Pupil Subcultures - Textbook Topic 2 Flashcards
What is a pupil subculture?
A group of pupils who share similar values and behaviour patterns.
Why do pupil subcultures often emerge?
As a response to the way pupils have been labelled and in particular as a reaction to streaming.
What is Lacey’s concept of differentiation?
The process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive their ability, attitudes and/ or behaviour.
What is streaming a form of?
Differentiation - categorises pupils into separate classes:
- More able = high status in high streams.
- Less able = low streams and inferior status.
What is Lacey’s polarisation?
The process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two opposite poles or extremes.
What did Lacey find in her study of Hightown boys Grammar school?
Streaming polarised boys into a pro-school and anti-school subculture.
What do pupils put into high streams remain?
Committed to values of the school - gain status in an approved manner (academic success), values = those of the school, form pro-school subculture.
What do pupils in low streams suffer?
Loss of self esteem - school undermined their self-worth placing them in a place of inferior status, label of failure pushes them to search for alternative ways of gaining status which usually involves inverting schools values of hard work, obedience and punctuality.
Why do pupils in lower streams create an anti-school subculture?
As a means of gaining status among peers e.g. checking a teacher, truanting, not doing homework, smoking etc.
What is joking an anti-school subculture cause?
A self fulfilling prophecy of educational failure.
What did ** Hargreaves** find in a secondary modern school?
A similar response to Lacey’s study as a response to labelling and streaming - boys in lower streams = triple failures: failed the 11+ - placed in a lower stream - labelled worthless louts.
What is a solution to the status problem?
Seeking out other pupils labelled as low status and form a group which formed a delinquent subculture helping to guarantee their educational failure.
What did Ball find in his study of Beachside?
When schools abolished banding the basis for pupils to polarise into subcultures was largely removed and the influence of anti school subculture declined.
However differentiation continued - teachers continued to categorise and label m/c pupils as cooperative and able.
In Ball’s study how was positive labelling reflected?
In better exam results which suggests a SFP had occurred.
What are two responses to labelling?
Pro and anti school subcultures.
What responses to labelling and streaming does Woods suggest?
- ingratiation - being a teachers pet.
- ritualism - going through the motions and staying out of trouble.
- retreatism - daydreaming and messing around.
- rebellion - rejection of everything the school stands for.
What did Furlong observe?
That pupils are not permanently committed to any one response and may move between different types of responses acting differently with different teachers.
What has labelling theory been accused of?
Determinism - assumes pupils who are labelled have no choice but to fulfil the prophecy and will inevitably fail however Fuller’s study shows this isn’t always true.
Why do Marxists criticise labelling theory?
For ignoring wider structures of power within which labelling takes place - LT tends to blame teachers for labelling but doesn’t explain why they do so.
Where do labels stem from according to Marxists?
The fact that teachers work in a system that reproduces class divisions.
