Pupil identities and subcultures

Question 1

Pro- school subculture

Answer 1

MAC AN GHAILL

• The Academic Achievers
  –> seek to achieve academic success by focusing on traditonal academic subjects such as English, maths and sciences
• The New Enterprises
  –> Rejected the traditional academic curriculum but were motivated to study subjects such as business and computing which they see as a route to economic success
• Committed to school values
• Gain approval/status through academic success
• Involved in wider life of the school

Question 2

Anti school subcultures

Answer 2

• WILLIS
  –> The lads’ had formed an anti-school subculture. They rejected school and all its values and instead focused on the day they would eventually be allowed to leave. They formed their own set of values opposed to those of the school.
• Lower streams
• Truanting
• Disruption
• Not doing homework
• Dropouts

Question 3

Formation of pupil subcultures: LACEY

Answer 3

LACEY:

• Differentiation
  –>The process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive their ability, attitude and behaviour.
  –> Streaming is a form of differentiation, as it categorises pupils into different classes
• Polarisation
  –>The process by which pupils respond to differentiation by moving towards one of two opposite poles or extremes, ie pro or anti school subcultures

Question 4

Pupil Identity: Peer groups and Symbolic Capital

Answer 4

Reinforcing acceptable behaviours by excluding those who don’t conform and giving status to those that do

eg. calling those study names like ‘nerd’

Question 5

Pupil Identity: Symbolic violence

Answer 5

• ARCHER
  Schools impose forms of symbolic violence against students whose identities are shaped by designer clothing or hyper-heterosexual feminine behaviour (usually w/c) which suggests to those students that education is not for them

Question 6

School enviroments

Answer 6

• REAY
  Students align their ability with the type of school that they attend. Students who attend a poor performing school see themselves as poor students and more likely to for anti-school subcultures. Whereas those attending high performing schools tend to form pro-school subcultures

Question 7

Ethnocentric Curriculum

Answer 7

The current curriculum is very focused on Middle class White British culture

• Englandism : this can turn both ethnocentric minorities and girls to feel excluded

Question 8

Uniforms

Answer 8

Uniforms reinforces gender roles as girls expected to wear skirts and blouses and boys trousers and ties.

• Shapes class identity with schools demanding certain standards of dress or pupils being sent home. Most schools also do not take ethnic minority dress into account with their polices eg. hair cuts and Hijabs

Question 9

Subcultures

Answer 9

Rejection by school can lead working class and minority ethnic groups to identify as being authoritatrian and therefore reject authority in all walks of life.

• Willis
• Fuller
• Sewell

Question 10

Labelling

Answer 10

Positive and negative labelling impacts of self esteem and self image. Students labelled negatively may assume that academic achievement is not part of their identity and therefore look towards more vocational course in the future