Internal Factors Flashcards
key internal factors
Labelling and SFP
Streaming
Pupil Subcultures
Social Class identities
key sociologists behind labelling
Becker
Rist - labelling in primary schools
Dunne and Gazaley - Labelling in Secondary Schools
what is labelling
To label someone is to attach a meaning or definition to them.
what do studies show about teacher labelling
Studies show that teachers often give labels regardless of pupil’s ability or attitude instead they base labels on stereotypes and assumptions they make about the social class background.
becker’s study of labelling
Becker carried out a study based on interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers, he found that teachers judged students on how closely they fit their image of an ideal pupil, students from middle-class backgrounds meet the ideal, working-class students do not
sociologist behind labeling in primary schools
Rist
labelling in primary schools
Labelling occurs from the outset of a child’s educational career, Rist in his study of an American kindergarten class found that teachers used information about a student’s home background and appearance to place them in separate groups and seat them at different tables. Middle-class students were labelled as tigers and were favoured and put in more desirable groups/seats at the front of the classroom while working class students were seated further away and given little encouragement as they were labelled as clowns
sociologist behind labelling in secondary schools
Dunne and Gazeley
labelling in secondary schools
Dunne and Gazaley argue that schools persistently produce working-class underachievement because of the labels and assumptions of teachers. They interviewed teachers in 9 English state schools and found that teachers normalise working class underachievement, they were not concerned by it and felt there was little they could do about it, they found that teachers assumed the parents of WC students were uninterested.
what does labelling lead to
self fulfilling prophecy
what is self fulfilling prophecy
A prediction that comes true simply because it has been made
steps that lead to SFP
- Teacher labels students
- Teacher makes predictions based on label
- Teacher treats pupil according to the label/prediction
- Student internalises the teacher’s label and reacts accordingly
- Predictions become true
what sociologist is behind SFP
Rosenthal and Jacobson
Rosenthal and Jacobson study of SFP
Rosenthal and Jacobson in their study for a California primary school showed SFP at work. They told the school that they had a new test specially designed to identify those who would spurt ahead and the teachers believed them but the test was simply a standard test. They tested all the pupils and then picked 20% of them at random and told the school that the test had identified these children as spurters. A year later almost half identified as spurters had made significant progress in school.
what is streaming
This involves separating children into different groups or streams based on ability, each group is then taught separately for each subject.
what is likely to occur when pupils are streamed
SFP
who are more likely to find themselves in lower streams
The working class are more likely to be put in lower streams
what happens once streamed
Once streamed, it is usually difficult to move up or down a stream, children become locked into their teacher’s expectations of them and Children in lower streams get the message that their teachers have written them off as failures. This creates a SFP in which the pupils live up to their teacher’s low expectation of them and vice versa
sociologists behind streaming
Douglas
Douglas’s study of streaming
Douglas found that children placed in lower streams at the age of 8 had suffered a decline in their IQ score by the age of 11 but those in higher streams(typically MC) had seen an increase
what is streaming connected to and according to who
Streaming is connected to the publishing of exam league tables according to Gillborn and Youdell
what are league tables
League tables rank schools according to exam performance based on the % of those who achieve 5 or more GCSEs at A*-C
what is the education triage
The rationing of educational resources with extra resources being aimed at those on C/D borderline
what do league tables create and how
Schools want to be as high up the league tables as possible in order to attract pupils and funding, this creates an A-C economy in schools where schools focus all their time and energy on the pupils who have the potential to achieve 5A* - C, this creates the process of education triage
where are working class pupils in the education triage
WC pupils are more likely to be labelled as ‘hopeless cases’ which results in lower levels of achievement for WC pupils.
what are pupil subcultures
Pupil subcultures are groups of pupils who share similar values and behaviour patterns
what are pupil subcultures a response to
They often emerge as a response to labelling and streaming
sociologists for pupils subcultures
Lacey
Hargreaves
Ball
Woods
what are the two ways pupil subcultures develop and according to who
Lacey argues that there are two ways subcultures develop.
