streaming - internal factors Flashcards
what are internal factors
processes within school
examples of internal factors
- quality of education
-organisation of education - way w/c pupils are treated by teachers
what did Becker argue
that when a LABEL is applied to someone , it can INFLUENCE THEIR SELF-CONCEPT and becomes their master status , this can SHAPE HOW THEY GO ON TO BEHAVE
shape how they can go on to behave , the label results in the behaviour predicted by the teacher
self fulfilling prophecy
master status
their identity
what do interactionists focus on
focuses on how pupils and teachers react to one another - these interactions hold the key to understanding educational achievement
what did Hargreaves et al find
that factors such as appearance , how they respond to discipline , how likeable they are , wherever they are deviant leads to teacher labelling students as ‘good’ or ‘bad’
what are labels associated with
class - w/c pupils more likely to fit the stereotype of the ‘bad’ student (disruptive , deviant , lazy)
what happens once the student has a label
teachers tend to interpret that pupil’s behaviour in terms of the label , and the pupil tends to live up to the label they are given
how can the self-fulfilling approach be criticised
deterministic , labelling does not always lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy
eg FULLER found that black working class girls who were labelled as failures responde to working harder to achieve success
streaming
splitting pupils into groups based on their ability , streams remain the same for all subjects
- different to setting where pupils might be in different sets for different subjects
what does dividing students by ability level do
create/reinforces labels and has significant effects on their achievement
educational triage
categorising pupils into
-those who will pass without much input
-borderline cases who could pass with help
- hopeless cases
Schools focus most of their resources on helping the middle group to attain C grades.
They linked this with the pressure on schools to maintain their position on league tables and the published A*-C rate.
what happens to hopeless cases
Hopeless cases denied chance to sit higher tier exams, meaning they couldn’t get GCSEs above a C grade
what did BALL study
the impact of streaming in a comprehensive school
what did BALL’s study show
w/c students more likely to be placed in lower bands than m/c pupils even when their measured ability at primary school is the same
what happened to the behaviour of pupils in lower bands once they started secondary school
deteriorated quickly
- teachers had low expectations of the lower bands
what did KEDDIE observe
classes from different streams studying humanities subjects in a London school
- in lower streams their questions were often seen as an attempt to disrupt the class , often dismissed or ignored
what is the negative aspects of concentrating on processes within schools
interactionists fail to explain where wider class inequalities come from
-ignore/downplay factors outside of school such as inequality in access to successful schools
Pupils who have been labelled or find themselves in the lowest sets are
also likely to
form anti-school subcultures
Hargreaves
- studied streams in a secondary school
- found that students in lower streams labelled as troublemakers rebelled against the values of the school.
- They developed a non-conformist delinquent subculture in which getting in trouble was valued by their peers, doing HW and conforming were looked down upon
Willis
studied the ‘lads’. A group of working class boys who
were disruptive, misbehaved and had a very negative attitude
to education
Willi’s - what did the lads have
an anti-school subculture - they saw little point in
school work as they were going to take manual labouring
jobs
willis - streaming and labelling
argued that streaming and labelling made
little difference
willis - what shaped the ‘lads’ attitudes
the class structure and subculture that shaped their
attitudes ( not the way teachers treated them or the way schools were organised)
SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY
the concept which states that students become their label
example of self-fulfilling prophecy
a middle-class student who is labelled as ‘intelligent’ may be more motivated in lessons. Her teacher
may stretch her more by asking more questions. Eventually she may become more intelligent because of this.
evaluation - self fulfilling prophecy
●It’s too deterministic.
● If it was true, wouldn’t all teachers just label all students
as intelligent?
● Teachers would argue they have professionalism and do
not label students.
sets
ability based groups for one subject
streams
ability based groups for multiple subjects
internal factors are
processes within school
internal factors include
quality of education, organisation of education and the treatment of marginalised groups.
Becker - self f
argued that labels can influence someone and can influence their master status (identity), shaping how they behave (self-fulfilling prophecy).
Becker - ideal
Teacher’s ideas of the ‘ideal pupil’ match labels given to the middle class
Evaluations of the self-fulfilling prophecy theory
- Too deterministic
- If it were true, all teachers would label students as genius
- Teachers have professionalism and wouldn’t do that
Lacey
proposes that children placed in lower sets will instead ‘succeed’ by forming anti-school subcultures and misbehaving.
Norman
Gender stereotypes held by parents result in girls being encouraged to be quiet, leading to bedroom culture.
Rosenthal and Jacobson
Selected random sample of 20% of students and told teachers that these children were ‘spurters’ and would achieve greater educational success. These students had comparatively gained more IQ 1 year later
Archer and Francis
Parents of Chinese pupils placed exceptionally high value on education
Bhatti
Studied relationships between home and school for Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian pupils. Parents were supportive and had high interest in children’s education. However, Indian children typically achieved better due to being wealthier.
Madood
Ethnic minorities are now more likely to enter higher education than whites, indicating high parental aspiration
Sewell
- Low educational achievement of Afro-Carribean boys is partly due to cultural factors
- eg lack of a father figure to enforce discipline and leading to a non-heteronormative family structure.
- makes the boys more susceptible to peer pressure and gang culture, leading the boys to reject school values
Evaluation of Sewell’s theories
He was criticised for blaming Afro-Carribeans for their underachievement, rather than the inadequacies of the education system, his work diverts attention from racism.
Pryce
Compared the achievements of Afro-Carribean and Asian pupils, he said Asian pupils achieve higher because their culture is more resistant to racism
