Topic 2 - Internal school factors Flashcards
What are the interactionalist perspectives on education?
Focuses on processes within schools and other educational institutions to explain differential achievement, examens how pupils and teachers react to each other and argues that these interactions are key in understanding educational achievement.
What is the pygmalion effect?
In Greek mythology, a sculptor named pygmalion falls in love with his own sculpture after he constantly reminded of how beautiful and lifelike it is.
He internalizes these nations and begins to believe them
What is the labelling theory?
To label someone or attach a meaning or definition to them; in this case, teachers may label students as bright, hardworking and able or perhaps thick, troublemaker and unable
Linked to the pre-existing stereotypes of ‘ideal pupil’
What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?
- Teacher labels a pupil and makes predictions about them in relation to the label
- The teacher interacts with the pupil based on this label
- The pupil internalizes the label and it becomes part of their self- concept; the pupil becomes the label and acts accordingly, which fulfills the prophecy.
What is the halo effect?
Hargreaves suggests that labelling leads to certain students being given imaginary halos which stays with them throughout their educational career.
Future interactions with teachers are based on these halos.
What is polarisation?
This is the way that pupils respond to differentiation-moving to polar opposites, e.g school subcultures.
How has teacher interaction improving educational achievement been proved?
Rosenthal and Jacobson
Told a school that they had a new ability based test, identifying spurters
All pupils were tested then randomly selected 20% of them and stated that they were the spurters
A year later it was found that 47% of these pupils had made significant progress when compared to other students
Concluded that teachers interacted differently and conveyed high expectations, in turn these pupils internalized these views.
How was stereotypes of pupils being class based proved?
Beckers
Using interviews of 60 high school teachers, found that teachers stereotyped students base on their work, conduct and appearance
Teachers saw m/c pupils as the closest to their stereotype of the ‘ideal pupil’ and w/c pupils as the farthest away from this
How was labelling proved to start at an early age?
Rist
Studying an American nursery, found that teachers used information about their pupils home backround and appearance to place pupils in seperate groups
Each group was labelled; the fast learners as tigers, showing more encouragement
Others named cardinals and clowns and were given lower-level books and less attention-most were w/c
What is the streaming and setting evaluation?
Stephen Ball
dividing pupils by ability level can create or reinforce labels
studied a banding system in schools
w/c pupils likely to be placed in lower bands even if ability is same as m/c
behaviour of those in lower bands deteriorated quickly; teachers had low expectations.
Expectations of those in higher bands greater
