Pupil Subcultures - Lacy

Question 1

What is differentiation?

Answer 1

the process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive, their ability, attitude and behaviour e.g. streaming

Question 2

What is Polarisation?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What did Lacy find in her study of Hightown boys grammar school?

Answer 3

streaming polarised boys into a pro-school and an anti-school subculture

Question 4

Pro-school subculture:

Answer 4

-pupils placed in high sets

Question 5

What happens to those in a pro-school subculture?

Answer 5

• remain committed to the values of school

- they gain their status through academic success

Question 6

Anti-school-subculture?

Answer 6

-pupils placed in lower sets

Question 7

What happened to those in an anti-school subculture ?

Answer 7

• this label pushes them to seek other ways of gaining status
• e.g. rebelling against obedience and punctuality
• forms an anti-school subculture to gain status from peers