Class differences in achievement (internal) Flashcards
(32 cards)
Describe the study which shows labelling can affect educational achievement in primary schools
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 each at a different table.
Those who were fast learners tended to be middle class, she sat at the table nearest to her and showed great encouragement.
Those who were working class were usually seated further away and had fewer chances to show their abilities.
Describe the study which shows how teachers expectations affect educational achievement
Rosenthal and Jacobson conducted a study to show the self-fulfilling prophecy at work. They told the school that they had a new test specifically designed to identify those pupils who would spurt ahead. This was untrue because the test was simply an IQ test.
The researchers tested all the pupils then picked 20% of them randomly and told the school they were spurters. On returning to the school a year late they found that almost half of those identified as spurters had significantly improved
Rosenthal and Jacobson suggested that teachers’ beliefs about students impacted this e.g. through body language, attention and encouragement.
This demonstrates the self-fulfilling prophecy: simply by accepting the prediction that some children would spurt ahead, the teachers brought it about.
Describe the variety of pupil responses to streaming and labelling according to woods- other than pro/anti school subcultures.
These include:
Ingratiation= being the teacher’s 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.
Furlong observes many pupils are not committed permanently to one response, but may move between different types of response, acting differently in lessons with different teachers.
what are 3 criticisms of labelling theory
Labeling theory has been accused of determinism. It assumes that pupils who are labelled have no free choice but to fulfill the prophecy and will fail. However, some studies such as Mary fullers show that this is not always true
Marxists criticize labelling theory for ignoring the wider structures of power within which labelling takes place. Labelling theory blames teachers but fails to explain why they do so
Marxists argue that labels are not merely the result of teacher’s individual prejudices but stem from a system that reproduces class division.
what do Dunne and Gazzeley argue according to labelling in secondary schools?
argue that schools persistently produce working class underachivement because of labels and assumptions of teachers.
describe Balls study
conducted a study in a comprehensive school, that was in the process of abolishing streaming. He found there was less anti school subcultures.
how are anti school subcultures formed?
those placed in lower streams suffer a loss of self esteem, and have an inferior status. so they gain status by rejecting school values and gain status among peers e.g. by smoking.
Define habitus
Habitus is a concept developed by Bourdieu and refers to the norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors of a particular social group (or social class).
pupils who have a middle-class habitus gain symbolic capital and are deemed to have worth/value.
what is symbolic violence according to bourdieu?
The school devalues working class habitus which are deemed to be tasteless and worthless
Bourdieu calls this withholding of symbolic capital “symbolic violence”. By defining the working-class habitus as inferior, symbolic violence keeps the lower classes in their place
How did Nike styles also play a part in working class pupils’ rejection of higher education?
Unrealistic= education seen as unaffordable and not for “people like us”
Undesirable= would not suit their preferred lifestyle/habitus. For example, they did not want to live on a student loan, because they would be unable to afford the street styles that gave them their identity
how are nike identities formed according to archer et al
working-class pupils’ investment in Nike identities is caused by their educational marginalization by the school and their preference for a specific lifestyle.
what did nicola ingram find in her study?
she found that the working-class boys experienced great pressure to fit in, they experienced a tension between the habitus of their working-class neighborhood and middle-class school.
what type of people are most likely to be labelled as hopeless cases according to gillborn and youdell?
working class and black pupils
why do people in lower streams form an anti-school subculture?
Those placed in low streams suffer a loss of self-esteem as they have an inferior status. They search for alternative ways to gain status through rejecting school values. They form an anti-school subculture to gain status among peers, e.g. smoking.
However, joining an anti-school subculture is likely to become a self- fulfilling prophecy of educational failure.
list the other responses to streaming and labelling apart from pro/antischool subcultures according to woods.
Ingratiation= being the teacher’s pet
Ritualism= going through the motions and staying out of trouble
Retreatism= daydreaming and mucking about
what does furlong observe about woods findings?
Furlong observes many pupils are not committed permanently to one response, but may move between different types of response, acting differently in lessons with different teachers.
evaluate labelling theory.
Labeling theory has been accused of determinism. It assumes that pupils who are labelled have no free choice but to fulfill the prophecy and will fail. However, some studies such as Mary fullers show that this is not always true
Marxists criticize labelling theory for ignoring the wider structures of power within which labelling takes place. Labelling theory blames teachers but fails to explain why they do so
Marxists argue that labels are not merely the result of teacher’s individual prejudices but stem from a system that reproduces class division.
what is symbolic violence
the witholding of symbol capital from working class pupils because they are deemed as inferior and have less value.
middle class have symbolic capital as they have a middle class habitus so are deemed to have worth and value
what did archer find according to symbolic violence?
found that working-class pupils felt to be educationally successful they would have to change how they talked and presented themselves. Thus, for working class students’ educational success meant losing yourself
what identities are formed due to symbolic violence?
nike
outline 3 criticisms of marxist viewes of the role of education in capitalist society
Schools are meritocratic and do not discriminate against the working class
(1 mark); according to functionalists, schools are meritocracies and so there is
equality of opportunity (+1 mark).
* Labelling as opposed to capitalism is responsible for the pattern of achievement
in schools (1 mark); interactionists argue that it is teacher labels and not
capitalism that leads to underachievement (+1 mark).
* Government educational policies work to eliminate class inequality (1 mark);
many government educational policies (Aimhigher, pupil premium) are directed
towards working class students in order to help them achieve (+1 mark).
* Some Marxists neglect the study of factors other than class (1 mark); factors
such as gender and ethnicity may be under explained by Marxism (+1 mark).
* Linguistic deprivation and not capitalism is responsible for the pattern of
working class achievement in schools (1 mark); theorists, such as Bernstein,
suggest speech codes and not the needs of capitalism are key to
understanding pupil achievement (+1 mark).
* Marxism is deterministic, leaves no room for free will (1 mark); some workingclass students do succeed and achieve at a high level (+1 mark)
how does streaming lead to the A-C economy
according to gillborn and youdelll the publishing of league tables creates the a-c economy in schools. This is a system in which h schools focus their time, effort and resources on those they see as having the potential of getting five grade C’s at GCSE.
- this leads to an educational triage. schools categorise students into 3 types:
- those who will pass anyways and can be left to get on with it
- those with potential
- hopeless cases (doomed to fail). usually WC and black pupils
according to lacey how do pupil subcultures form
through differentiation and polarisation
why does ball believe we should abolish streaming
ball conducts a study in a comprehensive school that was in the process of abolishing streaming. He found that when the school abolished banding, the basis for pupils to polarise into subcultures was largely removed, so less antischool subculture. However, differentation still continued
