability classes. A self-fulfilling prophecy then arises and those in low-ability classes (often WC) will underachieve and those in higher ability classes (often MC) will do well.
How does the publishing of exam league tables led to the A-to-C economy?
Gillborn and Youdell showed that teachers use stereotypical notions of ‘ability’ to stream pupils, and they found that teachers were less likely to see the WC and black children as having ability. So are more likely to be placed into lower streams and entered for lower tier GCSEs. This streaming was linked to exam league tables. To be in a good position, it’s all about the percentage of pupils who achieve A* to C. Schools need a good position in the league tables to attract pupils and funding. This publishing of league tables has led to the ‘A-to-C economy’ whereby schools focus their time, effort and resources on those pupils that have the potential to get 5 grade Cs or more to boost the school’s league table position.
What is the educational triage?
- Those who will pass anyway and can be left to get on with it
- Those with potential, who will be helped to get a grade C or better
- Hopeless cases, Who are doomed to fail
This educational triage becomes the basis for streaming. Teacher’s beliefs about the lack of ability of WC pupils are used to segregate them into lower streams or sets, where they receive less attention, support and resources. This results in lower levels of achievement for the WC.
What are pupil subcultures?
Pupil subculture is a group sharing similar values and behaviours, often emerge as a response to the way pupils have been labelled. Laceyidentified the concepts of differentiation and polarisation to explain how pupil subcultures develop:
Differentiation: categorising pupils on ability and attitude/behaviour. ‘More able’ pupils are given high status by being placed in a high stream, whereas those deemed as ‘less able’ are placed in a low stream.
Polarisation: Pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two opposite ‘poles’ or extremes’ i.e. pro-school vs. anti-school subculture.
What are the other responses of streaming and labelling according to Woods?
Ingratiation: being the teacher’s pet
ritualism: going through the motions and staying out of trouble
retreatism: daydreaming and mucking about
rebellion: outright rejection of everything the school stands for
Furlong observed that many pupils
are not committed permanently to any one response, but may move between different types of response, acting differently in lessons with different teachers.
What is the pro-school subculture?
Pupils in high streams (mainly middle-class) remain committed to the values of the school. They gain status through academic success.
What is the anti-school subculture?
Pupils in low streams (typically the working-class) suffer a loss of self-esteem, thinking they are of an inferior status. They look for status another way e.g. truanting, not doing homework, smoking etc. to feel accepted by peers now they have been ‘rejected’ by teachers and the school.
What is meant by Habitus?
‘Habitus’ (Bourdieu) is the learned ways of thinking, being and acting that are shared by a particular social class. The MC has the power to define its
habitus as superior and to impose it on the education system. Therefore the school puts a higher value on MC tastes, preferences and so on.
