Internal Factors Flashcards
(Labelling in Secondary schools)
Cicourel and Kitsuse.
Found inconsistencies in counsellors decisions. Found that they based their judgements on social class and race.
E.g, if children had similar grades, the m/c ones were deemed more suitable for academic courses.
(Labelling in Secondary schools)
Becker.
Becker found that teachers judged pupils according to how closely they fitted the ‘ideal pupil’ model.
The key factors in this were work, conduct and appearance and teachers judged those with m/c backgrounds as closest to the ideal.
(Labelling in Primary schools)
Rist.
Found that children were seated according to class, background and appearance.
The tables were called ‘Tigers’, ‘Cardinals’ and ‘Clowns’. ‘Clowns’ received fewer reading opportunities, were given easier texts and were kept away from the ‘Tigers’, who were considered brighter than them.
Keddie.
Found when teachers taught in top sets they used abstract language or high status knowledge. However, in lower sets they used everyday knowledge to teach them.
As low sets usually contain more w/c, leads to a difference in Ed. Achievement.
The Self Fulfilling Prophesy (SFP).
- Teacher labels the pupil.
- Teacher treats pupil accordingly.
- Pupil internalises the expectations which become part of their self image, therefore they become the label.
What is Streaming?
Streaming is the process where pupils are placed into ability groups and taught accordingly.
Rosenthal and Jacobsen.
Picked 20% of students at random in a school and told the teachers that those students were gifted and would be making rapid progress.
1 year later almost half had made significant progress. R+J argue this was because of SFP and labelling.
Pupil Subcultures.
This is a group of students who share similar values and behaviour. They often emerge as a result of being labelled.
Lacey
DIFFERENTIATION (categorising pupils into ‘less’ and ‘more’ able) and streaming.
This causes POLARISATION (moving to an extreme as a reaction to this, usually to pro or anti school subculture).
(Abolishing streaming)
Ball
…ability teaching. He found POLARISATION had stopped and Anti school subculture declined.
However, teachers still continued to DIFFERENTIATE, labelling some students a ‘more’ or ‘less’ able.
(Marketisation)Gillborn and Youdell.
…a funding formula and league tables.
G + Y say that these policies have created the ‘A-C economy’. This is where schools focus most on the pupils most likely to get a C or above, as this is what shows up on the league tables.
(Streaming)
Becker.
…seen as ideal pupils and therefore are more likely to be put into lower sets/streams. Once streamed, this sends the message of being a ‘no hoper’, as it is very difficult to move out of streams.
Bartlett
…cream skim (select high ability students) and silt shift (offloading pupils with learning difficulties).
Demanding complex contracts…
…that ask a great deal can put off some families.
Gewirts quotes a governor say they will “bring the right sort of parents” into the school.