Differentiation
Polarisation
differentiation
The process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive their ability, attitude and or behaviour. Streaming is a form of differentiation since it categories pupils into separate classes based on ability
what is polarisation
The process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two opposite poles or extremes.
what does streaming polarise boys into
Lacey found that streaming polarised boys into a pro-school and an anti-school subculture
what is a pro-school subculture
It is a subculture associated with the MC, pupils are placed in high streams that tend to remain committed to the values of the school, and they gain their status through academic success
what is an anti-school subculture
Those placed in low streams, usually WC suffer a loss of self-esteem as they have an inferior status in the school, this label of failure pushes them to search for alternative ways of gaining status which often involves rejecting the schools values which leads to SFP of educational failure
sociologist behind polarisation and differentiation
Lacey
sociologist behind triple failures
Hargreaves
what does Hargreaves argue
Hargreaves found a similar response to labelling and streaming in a secondary modern school. From the point of view of the education system, boys in lower streams were triple failures - they failed their 11+, they had been placed in lower streams and they had been labelled as worthless louts
who studied abolishing streaming
Ball
abolishing streaming
Ball studied Beachside School which was in the process of abolishing banding (a type of streaming) in favour of teaching mixed-ability groups, as banding produced the kind of polarization described by Lacey. Ball found that when the school abolished banding, the basis for pupils to polarise into subcultures was largely removed and the influence of anti-subcultures declined
what continued in Balls study and why
Though pupil polarisation had disappeared, differentiation continued. Teachers continued to categorise pupils differently and were more likely to label MC pupils positively. This positive labelling was reflected in better exam results, suggesting that a SFP had occurred
what does Ball’s study show
Ball’s study shows that class inequality can continue as a result of teacher labelling even without the effect of subcultures or streaming
sociologist behind various responses to labelling and streaming
Woods
what does woods argue
Woods argues that there are more responses to labelling and streaming.
Ingratiation - being the teacher’s pet
Ritualism - going through the motions and staying out of trouble
Retreatism - daydreaming and mucking about
Rebellion - the outright rejection of everything the school stands for
pupil’s class identities
Sociologists are interested in how a pupil’s class identity interacts with the school
sociologist behind pupil’s class identities
Archer et al
what did Archer focus on
Archer focused on working-class pupils’ identities and how they produced underachievement and the concept of habitus
what is habitus
This refers to the taken-for-granted ways of thinking and acting that are shared by a particular social class. It includes their preferences, and tastes about fashion and leisure as well as their outlook on life and what they class as normal for ‘people like us’.
how is a groups habitus formed
A group’s habitus is formed as a response to its position in the class structure
Middle Class Habitus
Schools tend to have a middle-class habitus. This is because the middle class see themselves as superior and therefore has the power to impose their habitus on the education system. This means that schools place a higher value on middle-class tastes, and preferences and therefore see these as more important. This gives the middle-class symbolic capital (status) over everyone else
Working-Class Habitus
Schools tend to devalue working class habitus and see this as inferior and less important. Schools tend to see working-class ways of thinking as tasteless and worthless. Schools are therefore seen as withholding symbolic capital from the WC and creating symbolic violence (status conflict). In other words, it creates a conflict between MC habitus and WC habitus.
what happens after school creates a conflict between MC habitus and WC habitus.
WC pupils find themselves fighting against the school and often feeling isolated. For example, Archer found that for working-class pupils to be successful at school they felt they had to lose themselves and become more MC. They had to change their habitus, many WC students are not prepared to do this and therefore settle for failure/underachievement
what other ways do working-class students gain status
Through Nike Identities
Nike Identity
Many WC students are conscious of the school looking down on them and look for other ways to be successful or gain symbolic capital (status)
One way they do this is by creating a strong sense of class identity, which is linked heavily to branded clothing. WC students can find status in wearing branded clothing such as Nike
how does Nike Identity led to conflict
Nike identity puts the WC in conflict with the middle-class habitus of the school as the Nike Identity/branded clothing does not fall in line with uniform regulations
criticisms of labelling theory
It is too deterministic, it assumed that pupils who are labelled have no choice but to fulfil the prophecy and will inevitably fail
Marxists criticise labelling theory for ignoring the wider structures of power within which labelling takes place, it fails to explain why labelling takes place and Marxists argue that it is because teachers work in a system that reproduces class inequalities and divisions not due to the teacher’s individual prejudices
