labelling

Question 1

becker

Answer 1

• teachers see middle class pupils as closest to the ideal pupils in terms of performance, conduct, appearance and attitude
• suggested that for may teachers, these criteria of attitude, appearance etc were most important in making judgements about pupils than ability or attendance
• interactionists believe that the labels applied by teachers to pupils shape the nature and quality of the interaction between pupil and teacher
• the teacher consciously or unconsciously communicates the label to the pupil and the pupil will react positively or negatively and may have a self-fulfilling prophecy effect
• the pupil internalises the label and conforms to a prediction
• therefore working class students may be labelled as non-achievers or deviant which may then lead to their lack of achievement

Question 2

keddie

Answer 2

• streaming
• found evidence of teachers expectations being less for those in the bottom streams, undermining the quality of the teaching
• keddie found that streaming had a profound effect upon teacher attitudes and practice
• ‘A’ streamers: trusted to work with minimum supervision
• ‘C’ streamers: did not receive best teaching practices and rarely left on their own.
• developed their anti-school subcultures

Question 3

Hargreaves

Answer 3

-compared 2 streams of boys in a secondary modern school and in a 1967 school.
- selection of stream was closely related to behaviour
- the more the top streams were rewarded for behaviour, the more they conformed to this and achieved well
- the lower stem boys felt unable to achieve high status in the teachers eyes and created an anti-school subculture which promoted an anti school attitude
- processes occurred between the labelling of teachers about students:
- speculation: initial guesses based on appearance
- working hypothesis: based on interaction
- elaboration: hypothesis tested in classroom
- stabilisation: when teacher feel like they know

Question 4

abrahams

Answer 4

• clearly showed the interconnection of several factors such as setting, labelling and subcultures as explanations as to why students may underachieve.
• dominant cass and gender ideologies of societies are promoted in education by teachers who subconsciously label students
• trainee teachers need specific training to recognise that this labelling occurs and can lead to th underachievement of working class students
• streaming should be stopped all together in schools