Topic 2 - Internal Factors Leading To Class Diffeences In Achievement Flashcards
What is labelling ?
Labelling is to attach a meaning or definition to someone . For example , teachers may label a pupil as bright or a troublemaker
What do studies show that teachers label pupils on ?
Studies show that teachers often attach labels regardless of the pupils actual ability or attitude but they label pupils on the basis of stereotyped assumptions about their class background , labelling working class pupils negatively and middle class pupils positively
what do interactionists study / interested in ?
Interactionists study small scale , face to face interactions between individuals , such as in the classroom or background .They are interested in how people attach labels to one another , and the effect that this has on those who are labelled
What was Becker (interactionist) study about and what did he discover ?
Becker carried out an important interactionist study of labelling . Based on interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers , he found that they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted the image of an ideal pupil
Pupils work , conduct and appearance were key factors influencing teachers judgements . The teachers saw children from middle class backgrounds as the closest to the ideal and working class children as furthest away from it because they regarded them as badly behaved
What did Hempel Jorgensen study ?
Hempel Jorgensen found that different teachers may have different notions of the ideal pupil , a recent study of 2 English primary schools found that the ideal pupil varied according to the social class makeup of the school ;
-in the largely working class aspen primary schools , where staff said discipline was a major problem , the ideal pupil was defined as quiet , passive and obedient - that is the children were defined in terms of their behaviour not their ability
-by contrast , in the mainly middle class Ronan primary schools found which had very few discipline problems , the ideal pupil was defined in terms of academic ability and personality rather than being a non misbehaving pupil as at Aspen
What did Dunne and Gazeley discover about labelling in secondary schools found?
-Dunne and Gazeley argue that schools persistently produce working class underachievement because of the labels and assumptions of teachers
-From interviews in 9 English state secondary schools , they found that teachers , normalised the underachievement of working class pupils and felt unconcerned about it and felt like they could do nothing about it , whereas they believed they could overcome the underachievement of middle class pupils
-A major reason for this difference was the teachers belief in the role of the pupil’s home backgrounds - they labelled working class parents as uninterested in their children’s education but labelled middle class parents as supportive eg paying for music lessons or attending parent evenings
-This led to class differences in how teachers dealt with pupils they perceived as underachieving - setting extensions for middle class pupils but entering working class pupils for easier exams .
-teachers also underestimated working class pupils potential and those who were doing well were seen as overachieving
What did Rists discover about labelling in primary schools found?
-Rists study of American kindergarten shows labelling at work
-He found that teachers used information about the child’s home background and appearance to place them in separate groups , seating each group at a different table
-Those the teachers decided where fast learners , were labelled tigers , tended to be middle class and of clean appearance . She seated them at the table nearest to her and showed them the greatest encouragement
-the other 2 groups were labelled the cardinals and the clowns , these were seated further away and were more likely to be working class . They were given lower level books to read and fewer chances to show thur abilities .for example, they had to read as a group rather than individuals
What is a self fulfilling prophecy ?
A self fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true simply by the virtue of it having been made .
What are the 3 steps that interactionists belive are part of the self fulfilling prophecy ?
Step 1 - the teacher labels a pupil eg pupil is intelligent , so makes predications about the pupil eg he will make outstanding academic progress
Step 2 - the teacher treats the pupils accordingly , acting as if the prediction is already true eg giving pupils more attention and expecting a higher standard of work
Step 3 - the pupil internalises the teachers speciations which becomes part of his self image , so the pupil becomes what the teacher thought of them . He gains confidence , tries harder and is successful . The prediction is fulfilled
How do Rosenthal and Jacobson show the self fulfilling prophecy at work in their study ?
-Rosenthal and Jacobson show the self fulfilling prophecy at work
-they told the school that they had a new test specially designed to identify pupils who would spurt ahead .
-This was untrue because the test was a standard IQ test . However , importantly the teachers believed what they had been told
-The researchers tested all pupils , but then picked 20% at random and told the school falsely that the test had identified the children as spurters
-On returning to the school a year later , they found that 47% of those identified as spurters had made significant progress
-Rosenthal and Jacobson suggest that the teachers beliefs had been influenced by the supposed test results , the teachers had changed the way they interacted with the children eg through their body language , and the amount of attention and encouragement they gave them
How can the self fulfilling prophecy also produce underachievement ?
