internal class differences in achievement

Question 1

Becker - labelling

Answer 1

teachers judge and label pupils according to how closely they fit the ‘ideal pupil’. this would therefore dampen the motivation of students who did not suit the ideal pupil, due to how teachers deferred their time away from them and were unwilling to help

Question 2

self fulfilling prophecy

Answer 2

when students are given a positive label, they react to it by creating a positive self-concept, which means they are motivated to work hard and improve their grades. this also works in reverse, with negative labels leading to negative self-concepts and less motivation

Question 3

Rosenthal and Jacobson

Answer 3

studies self fulfilling prophecies by informing teachers of students who scored highly on an IQ test and would be a quick learner. the catch was the test results were actually fabricated and teachers treated those who were falsely identified as ‘spurts’ differently. 47% of those who were identified to ‘spurt’ had made significant improvement due to how teachers paid more attention to them by giving them more feedback

Question 4

Gilbert and Yodel - streaming

Answer 4

teachers labelled working-class students as unintelligent, resulting in them being placed into lower streams and sets

Question 5

Lacey - pupil subcultures

Answer 5

found that there were 2 ways in which pupil subcultures developed:
- polarisation: when pupils respond to streaming by either moving to a pro-school subculture or an anti-school subculture
- differentiation: form of streaming - those who are placed in higher streams gain a higher status

Question 6

Hargreaves

Answer 6

found boys in lower steams were triple failures: they failed their 11+; had been placed in lower streams; and labelled as “worthless louts”. their solution was to form a group which provided status to those who flouted the school ruled and guaranteed their educational failure

Question 7

Archer et al - pupil identities

Answer 7

working-class pupils invest in ‘nike’ identities, leading to self-exclusion from education because it does not fit their identity and way of life; they see it as unrealistic (it is for richer and cleverer people) and they see it as undesirable (it does not suit their habitus)