Topic 2 Flashcards
Becker- labelling
Interviewed 60 Chicago high school teachers, he found they judged pupils based on how far they fitted the image of the ‘ideal pupil’.
Pupils’ work, appearance and conduct were key factors influencing teacher’s judgements. Teachers saw pupils from middle-class backgrounds as being the ideal pupil whilst working- class students were seen as being the furthest away from ideal and they regarded them as badly behaved.
Becker A03
1.In a largely working-class school where discipline was a problem the
ideal pupil was defined as quiet, obedient and passive - the children were defined in terms of their behaviour not ability. 2. In a largely middle-class school where there were few discipline problems the ideal pupil was defined in terms of personality and academic ability.
Rist- labelling
Teachers used information about children’s home backgrounds and appearance to put them in different groups. MC pupils were sat nearest the teacher and were give more encouragement. WC pupils were given lower level books and less opportunity to demonstrate their abilities.
Rosenthal and Jacobson- self fulfilling prophecy
They tested all the pupils then picked 20% of them randomly and told the school they were the ‘spurters’. On retuning a year later they found that 47% of those identified had in fact made significant process.
They suggested the teacher’s beliefs about the pupils had had significant impact on their achievement as the teachers had conveyed their belief about their ability and as such the students has internalised those beliefs.
Gillborn and youdell- educational triage
A-to-C economy; ‘educational triage.’ Those who will pass anyway, with potential, hopeless cases.
Lacey- pupil subcultures
DIFFERENTIATION - the process in which teachers categorise pupils according to perceived ability, attitude/ ability. Streaming is a form of differentiation.
POLARISATION - is the process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two opposite poles. In LACEY’S study he found that streaming led to pro-school and anti-school subcultures.
Woods- abolishing streaming
found that pupils did not just respond in the two ways identified above, instead there were a variety of responses:
1. INGRATIATION - being teachers’ pet
2. RITUALISM - going through the motions staying out of trouble
3. RETREATISM - daydreaming and mucking about
4. REBLLION - outright rejection of everything the school stands for
Students may move in and out of the responses depending heavily on teachers and subjects.
Archer et al- Nike identities
look at interactions between social groups and school. ARCHER argues those that have similar HABITUS to the teachers e.g. MIDDLECLASS receive SYMBOLIC CAPITAL - status from teachers as they have the same values as the school.
Those students who do not e.g. WORKING CLASS experience SYMBOLIC VIOLENCE - Bourdieu refers to this as being process in which schools withhold symbolic capital for working -class students as they see their tastes as being inferior.
Ingram- Working-class identity and educational success
INGRAM studied two groups of Catholic boys from a highly deprived neighborhood in Belfast (one group attended the grammar school and one attended the local secondary school). The grammar school possessed very middle class values with high expectations, whereas the secondary school had low expectations,
However INGRAM found the w/c community placed great emphasis on “fitting in”, and the grammar school boys felt tension between the habitus of their working class neighborhood and the middle class culture at school.