The self fulfilling prophecy can also produce under achievement , if teachers have low expectations of certain children and communicate these expectations in their interaction , these children may develop a negative self concept . They come to see themselves as failures and give up trying to, thereby fulfilling the original prophecy
What is streaming ?
Streaming involves separating children into different ability groups or classed called streams , each ability group is then taught separately for all subjects .
What streams are working class often put in and what does this lead to ?
Working class children are more likely to find themselves in low streams
Once streamed it is very difficult to move up to a higher stream as children are locked in with their teachers low expectations of them .
This creates a self fulfilling prophecy in which pupils live up to their teachers low expectations by under achieving
How do middle class pupils benefit from streaming ?
Middle class pupils tend to benefit from streaming as they are likely to be placed in high streams , reflecting teachers’ view of them as ideal pupil . As a result they develop a more positive self concept , gain confidence , work harder and improve their grades
What did Gillborn and Youdell’s study show about streaming in schools ?
Gillborn and Youdell found how teachers use stereotypical notions of ability to stream pupils . They found teachers were less likely to see working class and black pupils as having ability . As a result they were more likely to be placed in low streams and entered for lower tier GCSE’s .
What do Gillborn and Youdell believe happens due to the publishing of leaguer tables ?
Publishing league tables creates what Gillborn and Youdell call an A to C economy in schools.This is a system in which schools focus their time , effort and resources on those pupils they see as having the potential to get 5 grade C’s and so boost the schools league table position
What do Gillborn and Youdell believe an A to C economy leads to and what does this mean ?
Gillborn and Youdell also call it an educational triage
This is because the A to C economy produces educational triage . Schools categorise pupils into 3 types ;
-those who will pass anyway and can be left to get on with it
-those with potential , who will be helped to get a grade C or better
-hopeless cases who are deemed to fail
What is a pupil subculture and why do they often emerge ?
A pupil subculture is a group of pupils who share similar values and behaviour patterns.
Pupil subcultures often emerge as a response to the ways pupils have been labelled and in particular a reaction to streaming
What are the 2 concepts that Lacey uses to explain how pupil subcultures develop ?
-differentiation
-polarisation
How pupil subcultures develop according to Lacey - what is differentiation ?
Differentiation - is the process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive their ability , attitude and behaviour.
Streaming is a form of differentiation , since it categorises pupils into separate classes
How pupil subcultures develop according to Lacey - what is polarisation ?
Polarisation is the process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two opposite poles . Eg either a pro school subculture or an anti school subculture
Who are likely be in pro school subcultures and how do they gain their status ?
Pupils placed in high streams , who are mainly middle class tend to remain committed to the values of the school . They gain their status through academic success
Who are likely to be in anti school subcultures and how do they gain their status ?
Those placed in low streams , who tend to be working class suffer a loss of self esteem as the school has undermined their self worth by placing them in a position of inferior status
The label of failure pushes them to search for alternative ways of gaining status . Usually involves going against the schools values of hard work , obedience and punctuality and gain status from peers , eg cheeking a teacher , not doing homework , smoking etc
What did Ball find when streaming was abolished ?
Ball found that when the school abolished streaming (banding) , the basis for pupils to polarise into subcultures as largely removed and the influence of anti school subcultures declined.
Never less ,although pupil polarisation all but disappeared , differentiation continued. Teachers continued to categorise pupils differently and were more likely to label middle class pupils as cooperative and able
What are the 4 further pupil responses to labelling and streaming not including pro and anti school subcultures put forward by Wood ?
-ingratiation
-ritualism
-retreatism
-rebellion
Pupil responses to streaming and labelling - woods - what is ingratiation ?
Ingratiation is Being the teachers pet .
Pupils response to labelling and streaming - Woods- what is ritualism ?
Ritualism is going through the motions and staying out of trouble
Pupil response to streaming and labelling - Woods - what is retreatism ?
