topic 2 - class differences in achievement internal factors

Question 1

how do teachers attach labels

Answer 1

by using their stereotyped assumptions of the pupil’s class background instead of ability

Question 2

outline Becker’s study

Answer 2

interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers he found that they judged pupils according to how closely they saw them as an ideal pupil based on their work, conduct and appearance

Question 3

according to who’s study did teachers see working-class children as the furthest away from the ideal pupil as they were regarded as being badly behaved

Answer 3

Becker

Question 4

more recent study

outline Aspen primary school

Answer 4

• Aspen primary school was a largely working-class school where behaviour was a major issue so the ideal student was define as passive, quiet and obedient

Question 5

outline Rowan primary school

Answer 5

predominantly middle-class so the ideal pupil was define by their personality and academic ability rather than being a non misbehaving student

Question 6

what does the primary schools study show

Answer 6

different teachers have different ntoions of the ideal pupil

Question 7

who argue that schools reproduce working class underachievement due to negative labelling

Answer 7

Dunne and Gazeley

Question 8

outline DandG’s study

Answer 8

interviewed nine English state schools and found that teachers normalised working cass pupil’s underachievement and saw middle class underachievement as something they could overcome

Question 9

why did teacher’s think like this

Dunne and Gazeley’s study of 9 state schools

Answer 9

they saw middle class parents as more interested in their child’s education e.g. by paying for music lessons or attending parents evenings and labelled them as supportive
saw working class parents as unbothered and uninterested

Question 10

as a result of this mindset, how did the teachers treat WC and MC underachievers

dunne and gazeley’s study of 9 state schools

Answer 10

• teachers set MC underacheivers extension work but entered WC underachievers for lower tiered exams thereby normalising their underachievement
• since they undermined WC students’ abilities they saw high achieving WC pupils as overachieving

Question 11

Rist’s study of labelling in primary schools

the clowns/cardinals and tigers

Answer 11

• American kindergarden schools
• middle class pupils were seen as fast learners so were seated closest to the teacher to show them greater attention and labelled them as tigers
• working class students were seated further away, labelled as clowns/cardinals, were given easier tasks such as lower-level reading books and were given little opportunity to showcase their abilities

Question 12

what is a self fulfilling prophecy

Answer 12

a prediction that comes true by the virtue of it being made, e.g. labelling leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy of internalising the label

Question 13

explain the process of how labelling leads to a self fulfilling prophecy

Answer 13

1. teacher labels student as intelligent and assumes they will be a high achiever
2. devotes more time and energy to encourage this child for example by expecting a higher standard of work
3. the pupil internalises the teachers expectations which becomes a part of their identity: the teacher thinks i am intelligent so i am, this boosts their confidence and ensures they achieve well
   therefore the prediction has come true

Question 14

outline Rosenthal and Jacobson’s study

Answer 14

• conducted at Oak community school
• approached teachers by saying they had formulated a special test which would identify which students would be spurters
• in reality it was a simple IQ test
• at random picked 20% of students and told the teachers they were the spurters

Question 15

what was the result of R and J’s study

Answer 15

• when returning a year later, 47% of the chosen 20% had made significant academic progress
• this illustrates that teachers beleived what they were told and this had been conveyed in the way they then interacted with the students

Question 16

overall, what does R and J’s study demonstrate

Answer 16

what people believe to be true will have real effects, even if they belief is not necessarily true

Question 17

define streaming

Answer 17

the process of separating children into different groups based on ability

Question 18

how does streaming lead to a self fulfilling prophecy

Answer 18

• using Bechers studies we know that teachers do not expect highly of WC students
• so they are placed in lower sets
• difficult to move up or down so students are locked into the teacher;s perception of them which forms a part of their identity

Question 19

what did Douglas find

Answer 19

students who were placed in a low stream at age 8 had suffered a decline in the IQ score by the age of 11 and v.v

Question 20

what do Gilborn and Youdell say

Answer 20

• streaming is linked to puplishing of league tables
• schools must gain A-C grades to reach higher positions on the league tables and therefore attract more students and funding
• to ensure this, they will devote their ‘scarce resources’ towards the students they believe can achieve this (educational triage)

Question 21

what is the educational triage

Answer 21

• schools and teachers separating children into those who will pass anyway, those who will achieve grades C or above with some intervention and helpless cases who were often WC class students as they are lablled as less able

Question 22

what is the negative effect of the educational triage and streaming for WC students

Answer 22

they are segregated into lower streams so lack attention and support and also beliebe they are helpless which leads to low levels of achievement

Question 23

what does Lacey say

Answer 23

pupil subcultures emerge due to differentiation and polarisation

Question 24

differentiation

Answer 24

the process of teachers categorising pupils acccording to how they perceive their ability e.g. streaming where students who are seen as more able (MC) are given high status by being places in higher sets and v.v

Question 25

polarisation

Answer 25

student response to streaming as they polarise into pro and anti school subcultures

Question 26

what happens to students placed in higher streams/sets | largely MC

Answer 26

they remain committed to the values of the school so gain status in an approved manner through academic success - therefore, they form a pro-school subculture

Question 27

what happens to students placed in lower streams/sets | largely WC

Answer 27

- suffer a loss of self esteem as the school has undermined their self worth by placing them in a position of low status - to gain alternative status they invert the schools values - so they create an anti-school subculture

Question 28

what is an anti-school subculture and what does it lead to

Answer 28

- the process of students finding alternative ways of status e.g. validation from peers through truancy, disobedience etc - creates an inescapable position for the student as though they have achieved status, such behaviour patterns do not improve their education achievement - instead their situation worsens, leading to a self-fulfilling prohecy of educational failure

