Social Class And Achievement (internal Factors) Flashcards
(19 cards)
What are the internal factors ?
-labelling
-self filling prophecy
-setting & streaming
-pro and anti school subcultures
-pupils, class identifies & school
What is the definition of labelling and what’s shown through studies about labelling?
Labelling is the attachment of a meaning to a person.
Studies shows that teachers often attach labels despite the pupils ability or attitude. Instead teachers attach labels,s based on stereotypes about their social class, and the label attached affects how the teacher treats the individual. For example if one is labelled as lazy then the teacher will feel as if they don’t need to pay attention to them or explain what is being taught to them.
What is Beckers ideal pupil’s study ?
Becker completed an unstructured interview on 60 high school teachers. And found that teachers judged pupils according to how closely they fitted with an image of the ideal pupil. The pupils work and appearance were the key factors influencing a teachers judgment. The characteristics of an ideal pupil was hardworking responsible and well behaved.
What is meant by self fulling prophecy? And what are the stages?
Students accept the label they’re given and act upon it. Their behaviour reflects on the label.
1.Student is labelled
2.teacher changes the way they behave towards the student according to label
3.student then accepts their label and act upon it
What is Rosenthal and Jacobson’s study on pygmalion in the classroom?
Rosenthal and Jacobson went into a primary school and told pupils and staff that they had created a new test designed to identify those students whom would spurt aged and make rapid academic progress, which was not true. It was a simple IQ test. They lied to investigate teachers expectations and labelling within schools. Researchers picked 20% of pupils completely at random and told them they had been identified as spurters. Teachers were told spurters were exceptional learners. All staff believed this to be true when in fact it was not. They left the school, once they came back a year later it was clear that 47% of spurters had made significant progress.
What was concluded from the study conducted by Rosenthal and Jacobson ?
The progress of the spurters was due to the teachers expectations of them. Teachers believed the students were gifted and so put them in higher sets and gave them harder exams and encouraged them endlessly. These higher expectations had been communicated to the students and they came to believe in the teachers prophecy and began to work harder in school and make more progress.
What is some evaluations of Rosenthal and Jacobson’s study ?
-they are too deterministic
-there is now a variation of labels given in the classroom.
What is meant by setting and streaming?
-streaming is also known as sets, it is used to put students based on their abilities.
What did Gilbourn & Youdell believe about the A to C economy ?
Since the introduction of marketisation schools have to increase their popularity to attract more students and so more funding. Schools are now ranked in national league tables in relation to exam performance. And so through the publishment of of league tables it had led to the A to C economy system in schools. This system is where the school focuses their time, effort and resources on those pupils they see as having more potential to get grades up to C which would boost their schools league.
What is the educational triage ?
Pupils - triage then there’s borderline pupils the ones who will pass and those who are hopeless cases. Teachers use labels of ability often categorising working class pupils and black pupils as hopeless cases meaning they’re more likely to be placed in lower sets. Consequently they receive a different type of education to those who were labelled to have potential. THEREFORE teachers need to gain a good league table position which drives the educational triage and results in the self fulfilling prophecy amongst students.
What are some evaluations of A to C economy?
grouping by ability is educationally damaging and leads to greater inequalities between children.
The practice of setting and streaming is described as ‘social barbarism’.
What is meant by subcultures and what did Lacey say about subcultures?
A subculture is a group of pupils who share similar values and behaviour patterns
Lacey looked at the link between subcultures to labelling and streaming. She begins by outlining two terms ‘differentiation’ and ‘polarisation’ which can be used to explain how pupil subcultures develop.
What is meant by differentiation and polarisation mean?
-differentiation:is distinguishing or creating differences between individuals or groups.
-polarisation: is the process that results in the creation of two opposite extremes.
How do pro-school culture and anti-school cultures gain status and recognition inside the school?
Pro-school subculture:
-gain their status through academic success and obedience
-support and agree with the values of the school (forming a pro school subculture)
Anti-school subculture:
-reject school rules
-seek to gain acceptance in alternative ways
What are some evaluations to Lacey’s idea of pupil subculture?
-pupils aren’t committed to just one response they can act differently in different lessons.
Woods argues that there’s a variety of different pupil responses, not just subculture responses to the labelling process.
What is meant by class identities and school?
Class identity refers to how the individuals perceive themselves an are perceived by others based on their social class. Including:
-economic factors (wealth and income)
-social capital (network and connections)
-cultural capital (skills and knowledge)
What were the main concepts Bourdieu came up with?
-habitus: internalised norms of a social class which are acquired through their life experiences, especially through socialisation in the family. Working class and middle class habitus may clash
-symbolic violence: schools devalue working class culture, causing psychological harm.
What did Reay claimed about class identities ?
-Education system continues to educate different social classes for district roles in society, therefore reinforcing existing social hierarchies.
-working class students feel alienated in middle class educational spaces.
-middle class mothers often use their social capital to influence their children’s education.
-working class students often face conflict between loyalty to their background and school success.
What did Archer come up with about the identities of children in class?
-working class boys use ‘Nike’ clothing and branded item as symbolic resistance to school values and schools punish this expression of identity.
