Internal

Labelling

To attach a meaning or definition to pupils, often based on stereotyped assumptions.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

A prediction that comes true simply because it has been made.

Ideal pupil

The image of a pupil that teachers often base their judgments on, typically associated with middle-class characteristics.

Polarisation

The process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of two opposite extremes or subcultures.

Who came up with the concept of the ‘ideal pupil’

Becker

Outline Becker’s research

Interactionist study of labelling - interviewed 60 high school teachers

• Found that they judged pupils according to how they fit the image of the ‘ideal pupil’ 

• Their work, conduct & appearance were key factors influencing teacher’s judgements - saw m/c pupils as the closest to the ideal and w/c as further away because they were badly behaved

Johnson’s research

• Largely w/c primary school (where discipline was a major problem) = the ideal pupil was defined as quiet, passive & obedient →defined in terms of their behaviour, not ability 

• Largely m/c primary school had very few discipline problems = ideal pupil defined in terms of personality & academic ability 

Who believed and carried out research surrounding the idea that different teachers had different notions of what the ‘ideal pupil’ was

Johnson

What do Dunne and Gazeley argue

That ‘schools persistently produce w/c underachievement’ because of the labels & assumptions of teachers 

Dunne and Gazeley’s research (Secondary schools)

Interviewed 9 English state secondary schools and found that teachers normalised the underachievement of WC, and felt they could do little to overcome it —> MAJOR REASON = the differences in teachers’ belief in the role of pupil’s home background = labelled w/c parents as uninterested in their children’s education (opposite for m/c) 

This led to class differences in how teachers dealt with underachievement

Who looked at labelling in Primary schools

Ray Rists

What did Rists find

Found that the teacher used as info about children’s home background & appearance to place them in separate groups, seating each group at a different table (American Kindergarten)

• Fast learners (usually m/c) = ‘tigers’ → seated the closest to her so they can receive the best encouragement 

• ‘Cardinals’ & ‘clowns’ - usually w/c →seated furthest away & given lower level books to read & fewer chances to show their ability

Symbolic capital

The status or recognition that students gain from possessing the dominant culture and habits.

Nike identities

Ways in which working-class students use branded clothing to express their identity and gain status.

Habitus

The dispositions or learned ways of thinking, being, and acting that are shared by a particular social class.

Bourdieu's Theory

A sociological perspective that examines how social classes and cultures influence educational outcomes through the concept of cultural capital.

Interactionism

A sociological approach that focuses on the daily interactions between individuals and the meanings they derive from these interactions, particularly in educational settings.

Rosenthal and Jacobson’s research on SFP

told a school they had a new test designed to identify pupils who would ‘spurt’ ahead - was untrue (test was a simple IQ test) 

• Teachers believed what they were told 

• Tested all pupils & picked 20% of them at random - told the teachers these children were ‘spurters’ →almost ½ of them had made significant progress 

Teacher’s belief about the pupil had been influenced by the “test result” 

• Teachers had conveyed this belief through the way they interacted w/ them → e.g body lan & amount of attention & encouragement they gave them

Demonstrates that people will believe to be true will have real effects - even if not the belief originally 

What does Becker believe about streaming

Teachers don’t see wc as ‘ideal pupils’ and therefore have lower expectations and place them in a lower class

Streaming

Separating children into different ability groups/ classes. Once placed into a stream, it is very difficult to more up.

Individuals in the lower sets tend to ‘get the message’

Creates SFP

What did Douglas find about SFP

Children (8yrs) who were placed in a higher stream had improved their IQ score by 11 —> MC often put in these groups and they develop a more positive self-concept and gain confidence

Lower stream = decline in IQ

What two ideas did Gillborn and Youdell come up with in terms of streaming

The A-to-C economy

The educational Triage

What is the A-to-C economy

found that teachers are less likely to see w/c pupils as having ability 

• These pupils are placed in lower streams & entered for lower-tier exams 

• Denies them the knowledge & opportunity to gain good grades & widens the class gap in achievement 

They link streaming to publishing the exam league tables - ranking schools based on their performance 

• Schools needed to achieve a good league table position to attract pupils & funding 

• Creates an A-to-C economy = a system in which schools focus their time, effort & resources on the pupils they see as having the potential to get 5 grade Cs (and above)

What is the Educational Triage

The way schools categorise pupils into 3 categories

1. Those who will pass anyways and can be left to get on with it

2. Those who have potential and will therefore be helped to get a C or above

3. Those who are doomed to fail

The need to gain a good league table position drives education triage - becomes the basis for streaming, where teacher’s beliefs about the lack of ability of w/c pupils are used to segregate them into lower streams or sets → they receive less attention, support & resources

Schools operate within a wider educational system whose ‘marketisation’ policies directly affect these micro level processes to produce class differences in achievement