Question 29

explain Haregreaves study

Answer 29

- found similar notions in a secondary modern school - boys in the lower streams were triple failures (failed 11+, low stream, and labelled as worthless louts) - solution to this status issue was to seek out eachother to gain status - went to those who flouted the school's rules the most

Question 30

who identified that even when streaming is abolished labelling and differentiation still continues and how | can be eval for whether labelling or streaming is more important/for if

Answer 30

- Ball - through his study of Beachside comprehensive school which was undergoing abolishing streaming - this lead to reduced polarisation, but teachers continued to differentiate - since the Edu reform act 1988, teacher differentiation has widened past class, to include gender and ethnicity

Question 31

therefore what are two possible reponses to streaming or labelling

Answer 31

pro and antischool subculutre according to Lacey

Question 32

how does Woods differ from Lacey

Answer 32

argues there are multiple other responses 1. ingratiation (teacher's pet) 2. ritualism (staying out of trouble) 3. retreatism (daydreaming) 4. rebelion (outright rejection of school's values)

Question 33

how does Furlong develop from this further

Answer 33

- students do not remain in one response and are more likely to act differently with different teachers

Question 34

# EVAL ONE what has labelling theory been accused of

Answer 34

being too deterministic as it assumes those who have been labelled will most definitely internalise it and therefore inevitably fail - see fuller topic 3

Question 35

# EVAL 2 how do Marxists criticse labelling theory

Answer 35

ignores the wider structural causes of power which influence teachers to label students

Question 36

what else contributes to class differences in achievement

Answer 36

pupils class identities as these conflict with schools values

Question 37

what do Archer et al use to explore the interaction between pupil's class identities and and achievement

Answer 37

Bourdieu's concept of habitus

Question 38

define habitus

Answer 38

dispositions such as ways of thinking and acting that are associated with a particular social class e.g. tastes, phiolosophies of life and expectations of what is realistic for people like themselves

Question 39

how is a habitus formed

Answer 39

it is a reponse to a group's position in the class structure

Question 40

what do the middle class have the power to do

Answer 40

define its habitus as superior which enables it to influence institutions such as schools which come to favour their habitus

Question 41

how do middle class students benefit from this superiority

Answer 41

as schools place a higher value on their habitus, they gain symbolic capital - this results in a stronger sense of self worth

Question 42

why are working class students disadvantaged because of this

Answer 42

schools reject the working class habitus and deem them as tasteless, placing them in a position of inferiority - the conflict with W/C's habitus and the school's M/C habitus causes symbolic violence - W/C students begin to feel alienated or othered by the education system

Question 43

explain Archer's study which evidences the effects of symbolic violence

Answer 43

W/C students are forced to choose between educational achievement or their identities as to be successful they would have to adopt the habitus which the school favoured - as a result they felt unable to access posh, middle class spaces such as university

Question 44

how did Nike identities develop

Answer 44

as the school and society undervalued W/C students identities, they sought alternative ways of gaining status and self-worth such as indulding in styles, in particular consuming branded clothing such as Nike

Question 46

How did this search for alternative ways of gaining status lead to further conflict with the school and therefore what

Answer 46

the styles working class students adopted breached the dress code of schools (as they favoured middle class styles and opposed street wear) - symbolic violence occured again - teachers labelled them as rebels - even though they gain status from their peers, as the schools reject this, they return to a cycle of underachievement

Question 48

How do Nike identities lead to working class pupil's rejection of higher education

Answer 48

- they view is as undesirable: it would not suit their preferred lifestyle or habitus - unrealistic: HE is 'not for people like us', but rather for posher and 'smarter' people

Question 50

Outline Ingram's study

Answer 50

W/c students still succeed even though they face symbolic violence - to understand the relationship between educational success and a w/c identity - studied two groups of w/c Catholic boys from the same highly deprived neighborhood in Belfast - one group passed 11+ another failed and went to a local secondary school

Question 51

What was the difference between the two schools

Answer 51

The grammar school had a strong middle class habitus of high expectations and educational achievement The secondary local school had a habitus of low expectations and underachievement

Question 52

What did Ingram find to be inseparable and why

Answer 52

- having a w/c identity was inseparable from belonging to a w/c locality which was a dense network of family and friends - this was because their locality provided them with a sense of belonging as it accepted their habitus so they wanted to conform to the expectations of the neighbourhood

Question 53

Why was this an issue

Answer 53

The grammar school w/c boys faced tension between the habitus of the w/c neighbourhood and that of their m/c school

Question 54

Why was

Question 55

Example of this conflict

Answer 55

Callum - ridiculed by his peers in school on a non-uniform day for wearing a tracksuit - an example of symbolic violence where schools stigmatise w/c students who are then forced to reject their own identities in order to gain academic achievement

Question 56

Outline Evan's study

Answer 56

21 w/c A level students from a south London comprehensive school who were reluctant to apply to elite universities such as Oxbrige

Question 58

How is this an example of self exclusion

Answer 58

- many working class students view places as Oxbrige as unrealistic - this way of thinking becomes a part of their identity preventing them from entering themselves into such spaces

Question 59

Another example of self exclusion

Answer 59

Archer and Ingram: The girls also had a strong attachment to their locality as only 4/21 intended to move away from home limiting their opportunities to attend better further away universities

Question 60

Therefore...

Answer 60

Even when w/c students are able to go to university, the habitus of higher education causes tension with their w/c identities which limit their opportunities to succeed