internal factors: social class differences in attainment Flashcards
what does it mean to ‘label’ someone
to attach a meaning or definition to them
how do teachers label pupils?
on the basis of stereotyped assumptions about their class background
impacts of labelling (interactionists)
can lead to self-fulfilling prophecy
pupils treated differently due to labels
student believes label so internalises it, so it becomes part of their self-concept
how did Becker research
interviewed 60 Chicago high school teachers
Becker (1971’s) findings
judged pupils according to how closely they fitted with their image of the ‘ideal pupil’
ideal pupil - reference point against which all other students are measured
Dunne and Gazeley (2008) research methods
interviews in 9 English state secondary schools
Dunne and Gazeley (2008) - findings
schools persistently produce working class underachievement because of the labels and assumptions of teachers
labelled working class parents as disinterested and middle class parents as supportive - led to differences in how teachers dealt with pupils
Rist (1970)
teachers grouped students based on their socio-economic status - ‘tigers’ , ‘clowns’ and ‘cardinals’
labels attached to them during the early years of education continued to influence their academic experiences and outcomes
who were grouped into the ‘clowns’
considered troublesome students
from poor, working-class and deprived backgrounds
who were grouped into the ‘tigers’
neat
middle-class
academically advanced students
who were grouped into the ‘cardinals’
average students
Dunne and Gazeley (2008)
interviews in 9 English state secondary schools
teachers normalised working class underachievement - thought little could be done about it
teachers labelled working class parents as disinterested in their children’s education
labelled middle class parents as supportive
led to differences with how teachers dealt with pupils they perceived as underachieving - wc entered into easier exams and middle class set extension work
Rosenthal and Jacobsen (1968) - study name and procedure
‘pygmalion in the classroom’
California primary school
gave fake IQ tests to students and randomly selected 20% of them as ‘bright’ students or ‘spurters’ and another 10% as ‘less able’
informed the school of the results
retested students a year later
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) - findings
‘spurters’ progressed faster than other students
‘less able’ students regressed
teachers relayed labels to the students in terms of expectations and amount of praise
suggests higher teacher expectations can make a marked difference to pupil attainment
streaming
separating students into different ability groups of classes called ‘streams’
how does streaming create self-fulfilling prophecy
once being streamed it is hard to move out of that set, and the teachers lower expectations are internalised by the students
Douglas
children placed in lower streams at age 8 had suffered a decline in their IQ by age 11
opposite for those in higher streams
Ball (1981) - ‘Beachside Comprehensive’
impact of setting
disproportionate amount of middle class children placed in the top band
behaviour became polarised - result of differing teacher expectations
top band students ‘warmed up’ and middle band students ‘cooled down’
even when in mixed ability groups - teachers still categorised and labelled pupils according to their social class
polarisation in sets
how pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two extremes
setting
where pupils are placed in one of three bands based off information received from their primary school
Gilbourn and Youdell (2000)
studied 2 London secondary schools
teachers use stereotypical notions of ability to stream pupils
teachers less likely to see the working class and black students as having ability - placed into lower streams and sets
educational triage
the division of students into three groups based on their expected GCSE grades
Diane Reay - ‘the zombie stalking English schools’ (2006)
interviews with individual students in 2 secondary schools
bottom set all working class in one school
wc students seen as inadequate learners
experiences similar in the second school, despite having mixed ability groups
‘all you need to do is treat us like humans’
pupil subculture
a group of pupils who share similar values and behaviour pattern
