Internal factors leading to class differences in achievement - Theorists Flashcards
What was the labelling study that Becker carried out and what did he find out ?
Becker carried out an interactionist study on labelling and based on interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers , he found that teachers judged pupils according to how closely they fitted the image of an ideal pupil
How did Hempel Jorgsen found pupils were labelled as ideal pupil in different types of schools ?
Hempel Jorgenson found notions of ideal pupil differ according to the social makeup of the school ;
- in a largely working class Aspen primary school where staff said discipline was a major problem , the ideal pupil was defined as quiet , passive , obedient
-In a mainly middle class Rowan primary school that had very few discipline problems the idea pupil was defined in terms of personality and academic ability rather than their behaviour
How do Dunne and Gazeley believe schools produce working class underachievement and how did they find this out ?
Dunne and Gazeley argue that schools persistently produce working class underachievement because of 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 were unconcerned by it and they felt they could do nothing about it whereas they believed they could overcome the underachievement of middle class pupils
What did Rists study show teachers use to labels pupils and what did this lead teachers to do ?
Rist’s study of an American Kindergarten found that teachers used information about children’s home background and appearance to place them in separate groups , seating them at different tables
those the teachers decided were fast learners , were labelled as tigers and tended to be middle class and of clean and neat appearance , she seated these at the table nearest her and showed them the greatest encouragement
the other 2 groups were labelled the cardinals and clowns and were seated further away , they were more likely to be working class and were given lower level books to read and fewer chances to show their ability e.g. had to read as a group , not as individuals.
How did Rosenthal and Jacobson see the self fulfilling prophecy at work ?
Rosenthal and Jacobson show the self fulfilling prophecy at work . they told the school that they had a new test specially designed to identify those pupils who would spurt ahead . this was untrue because the test was just a standard IQ test. the researchers tested all the pupils , but then picked 20 % of them at random and told the school they were they were the spurters. a year later they found that 47% of those identified as spurters has made significant progress
Streaming - Douglas ?
What did Douglas observe happens when children are placed in either a high stream or low stream ?
Douglas found that children placed in lower stream at age 8 , suffered a decline in IQ by age 11.
Douglas found that children placed in a higher stream at age 8 had improved IQ score by age 11
How did Gillborn and Youdell find teachers streamed pupils and who were teachers less likely to see as having ability ?
Gillborn and Youdell found how teachers use stereotypical notions of ability to stream pupils . they found teachers are less likely to see working class and black pupils as having ability so were placed in lower streams and entered for lower tier GCSE’s this widens the class gap in achievement
What did Gillborn and Youdell find happens due to the publishing of exam league tables and what does this mean ?
Gillborn and Youdell believe that publishing of exam league tables creates an a to c economy in schools where school put their time , effort and resources on those pupils who they see have the potential of getting 5 grade c’s to boost the schools league table position. Also called educational triage
What are the 2 terms that Lacey uses to describe how pupil subcultures develop ?
Lacey uses the terms differentiation and polarization to explain how pupil subcultures develop ;
Differentiation - is the process of teachers categorizing pupils according to how they perceive their ability , attitude and behaviours . streaming is a form of differentiation
Polarization - is the process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two opposite poles , anti or pro school subculture.
What did Hargreaves find that boys in lower streams are labelled as leading them to turn to anti school subcultures ?
Hargreaves found boys in lower streams were triple failures because they had failed their 11 + exam , placed in low streams and hade been labelled as worthless louts
What did Ball find happened when streaming was abolished ?
Ball found that when the school abolished banding then the basis for the pupils to polarize into subcultures was largely removed and the influence of the anti school subculture declined .
However , although pupil polarization all but disappeared , differentiation continued , teachers continued to categorize pupils differently and were more likely to label middle class pupils as cooperative and able. This positive labelling was reflected in their better exam results , suggesting the self fulfilling prophecy had occurred.
What are the 4 additional responses to labelling and streaming on top of pro and anti school subcultures states by Woods ?
Wood adds 4 possible pupil responses to labelling and streaming as well as pro and anti school subcultures
-Ingratiation - being the teachers pet
-Ritualism - going through the motions and staying out of trouble
-Retreatism - daydreaming and mucking about
-Rebellion - Outright rejection of everything the school stands for.
What does Furlong believe can happen regarding the different responses to labelling and streaming ?
Furlong observes that pupils are not committed to any one of the responses that woods states , but may move between different types of responses , acting differently in lessons with different teachers.
What did Archer find that working class pupils felt they had to do to be educationally successful ?
Archer found that working class pupils felt to be educationally successful , they would have to change how they talked and presented themselves , thus working class students felt to be educationally successful they had to experience the process of losing themselves and working class pupils felt they were unable to access the posh middle class spaces such as in university or professional careers which were seen as not for the likes of them
What does Archer mean by working class pupils investing in Nike identities and what do they lead to happen to working class pupils ?
According to Archer , working class pupils investment in Nik identities is not only a cause of their educational margilisation by the school , but it also expresses their positive preference for a particular lifestyle , as a result working class pupils may chose self elimination or self exclusion from education
