Internal Factors (1) Labelling, Identities And Responses Flashcards
What did Gillborn and Mirza find in one local education authority?
That black children were the highest achievers on entry to primary school (20 percentage points above the local average) but by the time it came to GCSE they had the worst results of any ethnic group - 21 points below average.
What did STrand’s analysis of the entire national cohort of 530,000 7-11 year olds show?
How quickly many black pupils fell behind after starting school - black Caribbean boys who weren’t entitled to FSM especially more able pupils made significantly less progress than their white peers.
What is labelling?
Attaching a meaning or definition to someone.
What do interactionists focus on when looking at ethnic differences in achievement?
Different labels teachers give to children from different ethnic backgrounds.
What do Interactionists studies show teachers often seeing black and Asian pupils as?
Being far from the idea pupil e.g. black pupils seen as disruptive and Asian pupils seen as passive.
What might negative labels lead teachers to do?
Treat EM differently disadvantaging them resulting in their failure.
What did Gillborn and Youdell find teachers were?
Quicker to discipline black pupils than others for the same behaviour.
Gillborn and Youdell argue this is the result of teachers racialised expectations - teachers expecting black pupils to present more discipline problems and misinterpreted behaviour as threatening or a challenge to authority.
What did Gillborn and Youdell conclude?
Much of the conflict between white teachers and black pupils stems from racial stereotypes teachers hold rather than pupils actual behaviour.
What did Bourne find?
Schools tend to see black boys as a threat and to label them negatively leading to exclusion.
What have excursions show to affect?
Achievement - 1/5 excluded pupils achieve 5 GCSEs.
According to Osler what are black pupils more likely to suffer from?
Unrecorded unofficial exclusions and from internal exclusions where they’re sent out of class.
Also more likely to be placed in PRUs that exclude them from access to mainstream curriculum.
What did FOster find teachers’ stereotypes of black pupils could result in?
Them being placed in lower sets than other pupils with similar ability.
What can streaming black pupils based on negative stereotypes about ability/ behaviour result in?
A self-fulfilling prophecy of underachievement.
What did Wright’s study of multi-ethnic primary school show Asian pupils can be?
Victims of teachers labelling - despite schools apparent commitment to equal opportunities teachers held ethnocentric views which affected how they related to Asian pupils e.g. teachers assumed they would have a poor grasp of English and left them out in class discussions or used simplistic childish language when talking o them.
How did teachers see Asian pupils in general?
A problem they could ignore which caused Asian pupils (especially girls) to become marginalised - pushed to the edges and prevented from fully participating.
According to Archer what do teachers dominant discourse define?
EM pupils identities as lacking te favoured identity of the ideal pupil.
How does Archer describe the dominant discourse constructing different pupil identities?
- Ideal pupil identity - white, m/c masculinised identity with normal sexuality.
- The pathologised pupil identity - Asian, deserving poor, feminised identity either asexual or with an oppressed sexuality.
- The demonised pupil identity - black/ white w/c hyper-sexualised identity.
How are EM pupils likely to be seen according to Archer?
Demonised or pathologised pupils. E.g. interviews with teachers and students showed how black students are demonised as loud, challenging, excessively sexual and with ‘unaspirational’ home cultures.
What did Archer find Asian girls stereotyped as?
Quiet, passive and docile.
What did Shain note about Asian girls?
They challenge their stereotype by misbehaving, they are often dealt with more severely than other pupils.
What did Archer argue about minority pupils who perform successfully?
They can be pathologised e.g. Chinese students ere simultaneously praised and viewed negatively by the teachers.
How did teachers stereotype Chinese families?
‘Tight’ and ‘close’ and used this to explain the girls supposed passivity.
What is the result of the distinctions that Archer identified?
Even the success of EM pupils will only be seen as ‘overachievment’ since ‘proper’ achievement is seen to be the natural preserve of the privileged, white m/c ideal pupil.
What is a good example of pupils responding by rejecting negative labels?
Fuller’s study of a group of black girls in year 11 - girls were untypical because they were high achievers in a school where most black girls were placed in low streams.
What does Fuller describe?
How instead of accepting negative stereotypes of themselves girls channelled through anger about being labelled into the pursuit of educational success. However Luke other successful pupils they didn’t seek the approval of teachers nor limit their choice of Finns to other academic achievers.
How does Fuller see black girls behaviour?
As a way of dealing with the contradictory demands of succeeding at school while remaining friends with black girls in lower streams and avoiding ridicule of black boys.
What did Ghaill’s study of black and Asian a level students at sixth form find?
Students who believed teachers had labelled them negatively didnt necessarily accept the label. How they responded depended on factors such as their ethnic group and gender and the nature of their former schools.
What did Mirza study?
Ambitious black girls who faced teacher racism.
What did Mirza find racist teachers discouraged?
Black pupils from being ambitious through the kind of advice they gave them about careers and option choices.
What are 3 min types of racism identified by Mirza?
- Colour blind - teacher who believe all pupils ate equal but in practice allow racism to go unchallenged.
- Liberal chauvinists - teachers who believe black pupils are culturally deprived and who have low expectations of them.
- Over racists - teachers who believe blacks are inferior and actively discriminate against them.
What are the 4 responses Sewell notes to schooling?
- The rebels
- Conformists
- Retreatists
- Innovators
Rebels
- most visible and influential group
- small minority of black pupils
- rejected goals and rules of the school
- expressed opposition through peer group membership
- conformed to the stereotype of anti-authority, anti-school ‘black macho lad.’
- believed in their own superiority - black masculinity equates with sexual experience and virility.
- contemptuous of white boys.
Conformists
- Largest group.
- Boys keen to succeed, accepted school’s goals and had friends from different ethnic groups.
- Not part of a subculture.
- Anxious to avoid being stereotyped by teachers or peers.
Retreatists
- Tiny minority of isolated individuals.
- Disconnected from school and black subcultures.
- Despised by rebels.
Innovators
- Second largest group.
- Pro-education but anti-school (similar to Fuller’s research on black girls).
- Valued success but didn’t seek approval from teachers.
- Conformed as far as schoolwork.
- Distanced from conformists allowing them to maintain credibility with rebels whilst being positive about academic achievement.
What does Sewell show about the ‘black macho lad’?
That only a small minority fit the stereotype but teachers still see all black boys this way which contributes to underachievement.
What are many boys negative attitudes?
A response to racism.
What does Sewell argue factors outside of school are important in?
Producing underachievement e.g. peer groups.
What does labelling theory show?
How teachers stereotypes can be a cause of failure.
What is there a danger of assuming with labelling?
That once pupils have been labelled they automatically fall victim to the self fulfilling prophecy and fail.
What does Mirza show may be another way in which students opportunities are limited?
Devising strategies to avoid teachers racism such as picking certain options to avoid certain teachers.
