Topic 2 - Class differences in achievement internal factors

Question 1

internal factors:

Answer 1

factors within schools and the education system, such as interactions between pupils and teachers and inequalities between schools

Question 2

what are the internal factors that affect achievement:

Answer 2

labelling
self fulfilling prophesy
streaming

Question 3

labelling:

Answer 3

The process of attaching a definition or meaning to an individual or group; e.g. teachers may label students as ‘troublemakers’.

These labels are often based on stereotypes, which are generalised assumptions about a group’s characteristics (their attitudes, beliefs, behaviours etc.), where it is assumed that all members of the group share these characteristics, e.g. “All working-class boys are…”

Question 4

Howard Becker (1971) Ideal Pupil

Answer 4

Interviewed 60 Chicago high school teachers.
Found teachers judged pupils on how closely they fitted the image of the ‘ideal pupil’.
**Middle class seen as closer to this ideal due to their conduct, work and appearance.
Working class seen as further away from **the ideal, as they were seen as badly behaved.

Question 5

Hemel-Jorgensen (2009)

Answer 5

teachers’ notionsof ideal pupil vary according to the social class make-up of the school

Question 6

Hemel-Jorgensen (2009) – teachers’ notions vary according to the social class make-up of the school –

Working-class Aspen Primary school ideal pupil:

Answer 6

quiet, passive and obedient (discipline is a problem) children are defined in terms of behaviour not ability.

Question 7

Hemel-Jorgensen (2009) – teachers’ notions vary according to the social class make-up of the school –

Middle-class Rowan Primary school ideal pupil:

Answer 7

(few discipline problems)
ideal pupil is defined in terms of personalty and academic ability

Question 8

Dunne and Gazeley:

Answer 8

Suggested that the way teachers explained and dealt with underachievement caused class differences in attainment.

Question 9

Dunne and Gazeley: Teachers dealing with underachieving working-class pupils:

Answer 9

‘normalised’ the pupils’ underachievement
felt they had no control over their pupils’ underachievement
entered them for easier exams, underestimating their abilities
blamed pupils’ home background - uninterested and unsupportive parents.

Question 10

Dunne and Gazeley: Teachers dealing with underachieving middle-class pupils:

Answer 10

believed that the pupils could overcome underachievement
would set them extension tasks.

Question 11

Rist’s study of an American kindergarten (5-6 year olds) found:

Answer 11

The teacher used information about a children’s home background and appearance to separate them into groups.

Once in groups she sat the students she viewed as brightest – the ‘tigers’ - as closest to her and those who she viewed as less bright - the ‘clowns’ - further away.

‘Clowns’ were given lower level reading and less opportunity to show their abilities.

Question 12

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Answer 12

1) Teacher labels a pupil and on that basis makes predictions about him/her

2) Teacher treats pupil accordingly, acting as if prediction is already true

3) Pupil internalises the teacher’s expectation, which become part of his/her self-concept, and fulfils the prediction.

Question 12

Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968)

Answer 12

Told an American primary school that they had a test to identify ‘spurters’ (in reality, just a standard IQ test).
Tested all pupils but picked 20% at random – but told the school these were ‘spurters’.
A year later almost half of those identified had made significant progress.
Greater effect on younger children.
This supports the idea of SFP – R&J believe the supposed test results influenced the way teachers behaved towards pupils.

Question 13

Setting

Answer 13

putting pupils into groups based on their ability in specific subjects, e.g. a pupil may be in set 1 for maths and set 5 for geography.

Question 14

Streaming

Answer 14

putting pupils into the same class for all subjects based on their perceived ability, e.g. the ‘A’ stream (high ability) class pupils stay together for all subjects.

Question 15

Gillborn and Youdell found

Answer 15

Gillborn and Youdell found teachers use stereotypes to place pupils in streams.

Question 16

Effects of Streaming WC pupils:

Answer 16

Streaming involves separating children into different ability groups or classes called ‘streams’.
Studies show that the self-fulfilling prophecy is particularly likely to occur when children are streamed.
Working-class children are more likely to find themselves put in a lower stream as we can see from the studies above.
Difficult to move up and down streams once labelled.
Teachers lock children in to their own expectations.
This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy in which the pupils live up to their teachers’ low expectations by underachieving.
Douglas found that children placed in a lower stream at age 8 had suffered a decline in their IQ score by age 11.

Question 17

Effects of Streaming MC pupils:

Answer 17

Middle-class pupils tend to benefit from streaming.
They are placed in higher streams, reflecting teachers’ view of them as ideal pupils.
They develop a more positive self-concept, gain confidence, work harder and improve their grades.
Douglas found that children placed in a higher stream at age 8 had improved their IQ score by age 11.

