Internal factors (Setting and streaming)

Question 1

What does pupil subculture mean

Answer 1

pupils who share similar values and behaviour patterns that are distinct from the mainstream subculture

Question 2

How are subcultures formed in school

Answer 2

As a response to be labelled and as a result of setting and streaming.

Question 3

What does streaming mean

Answer 3

placing students into classes by ability and then teaching each class separately from the others in all subjects.

Question 4

What does setting mean

Answer 4

refers to placing students into classes
by ability, but one person could be in a top set for maths but bottom for English so the sets they are in vary in different subjects

Question 5

What research did Lacey carry out?

Answer 5

Carried out a participant and non-participant
observational study of Hightown boys’ grammar
school for 18 months. Lacey developed two key concepts to explain why pupil subcultures are formed – differentiation and polarisation.

Question 6

(Lacey) what does Differentiation mean

Answer 6

Differentiation is the process through which teachers
categorise pupils according to what they perceive the
students’ ability and behaviour to be like.(Basically streaming)

Question 7

(Lacey) what does polarisation mean?

Answer 7

Polarisation is the process in which
pupils respond to streaming by
moving to one of two opposite
‘poles’ or extremes.

Question 8

According to Lacey’s research how does polarisation and differentiation cause Anti-school subculture?

Answer 8

At Hightown Grammar, boys were polarised into a pro school and an anti-school subculture.
Therefore, according to Lacey,
subcultures form as a result of
differentiation (streaming) which
leads to polarisation.

Question 9

Pro school subculture consists off……….

Answer 9

Pupils in top streams
M/C
Committed to school’s values
gain status through academic success

Question 10

Anti school subculture consists off………..

Answer 10

people in lower streams
W/C
placement into lower streams decreases pupils’ self-esteem.
Result of failure, members of anti-school subculture tend to truant, be rude to teachers and steal.

Question 11

How do anti-school subculture lead to underachievement

Answer 11

These behaviour patterns lead to a
self-fulfilling prophecy as the pupils tend
to underachieve as they are already labelled as failures.

Question 12

what research did Hargreaves carry out

Answer 12

Found that education system views
working class boys in lower sets as triple
failures – they failed their 11+ exam, they
are in the bottom stream and have been
labelled as ‘worthless louts’.

As a result, these boys formed a
subculture in which high status went to
those who broke the school rules.

Question 13

where and what research did Ball carry out?

Answer 13

studied beachside comprehensive which abolished streaming in favour of mixed ability classes. As a result this decreased polarisation and anti-school subcultures among pupils.

Question 14

According to Ball why were teachers the problem of underachievement?

Answer 14

teachers continued to differentiate and label students according to their social class background.

This shows that the class differences in
achievement continue due to negative labelling of
pupils by teachers and the self-fulfilling prophecy it
causes.

Question 15

What research did Woods carry out?

Answer 15

pupils can respond to labelling and
streaming in 4 different ways.
these ways include:
-Ingratiation-being the teachers pet
-ritualism =attending lessons, doing work and staying out of trouble.
-Retreatism= daydreaming and messing around
-Rebellion=rejection of school values

Question 16

Criticism on subculture theories

Answer 16

It is deterministic – assumes that if a child is
labelled, the self-fulfilling prophecy is
unavoidable. However, it is possible for pupils
to not be affected by labels.