Studied by 2 people
Interactionist study of labelling, 60 Chigaco high school teachers. They judged pupils according to how closely they fitted their image of the 'ideal pupil'. Pupil's work, conduct and appearance were key factors influencing teachers' judgements. Teachers saw children from middle-class background as closest to the ideal, and working-class children as furthest away from it because they regarded them as badly behaved. Teachers do not usually see working class as ideal pupils. They tend to see them as lacking ability and have low expectations of them.
Notions of the ideal pupil vary according to social class make up of the school. In working-class Aspen primary school, where staff said discipline was a major problem, ideal pupil was defined as quiet, passive and obedient. Children were defined in terms of behaviour and not ability. In middle-class Rowan primary school, there were few discipline problems, and the ideal pupil was defined in terms of personality and academic ability.
Schools persistently produce working-class underachievement because of the labels and assumptions of teachers. They labelled working-class parents as uninterested, but middle-class as supportive. Assumptions led to class differences in how teachers dealt with the underachieving eg setting extension work for underachieving middle-class pupils.
Labelling occurs from outset of child's educational career, as found in his study of a kindergarten. He found teachers used information about children's home background and appearance to place them in separate groups, seating each group at different tables. Those the teachers decided were fast learners 'tigers' tended to be middle class and were seated nearest to her and showed them encouragement. 'Clowns' were seated further away and were likely to be working class, and were given fewer chances to show abilities.
Study in Oak Community School in California. Told the school they had a test designed to identify pupils who would 'spurt' ahead. This was untrue because the test was a standard IQ test. Teachers believed what they were told. All pupils were tested, but 20% were picked at random and the school were told the test identified them as spurters. Returning to school a year later, they found almost half (47%) of those identified as spurters made progress. Teachers' beliefs about pupils are influenced by the supposed test results. Teachers conveyed these beliefs to the pupils through their interactions. Self-fulfilling prophecy demonstrated by teachers.
Teachers use stereotypical notions of 'ability' to stream pupils. They found teachers are less likely to see working-class pupils as having ability. They thus end up in lower streams and entered into lower-tier GCSEs. They link streaming to the policy of publishing exam league tables. This creates 'A-to-C economy' in schools. This is a system which schools focus their time, effort and resources on pupils they see as having the potential to get five grade C's and so boost the school's league table position. This process is the educational triage.
Secondary schools: From POV of education system, boys in lower streams were triple failures: failed 11+, were placed in lower streams and were labelled as worthless louts.
Other responses to labelling and streaming:
Ingratiation (teacher's pet)
ritualism (going through motions and staying out of trouble)
retreatism (daydreaming, mucking about)
rebellion (outright rejection of what the school stands for)
Archer et al.
Focus on interaction between working-class pupil identities and school, and how this produces underachievement, drawing on habitus (Bourdieu's concept) Archer found working-class pupils felt that to be educationally successful they would have to change how they talked and presented themselves. Archer argues middle-class habitus stigmatises working-class pupil identities. Pupils' performances of style are a struggle for recognition. Working-class pupils investment in 'Nike' identities is not only a cause of their educational marginalisation by the school; it also expresses their positive preference for a particular lifestyle.
Study of two groups of working-class Catholic boys from the same highly deprived neighbourhood. One group passed 11+ exam and went to grammar school, while other group failed and went to local secondary school. Grammar schools had a strong middle-class habitus of high expectations and academic achievement, while secondary schools had a habitus of low expectations of its underachieving pupils.
Study of 21 working-class girls from a South London comprehensive studying for A-Levels. They were reluctant to apply to elite universities like Oxbridge and the few that applied felt a sense of hidden barriers and of not fitting in. The girls have a strong attachment to their locality.
Many working-class people think of places like Oxbridge as being 'not for the likes of us.' This feeling comes from their habitus, which includes beliefs about what really exists for them and whether they would 'fit in'.
An internal factor- what teachers believe about working-class pupils' home backgrounds produced underachievement.
