Internal class difference in acheivment Flashcards
(26 cards)
Labelling - Becker
Studies labelling by interviewing 60 Chicago hih school teachers and found that they attach labels to pupils depending on how close they match the ideal pupil.
These judgments were made using pupils work conduct and appearance. Teachers saw MC pupils as closest to the ideal pupil and saw WC as badly behaved
Labelling - Hempel-Jorgensen
Argues that the ideal pupil depends on the overall class of the school
WC primary school - ideal pupil is quiet obedient and passive defining them by behaviour instead of ability
MC primaryschool - ideal pupil is defined by personality and academic ability instead of just a non-misbehaving pupil at the WC school
Labelling in secondary schools
Dunne and Gazeley - schools reproduce WC underachievement because of teachers labels and assumptions
interviews from 9 schools found that teachers normalise WC pupils underachievement and didn’t think they could do anything about it all while thinking they can overcome MC underachievement.
This is because teachers have different beliefs about pupils home backgrounds labelling WC parents as uninterested and MC as supportive
where teachers will address and help MC underachievement and do nothing for WC pupils.
This causes class differences
Labelling in primary schools
Rist - study found that teachers use info about pupils home backgrounds and appearance to sort them into groups
Tigers - were MC fast learners who had a clean appearance and they recieved the most help and attention
Cardinals and clowns - WC groups were given lower level books and ability to work. They recieved less help and attentionand were seated further away from the teachers
Process of self fulfilling prophecy
Teacher labels pupil and makes a prediction based on this
Teacher treats pupil like the label and acts like the prediction already came true
Pupils internalise the teacher’s expectations of them and it becomes part of their self image
Rosenthal and Jacobson - Self fulfilling prophecy
Study of primary school showing the prophecy at work.
Their experiment made pupils do a simple IQ test but told the teachers the special test had identified spurter pupils who will do really well
A year later the randomly pick pupils had actually improved academically
This is because the teachers labelled the pupils as achievers and gave them more encouragement and supported them more than the others. leading to self fulfilling prophecy where pupils succeed academically
Streaming definition
sorting pupils based on ability so they can be taught separately
SFP is likely to happen when pupils are streamed
Streaming - Becker
Shows that WC pupils aren’t seen as the ideal pupil. This makes it harder for them to move up streams as teacher expectations put them into lower ones.
This causes SFP as pupils live up to the expectations of underachieving
MC pupils benefit from streaming as teacher expectations place them in higher ability groups boosting their self concept and helping them succeed
Streaming and the A to C economy
Gillborn and Youdell - study of 2 high schools showing how teachers use stereotypes of ability to stream pupils
WC black pupils are seen as low ability and are placed in lower streams and entered for foundation papers denying them opportunities and knowledge to get better grades
They link this to league tables and as schools need a good position to attract pupils and funding which is determined buy the amount of a-c grades that pupils get they are more likley to focus on pupils with a higher chance of getting c and above which boosts their position.
Educational triage
Gillborn and Youdell - A - C economy causes educational triage
pupils are sorted into those who will pass anyways, those with potential to get grade c and above and therefore get the most help and those who are hopeless and are destined to fail.
Teachers have stereotypes on mean WC pupils and black pupils and label them as hopeless causes and are therefore placed in low streams creating a self fulfilling prophecy where they end up failing
Streaming evaluation
Gillborn and Youdell - show how labelling and stereotypes combined with streaming lead to WC MC achievement gap.
They also show how marketisation policies have become part of streaming and labelling putting it into wider context
However they dont explain how pupils are not passive puppets and don’t always fulfil their prophecy
pupil subculture definition
group of students with similar values and behaviour patterns
They usually emerge in response to labelling and streaming
Lacey - Pupil subcultures
Lacey explains how they emerge
Differentiation - the process of teachers categorising pupils based on their behaviour attitude and ability. streaming is a form of differentiation that give high status to able students and low status to students in lower streams
Polarisation - process of pupils responding to straming by moving to one pole/extreme.