Retreatism is daydreaming and mucking about
Pupil responses to streaming and labelling -Woods - what is rebellion ?
Rebellion is outright rejection of everything that the school stands for
What did Furlong discover about pupils responses to labelling and streaming ?
Furlong observes that many pupils are not committed permanently to one response , but many move between different types of responses , acting differently in lessons with different teachers
What is a criticism of the labelling theory ?
Labelling theory has been accused of being deterministic , this is that it assumes that pupils who are labelled have no choice but to fulfil the prophecy and will inevitably fail , which is not always true
How do Marxist criticise the labelling theory ?
Marxists criticise the labelling theory for ignoring the wider structures of power within which labelling takes place
Labelling theory tends to blame teachers for labelling pupils but fails to explain why they do so
What is meant by habitus ?
Habitus refers to the dispositions or learned , taken for granted ways of thinking , being and acting that are shared by a particular social class
It includes their tastes and preferences about lifestyles and consumptions such as fashion and leisure pursuits , their outlook on life and their expectations about what is normal or realistic for people “like us”
Although one classes habitus isn’t better than another’s , the middle class have the power to define their habitus as superior and to impose it on the education system . As a result , the school puts a higher value on middle class tastes , preferences and so on
Who and how do pupils gain symbolic capital ?
Because schools have a middle class habitus , pupils who have been socialised into a home with middle class tastes and preferences , they gain symbolic capital / status / recognition from the school and are deemed to have worth and value
What does Bourdieu mean by symbolic violence and who experience it ?
Schoo devalues the working class habitus so that the working class pupils tastes eg their appearance and accent are deemed to be worthless . This withholding of symbolic capital is symbolic violence
By defining the working class and their tastes and lifestyles as inferior , symbolic violence reproduces the class structure and keeps the lower classes in their place
What did archer find happened due to the class between the middle class school habitus and the working class habitus , what did the working class pupils feel they had to do to be educationally successful ?
Archer found that working class pupils felt that to be educationally successful , they would have to change how they talked and presented themselves . Thus for working class students , educational success is often experienced as a process of losing yourself
Why did working class adopt Nike identities ?
What peers wore was heavily policed by peer groups and not conforming was social suicide
The right appearance earned them symbolic capital and approval from peer groups and brought safety from bullying
How did Nike identities lead to conflict with the school ?
Nike identities led to conflict with the schools dress code . Reflecting the schools middle class habitus , teachers opposed street styles as showing bad taste or even as a threat to. Pupils ho adopted street styles risked being labelled as rebels
What are the 2 reasons that working class are unlikely to go into higher education ?
-unrealistic - they believe its not for people like them but for richer and posher people , and they wouldn’t fit in,
-Undesirable -because it would not suit their preferred lifestyle or habitus . For example , they didn’t want to live on a student loan because they would be unable to afford the street styles that gave them identity
What is a study by Ingram that studies the relationship between working class identity and their educational success ?
-Ingram did a study on 2 groups of working class boys from the same highly deprived neighbourhood in Belfast
-one group had passed their 11 + exam and gone to the grammar school
-the other group had failed and gone to the local secondary school
-the grammar school had a strong middle class habitus of high expectations and academic achievement
-the local secondary school had a habitus of low expectations of its underachieving pupils
-the working class boys felt a great pressure to fit into the middle class habitus of the grammar school , who experienced a tension between the habitus of their working class neighbourhood and that of their middle class school
-for example , one boy Callum was ridiculed by his classmates for coming to school in a tracksuit for non uniform day . By opting to fit in with his neighbourhood by wearing his tracksuit , he got made to feel worthless by the schools middle class habitus
-Callum’s ridiculing is an example of symbolic violence , in which pupils are forced to abandon their worthless working class identity if they want to succeed
What did Evan’s find in her study about class identity and self exclusion ?
Evan’s studied a group of 21 working class girls from a comprehensive school studying for their A levels
Evan’s found that they were reluctant to apply to elite universites such as Oxbridge and the few that did apply felt a sense of hidden barriers and not fitting in
