Social Class Flashcards
What is the labelling/interactionist theory?
•WC disadvantages within education
•“Interactions” between teachers and pupils
•Process and organisations within schools
What is the labelling interactionist theory?
Internal
• The WC are disadvantaged within education due to the processes within and organisation of the education system
• The interactions between Teachers and Pupils determine their success
Labelling theory
KEDDIE
- unequal access classroom knowledge
(Status and knowledge)
High and low status knowledge - Ts do not evenly distribute
-common sense - descriptive
- basic
- dumb down
OR - abstract
- theoretical
- detailed
- full curriculum
Labelling theory
RIST
Labelling in primary schools
American Kindergarten
- tigers, cardinals, clowns
Placed ‘tigers’ near here for more encouragement - MC
Labelling theory
CICOUREL & KITSUSE
Counsellors and labelling
Assessed students on race and social class
Judged students sustainability for courses
MC referred to higher ability and academic subjects
Labelling theory
HARGREAVES
‘The halo effect’
- act upon perceptions
- students have imaginary halos and future interactions with teachers and pupils are based on the halos
Labelling theory
BECKER
Interviewed 60 high school teachers
- teacher stereotypes
- work, conduct, appearance
- MC closest to ‘ideal pupil’
- WX furthest away from
Labelling theory
RUTTER
Secondary schools and their effects on children
- specific factors in schools good or bad and the role that teachers play
- e.g teachers show genuine interest, well prepared for lesson
What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?
prediction that comes true purely on the basis of it being created in th first place
3 stages
1) teachers label pupils and make prediction
2) interacts with pupils based on label/prediction
3) pupil internalises label and Ts expectations
Self-fulfilling prophecy
ROSENTHAL & JACOBSON
Studied teacher expectations
- 47% showed significant progress because they were treated better by their teacher
- given fake results
- the Pygmalion and Gollum effect
Setting and streaming
HARGREAVES
‘resistant anti-school subcultures’
WC that value the system is contradictory in terms of their own progress, opinions, status, progression
- form RASS to achieve status and reward through an alternative set of values- directly oppose values ES promotes
Setting and streaming
BALL
Argues the dangers of setting and streaming
- supports Hargreaves
- beachside comprehensive
- Teachers interactions with pupils affect their exam results, usually the MC are more co-operative
- polarisation of pupils gradually lessened into subcultures
Setting and streaming
LACEY
Hightown grammar- why subcultures form
Differentiation- Ts categorise through stereotypes of ability and appearance, setting n streaming
Polarisation- pupils response to D and move towards 2 extremes
What are macro-schooling processes and selection policies?
formula funding, league tables, free market- parentocracy
Gives the MC an advantage
What do GILLBORN and YOUDELL say about marketisation and selection policies?
Educational triage
- focus all their time on ‘middle group’
- top will pass anyway
- bottom will fail anyway
WC are neglected
Teachers ration their time and resources
What does BARTLETT say about marketisation and selection policies?
Cream-skimming
-successful students
Silt-shifting
- off-load and turn away difficult and expensive to teach students
What are the criticisms of Internal approaches to social class inequality in education?
X ignores intersectionality
X assumes all teachers stereotype
X reductive/too deterministic
X assume that all labels given ‘stick’7
X ignore structural problems
How does FURLONG criticise the internal factors of why social classes are inequal in education?
Pupils can go through many different responses to labels they are NOT FIXED
What are some factors of material deprivation?
DOUGLAS
- overcrowded homes
- poor diet
- low income/employment
- lack of nursery provision
- taking up part-time jobs
- disadvantaged poverty stricken areas
What 4 theorists are linked to material deprivation?
1) Webb
2) Howard
3) Bull
4) Wilkinson
MD
WEBB (2006)
- only 33% of children receiving free school meals (poverty indicator) gained 5 or more A*-C grades
- compared to 61% of MC
MD
HOWARD
Poverty and a poor diet
- poorer homes = poorer health
- lower intake of vitamins and minerals
- absences and poor attendance leads to failure
MD
BULL
The cost of education
- ‘free schooling’ is never free
- hidden costs of education
- uniform, school trips, stationary
MD
WILKINSON
Poorer homes and Hyperactivity
- low income family children are more likely to have emotional and behavioural problems
CD
DOUGLAS AND FEINSTEIN
- level of parents education and the parental interest can influence academic achievement
- WC have less supportive parents
- MC are the dominant social group
How are DOUGLAS AND FEINSTIEN criticised on their cultural deprivation theory?
- WC parents may not be able to make parents evenings due to pressures from work
- WC parents may want to help but don’t have the knowledge enabling them to
What is Material Deprivation?
Lacking the necessary material, economic means to function efficiently and comfortably (in this case within education)
- the WC are materially deprived
MD
TANNER
Financial burden
- children are stigmatised and bullied
- WC 2X the amount of time in paid employment to pay off debt than MC students
CD
HYMAN AND SUGARMAN
WC SUBCULTURES
1) fatalism vs optimism
2) immediate gratification vs deferred gratification
3) present-time orientation vs future orientation
4) collectivism vs individualism
Why did de-industrialisation impact the WC?
Lack of job security- WC boys underachieve
- crisis of identity/masculinity
CD
BERNSTEIN
SPEECH CODES
MC- elaborated code
- large complex vocab, abstract, universal
WC- restricted code
- limited vocab, gesticulations, particularistic, context bound
CD
BOURDIEU
CUTURAL CAPITAL
- education favours MC traits
- WC experience cultural clash
- dominant group impose their habitus onto society
What other ‘capital’ does BOURDIEU discuss
1- CULTURAL
2- ECONOMIC
3- EDUCATION
What does BOURDIEU mean by habitus?
Each class posses their own cultural frameworks
CD
SULLIVAN
Evidence of CC in achievement
- GCSE students- complex fiction, documentaries
- developed wider vocabularies and achieved higher
- tended to come from MC families
CD
PUTNAM
SOCIAL CAPITAL
- significance of social networking
- levels of social capital impact on life chances
- keeps classes out and maintains social inequality
CD
GERWITZ
1- privileged school choosers
2- disconnected local choosers
3- semi-skilled choosers
- marketisation of education creates a free market of educational choice and promotes parental choice
- less educated parents won’t know as much due to major class differences
- more educated parents will send their child to a better school
CD
WHITTY
marketisation has NOT led to more opportunities for WC kids
- allows MC knowledge and wealth
- more efficiently than before
What are theorists that criticise external explanations for educational underachievement?
The myth of cultural deprivation
- KEDDIE
- TROYNA AND WILLIAMS
- BALCKSTONE AND MORTIMORE
Criticism of CD
KEDDIE
WC groups cannot be deprived of their own culture it is just different
- blame the victims
Criticism of CD
TROYNA AND WILLIAMS
Blame teachers attitudes not the reaction to language styles
Criticism of CD
BLACKSTONE AND MORTIMORE
Lack of parental interest
- does not show disinterest
- parents may have pressure dorm work so they cannot attend parents evening
- may be unable to help academically bc they themselves don’t understand
Compensatory education and discrimination
policies designed to counteract the effects of both cultural and material deprivation
- provide under privileged schools with additional resources and equipment
> Sure Start
> Educational Action Zones
