social action view on education Flashcards
social action view on education
The social action theorists are interested in understanding the meanings and motives that individuals give to their experiences of education. They aim to uncover the processes that take place INSIDE SCHOOLS that affect individuals
Rosenthal and Jacobson, what is labelling
The process by which meaning or definition is attached to someone; this can be positive or negative
Rosenthal and Jacobson, labelling theory
The argument or view that labelling (positive and negative) has a powerful effect on pupils’ outcomes, experience and identity.
Rosenthal and Jacobson self forefilling prophecy
When the person internalises the label and it becomes true
Rosenthal and Jacobson, importance of labelling theory,their findings
told teachers at a primary school in USA that they had a new test specially designed to identify those pupils who would ‘spurt’ ahead. the teachers believed what they had been told. The researchers tested all the pupils and picked 20% of them at random, telling the school, again falsely, that the test had identified these children as ‘spurters’ (fast learners/high achievers).
On returning to the school a year later, the researchers found that almost half (47%) of those identified a year earlier as spurters had indeed made significant progress. The effect was greater on younger children. This demonstrates the self-fulfilling prophecy; simply by accepting the prediction that some children would spurt ahead, the teachers brought it about. This illustrates a key interactionist principle
ball, banding streaming and setting
This is a way of streaming students into different sets of abilities
Ball studied a comprehensive school that was in the process of abolishing banding (a type of streaming) in favour of teaching mixed-ability groups. He found that once the basis to polarise into pupil sub-cultures was removed (streaming), the influence of the anti-school subculture declined.
sewell, pupil subculture
A group of students who share similar norms and values that are different to the wider social group; can be pro-school, anti-school or pro-education but anti-school
rutters, 15,000 hours study
He carried out research in twelve schools. This study attempted to show that good schools can make a difference to the life chances of all pupils. These features were:
* Teachers are well prepared for lessons
* Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ academic performance and set and mark homework and classwork regularly
* Teachers set examples of behaviour; for example, they are on time and use only officially approved forms of discipline
* Teachers place more emphasis on praise and reward rather than on blame and punishment
sewell, pupil subculture, findings
4 ways in which the boys responded to racist labelling
Sewell identified four ways in which the boys responded to racist labelling:
The Rebels – the smallest (18%) but most influential and visible pupil subculture
The Conformists – the largest group (47%) were not part of a subculture and were keen to avoid being stereotyped by teachers or their peers
The Retreatists – a tiny minority (3%) of isolated individuals who were disconnected from both school and peers.
The Innovators – the second largest group (32%) were pro-education but anti-school (like Fuller’s study)
sewell pupil subculture study
racism in schools creating a subculture
Sewell studied the responses and strategies black pupils adopt to cope with racism in schools. He found that many teachers had a stereotype of ‘black machismo’, which sees all black boys as rebellious, anti-authority and anti-school. One effect of this stereotyping is that black boys are more likely to be excluded from school.
