Sociology - social class differences in education internal factors

What are the three main internal factors?

1. Labelling

2. Setting/streaming

3. Pupil’s class identities

What do we mean by habitus?

The conditioned/deep rooted way of thinking and behaving shared by a particular social class including their tastes, accents, activities, outlook on lifeand expectations. It influences how individuals perceive the world and their place in it.

What habitus does the education system favour?

The middle-class habitus as it puts a higher value on middle class tastes and knowledge.

Because the middle class share the habitus of the school, what do they experience?

Symbolic capital meaning they have the necessary behaviours and tastes that are valued in education. This leads onto academic success and higher achievement.

Because the working class do not share the habitus of the school, what do they experience?

Symbolic violence meaning the working class habitus is rejected and de-valued in education and so they reject it. This leads onto lower academic achievement and self-exclusion.

According to Louise Archer (2010), how do the working class respond to symbolic violence?

They develop ‘Nike’ identities. This means they invest in styles such as wearing branded clothing like Nike which enables them to gain status and approval from friends rather than education.

What did Pierre Bourdieu (1984) find in terms of self-exclusion and class identity?

Working class students think Oxbridge is not for the likes of them and so they exclude themselves from applying.

What did Diane Reay find in terms of class identity and self-exclusion?

Working class students have strong affinities to their local communities (collectivism) and less likely to move away from home to study. This limits their success and opportunities.

What is labelling?

Attaching a judgement to somebody which affects their self concept and behaviour e.g. teachers labelling pupils as bright, thick, troublemakers, hard working etc.

What did Howard Becker found in his 1971 study of the ideal pupil?

He found teachers judge pupils according ot their image of an ideal pupil. Their work standard conduct and appearance were key factors. Usually middle class students came closest to this image whilst working class students were furthest from this ideal.

What can being labelled as an ideal pupil create?

A halo effect

What is the halo effect?

Whereby a positive label leads to a positive self concept and less discipline by the teacher.

What are the two effects of teacher labelling?

A self fulfilling prophecy and a self negating prophecy.

What study supports the self fulfilling prophecy and what was found in this study?

Rosenthal and Jacobson’s 1968 pygmalion in the classroom study. The told elementary school teachers that according to psychological tests some of their students are late bloomers and will perform better in the future. In a very short time the teachers started treating those students differently which in turn actually made them think of themselves differently which meant they actually performed significantly better than other children. Therefore positive expectations form the teacher can actually increase intellectual ability of students.

What is the research supporting the self negating prophecy?

Margaret Fullers 1984 research on black girls in London found that the black girls she researched were labelled as low achievers but their response to this negative label was to knuckle down and study hard to prove their teachers and the school wrong.

What is streaming?

Separating children into different ability groups called streams or bands. Each stream is taught separately from the others for all subjects.

What is the impact of streaming?

Leads to pupil subcultures which is a group of pupils who share similar values and behaviour towards school pro and anti school.

What is the evidence for pupil subcultures?

Colin Lacey’s 1970 study of a middle class grammar school found there are two processes at work in school - differentiation and polarisation. Students were differentiated into different streams or sets based on hard work good behaviour and exam success. The consequence of this was polarisation where students become divided into two opposing groups those in the top streams achieve high status in school and conform to it whilst those in bottom sets are deprived of status.

What are the strengths of internal factors?

• pressure for top status and results mean that schools choose more ideal pupils disadvantaging the working class

• Differentiation in schools is still alive and well

• Schools may actively encourage labelling to manage performance e.g. intervention or high achievers

What are the limitations of internal factors?

• over emphasises the power of teachers and the lack of agency of pupils although fullers study shows us a label can be rejected.

• Schools and teacher training addresses pupil labelling and unconscious bias so there is greater awareness of its impact.