Labelling Flashcards
What does labelling mean
the process of attaching
meanings (judgement) to individuals or
groups.
Who developed the labeling theory
interactionism in the 20th century
What was Becker’s research about
He interviewed 60 High School Chicago teachers where these teachers stated that they have an image of an ‘ideal student’ and they judge them on how closely they are to being an ideal pupil.
Which social class did Becker say that belonged to the ideal pupil group?
M/C were seen as the most ideal pupil as they studied hard while W/C students were seen as badly behaved which made them unpopular among teachers and more further away from becoming he teachers ideal pupil.
Evaluation on Becker’s research
British studies by Hempel-Jorgensen show that teachers have different notions of an ideal pupil and it is not always linked to the class background of the pupil. For example, in a mainly working class school where there was a lot of behavioural problems, teachers saw the ideal pupil as quiet and obedient.
What was Dunne and Gazley’s research on
Researched 9 state secondary schools in England and found that labelling leads to underachievement of working class students. The teachers normalise the underachievement of W/C students so they think that helping them is unnecessary as they are bound to fail
according to Dunne and Gazely why do teachers normalise w/c students underachievement
teachers believe the working class students’ home background is a major factor in holding back their progress. For example, teacher believe working class parents are not interested in their child’s education.
What was Rist’s research about
Studied Us kindergartens where on the first day of starting school the teachers organised groups which she decided by looking at class background and appearance.
who were the ‘tigers’ (Rist’s study)
Were M/C children and who had neat appearances who were seated at the front tables near the teachers. They received extra help and encouragement
Who were the cardinals/clowns (Rist’s study)
Were W/C kids who were sat at the back away from the teacher and they received low level reading books.
what does Self fulfilling prophecy mean
is a prediction that comes true simply because it was made.
What research did Rosenthal and Jocobson do?
carried out a covert study on labeling and self fulfilling prophecy in a Californian Primary School. R&J told the headteacher that they were taking a test to see who were the spurters. after the test they selected 20% out of random and told the school that these were the spurters. A year Later R&J returned to the school to find out that out of 20% of the random students,47% made significant progress.
Why did the 20% of student picked by R&J do significantly well?
The teachers were informed by the headteacher that some people in their classes were spurters so the teacher focused and encouraged the ‘spurter’ to do well by helping them as their self fulfilling prophecy was that they would do well in life.
What are the criticisms for all these research
they are deterministic- this means that if a teacher thinks that a child will fail the child will think otherwise and try harder to achieve educational success. so thinking someone will fail doesn’t not actually mean that they are gonna fail it depends on the pupil