Lacey found that streaming in grammar school polarised students into pro school and anti school sub cultures
Pro school subculture
mostly MC students that were placed in high streams and committed to and shared the schools valus
They gained their status in the aproved manner through academic success
anti school subculture
mostly WC pupils who were placed in low streams and had low self esteem giving them inferior status
they gained their status in alternative ways by inverting the schools values like obedience and punctuality
they also gain status through peers by cheeking teachers, not doing homework and truanting
Abolishing streaming
Ball - studied a comprehensive school that was switching from streaming to teaching mixed ability.
He found that anti school subcultures declined and the basis for polarisation was removed
however, differentiation still occurred due to teacher labelling and mc favouritism
Therefore he suggests that class differences in achievement still occur due to teacher labelling even without the issue of subculture
variety of pupil response
he argues that there are many responses to labelling streaming than just 2 sub cultures
ingratiation - teachers pet
ritualism - go thru motions and stay out of trouble
retreatism - daydreaming and messing about
rebellion - outright rejecting everything the school stands for
Furlong - pupils are not fixed into one response and can change between depending on certain lessons and teachers
evaluating labelling theory
Does well at showing the schools class inequality challenging the idea that they are a fair institution
however its too deterministic they believe that all pupils accept labels but fullers study of black girls show that this isnt true
marxist argue that labelling theory ignores the wider structure that labelling takes place in blaming teschers for labelling pupils but not explaining why
they also argue that its not a teacher’s individual prejudices that cause labelling its that their own job stems from a system that reproduces class inequality
Archer et al
looks at the intraction of WC pupils and school and how it causes their underachievement
nike identities
Symbolic violence lead WC pupils to finding other ways to obtain worth and status
They did this by making class identities revolving around fashion and brands like nike
these style performances were policed by peers and not conforming was seen as social suicide and the right appearance gave pupils symbolic capital from their peers as the school already denies them of it
bur the schools MC habitus clashed with WC identities as it went against rules and dress code and risked pupils being labelled as rebels
nike styles play a part in WC pupils rejection to higher education
they see it as unrealistic as its not for people like them but for people who were richer and posher and undesirable as it does not suit their own lifestyle or habitus eg they didnt want to live on student load as they wont be able to afford the street style that gives them identity
Working class identity and educational success
ingram - studies 2 groups of WC boys in the same deprived neighbourhood
one group passed 11+ exam and went to grammar school a d the other schools failed and went to local high schools
WC grammar boys had MC habitus of high expectations and educational achievement
WC lacal boys had the schools habitus of low expectations and educational failure
Ingram found that WC identity is inseparable from the WC habitus. The neighbourhood’s network of fam and friends were a key part that gave the boys a sense of belonging however this habitus put emphasis on conformity which can cause wc boys to experience symbolic violence
symbolic capital and symbolic violence
Schools have a MC habitus so MC pupils who are already socialised into this at home have symbolic capital - status and recognition from the school that they are superior
WC pupils habitus is devalued by the school as they see their taste like clothis as worthless and tasteless
Bourdieu calls this withholdingof symbolic capital symbolic violence. by defining the WC in this way reproduces class inequality and keeps them in their place this creates a clash between the 2 habitus making wc pupils see the world of education as alien and unnatural
Archer says that WC pupils felt that they had to lose themselves in the MC habitus in order to succeed educationally
Habitus - Bourdieu
learned or taken for granted ways of thinking being or acting in a social class.
Including taste preferences outlook on life consumption and the expectations of what is normal or realistic for
MC has the power to define their habitus as superior making it imposed on the education system where schools seeWC habitus as inferiorpeople like us
Class identity and self exclusion
Even though more WC pupils are going to uni the clash between their WC identity and higher education acts as a barrier towards their succes
Evan studied a group of 21 black girls and found that they didnt apply to elite unis and those who did were worried abouthidden barriers and not fitting in
This shows that WC students exclude themselves from elete spaces like Oxbridge as they believe they wont fit with their habitus
