Relationships and Processes within schools

Question 1

What is the hidden curriculum?

Answer 1

The hidden curriculum is the set of social norms and values schools pass on along with the formal curriculum

Question 2

What are some aspects of the hidden curriculum?

Answer 2

• Dressing smartly
• Working hard to achieve rewards
• Arriving on time
• Hierarchy - respect for authority
• Punishments

Question 3

What is the basis of the labelling theory?

Answer 3

The labelling theory states that people decide on the characters of others and treat them accordingly whether the label is fair or not

Question 4

What is the importance of the labelling theory?

Answer 4

Labels are an important part of teacher-pupil relationships

• If labelled as a troublemaker a child is disciplined more harshly
• If a student is labelled as a bright spark is given encouragement to help them succeed even further

Question 5

What can the labelling theory create?

Answer 5

The labelling theory can create the self-fulfilling prophecy where a student internalises the label they’ve been given as their identity

Question 6

What are the different ways of organising teacher in a school?

Answer 6

• Streaming
• Setting
• Mixed ability

Question 7

What is streaming? `

Answer 7

Students are sorted into classes according to ability and they stay in these groups for all or most of their subjects

Question 8

What is setting?

Answer 8

Students are sorted into classes according to ability but on a subject-by-subject basis

Question 9

What is a mixed ability?

Answer 9

Students are sorted into classes that arent based on ability, so that the highest and lowest achieving students are taught together

Question 10

What are the main arguments in favour of streaming and setting?

Answer 10

Students can work at their own level and pace

Question 11

What is a problem with streaming?

Answer 11

Students are likely to be better at some subjects than others so some bottom stream students are not challenge enough in certain subjects

Question 12

What did Ball (1981) find when investigating setting and streaming?

Answer 12

He found the students in high ability groups were given more attention and encouragement, and those in lower classes were given negative labels and performed poorly

Question 13

What is a negative of Mixed ability classes?

Answer 13

Teachers still hold low expectations for lower ability students and often lower the level of their teaching to suit them .

• Means the work is not challenging enough for higher ability students

Question 14

What is a subculture?

Answer 14

A subculture is a group who share ideas and behaviour patterns which are different from the mainstream culture

Question 15

What arre the two common discussed cultures in school?

Answer 15

Anti school or Pro school

Question 16

What effect do subcultures have on student achievement?

Answer 16

They can have a positive or negative effect

Question 17

What did Lacey (1970) believe resulted in subcultures?

Answer 17

• Claimed it was a result of streaming
• Conducted a study in a grammar school - all students are selected as bright at age 11
• Bottom stream pupils still formed an anti-school subculture because they were labelled as failures

Question 18

What did Fuller (1984) believe resulted in subcultures?

Answer 18

• Conducted a student of high ability black girls in year 11
• Felt their teachers were racist so they ‘did not work for their teachers approval’
• Formed a subculture, worked alone and succeeded

Question 19

What did Willis (1977) believe resulted in subcultures?

Answer 19

• Studied a group of boys who had formed an anti school subculture
• Called themselves ‘the lads’ found that they deliberately disrupted lessons as a way of gaining respect from others within the subculture
• Observed that these boys were working-class and likely to et manual jobs
• Seemed to believe that school was of no use to them in the future

Question 20

What does looking at a students identity do?

Answer 20

It brings together factors such as labelling, self fulfilling prophecies, the organisation of teaching and subcultures as a way of identifying the effects of each factor

Question 21

What is an example of looking at an identity?

Answer 21

A pupil may identify themselves as ‘non-academic’ which could have begun due to a teacher label but the biggest factor now may be as a result of a subculture

Question 22

What is a disadvantage of studying a students identity?

Answer 22

Pupils identity is very complex and using identity to look at a specific process within school on achievement is very difficult