Question 18

Educational triage

Answer 18

Gillborn and Youdell argue that the C - A economy produces educational triage. School categorise pupils into tree types:
1) Those who will pass anyway and can be left to get on with it
2) Those with potential, who will be helped to get a grade C or better
3) Hopeless cases who are doomed to fail

Teachers do this using a stereotypical view of work in class (and black) pupils as lacking ability. As a result they are likely to be labelled as ‘hopeless cases’ and simply ‘warehoused’ in the bottom sets. This produces a self-fulfilling prophecy and failure. Thus the need to gain a good League table position drives the educational triage. This becomes the basis for streaming where teachers’ beliefs about the lack of ability of working-class pupils are used to segregate them into lower streams or sets where they receive less attention, support and resources; this results in Lower levels of achievement for working class pupils.

Question 19

Subcultures

Answer 19

A subculture is a group within a culture that differs from the general consensus. They have a unique set of norms and values that don’t necessarily align with the wider culture.

Question 20

When discussing subcultures that pupils form as a response to labelling, Lacey (1970) refers to four key terms:

Answer 20

Differentiation
Polarisation
Pro-school subculture
Anti-school subcultur

Question 21

Differentiation

Answer 21

process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive their ability, attitude and or behaviour. streaming is a form of differentiation. low able students are deamed as inferior, those who are high able are deamed at superior.

Question 22

Polarisation

Answer 22

the process where students respond to streaming by moving towards one of the two opposite poles. students that are polarised can form pro school or anti school subcultures for example

Question 23

Pro-school subculture

Answer 23

pupils who are places in high streams are committed to the values of the school, they gain their status in the approved manner, through academic success. their values are those of the school

Question 24

Anti-school subculture

Answer 24

those placed in the lower streams, suffer from a loss of self esteem: the school has undermined their self worth by placing them in a position of inferior status.

this label pushes them to search for alternative ways of gaining status. inverting the schools values of hard work, obedience and punctuality. eg truancy, smoking, disrespect to teachers

Question 25

Abolishing Streaming, Steven Ball’s research

Answer 25

when the school abolished banding , the basis for pupils to polarise into subcultures was largely removed and the influence of the anti school subculture declined. differentiation continued, teachers still categorised pupils differently and were more likely to label middle class pupils as cooperate and able.

Question 26

four responses to labelling and streaming put forward by Peter Woods:

Answer 26

Ingratiation
Ritualism
Retreatism
Rebellion

Question 27

Ingratiation

Answer 27

being the ‘teachers pet’

Question 28

Ritualism

Answer 28

going through the motions and staying out of trouble

Question 29

Retreatism

Answer 29

daydreaming and mucking about

Question 30

Rebellion

Answer 30

outright rejection of everything the school stands for

Question 31

criticisms of Woods (1979)

Answer 31

Furlong (1984) - many pupils are not committed perminantly to one response, students will act differently around different teachers

Question 32

Criticisms of labelling theory

Answer 32

Fullers (1984):
students have free will and will not always choose to fulfil the prophesy.

Marxists say that the labelling theory ignores the wider power structures within labelling takes place. the theory blames teachers but fails so explain why they do so.

Question 33

Habitus

Answer 33

A key concept in understanding the interaction between pupils’ identities and the school and how this impacts on achievement.

Question 34

Bourdieu (1984) (Marxist): habitus = the ways of thinking and acting of a particular class. In the education system:

Answer 34

The middle-class habitus&raquo_space; symbolic capital

The working-class habitus&raquo_space; symbolic violence

Question 35

symbolic capital

Answer 35

because schools have a middle class habitus, pupils who have been socialised at home into a middle class tatse gain symbolic capital or status and recognition from the school, and are deemed to have worth or value.

Question 36

symbolic violence

Answer 36

the school de values the working class habitus so that working class pupils tastes for example in clothing and appearance and accent are deemed to be tasteless and worthless

Question 37

Archer (2010) :

Answer 37

Working-class students would need to change how they talked and presented themselves in order to gain symbolic capital from the school. Those who don’t are devalued and judged negatively by school – and so suffer symbolic violence.

Question 38

‘Nike’ identities

Answer 38

To overcome the symbolic violence they face, working-class students gain self-worth though style - brand names.
Must conform to these styles to get social approval/status.
Approval from peers, but conflict with school’s habitus.
Working class see higher education as:
unrealistic – not for ‘people like us’.
undesirable – does not suit their habitus.
Working class underachieve as they self-exclude from education, seeing it as not part of their habitus.

Question 39

Nicola Ingram (2009)

Answer 39

two groups of workingc class catholic boys from the same highly deproved area.

having a working class identity was inseperable from belonging to a working class locality. the neighbourhoods dense networks of family and friends, street culture, branded sportswear, were a key part of the boys habitus

boys experinced a great pressure to ‘fit in’

Question 40

Sarah Evans (2009)

Answer 40

Working-class girls in south London
reluctant to apply to elite universities (remember the clip on Oxford).
‘not for the likes of us’
attached to their locality and family
middle-class education devalues working-class people.