Internal Factors: Pupil subcultures & class identities

Question 1

Overview

Answer 1

A pupil subculture is a group of pupils who share similar values & behaviour patterns. Pupil subcultures often emerge as a response to the way pupils have been labelled, & in particular as a reaction to streaming.

Question 2

Colin Lacey

Answer 2

explained how pupil subcultures develop

• Differentiation is the process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive their ability, attitude &/or behaviour. Streaming is a form of differentiation, since it categorises pupils into separate classes. Those that the school deems ‘more able’ are given high status by being placed in a high stream, whereas those deemed ‘less able’ & placed in low streams are given an inferior status.
• Polarisation is the process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two opposite ‘poles’ or extremes. In his study of Hightown boys’ grammar school, Lacey found that streaming polarised boys into a pro-school & an anti-school subculture.

Question 3

Subcultures

Answer 3

Pupils places in high streams (who are largely middle class) tend to remain committed to the values of the school. They gain their status through academic success & have the same values as the school, forming a pro-school subculture

joining an anti-school subculture is likely to become a self-fulfilling prophecy of educational failure as the pupils belonging to this group will not concentrate in school or work hard to achieve decent grades.