Interactionists and Education

Characteristics of an ideal pupil

Female, white, middle class, quiet, studious

Bernstein language codes - restricted

* Typically used amongst working class
* Limited vocab
* Short and unfinished sentences
* Grammatically simple
* Context bound

Bernstein language codes - elaborate

* Typically used amongst middle class
* wide vocab
* grammatically complex
* varied and abstract
* context free

Labelling theory overview - Becker

* suggests that teachers often attach a label to a pupil that has little to do with their ability or aptitude
* instead they form an opinion due to these labels that have been made based on stereotypes, poor judgement
* Becker suggests that pupil/teacher interaction based upon these labels can lead to self fulfilling prophecy where students take on the label and act accordingly

Labelling theory case study - Rosenthal and Jacobson

* Conducted a fake IQ test given to pupils
* A completely random and generated 20% of students were identified to the teacher as bright
* They returned a year later to see that these random pupils had made more progress that the other
* This is based upon pupil/teacher interactions

Rosenthal and Jacobson- The Pygmalion effect

* They identified that there were four factors of favoured students
* Climate factor- teachers are nicer to them = build a better rapport and relationship between teacher and pupil
* Input factor - teachers teach more content to those who are favoured = gain more knowledge that places them at a higher advantage
* Response opportunity factor- teachers call on them more often so they have the oppertunity to answer more questions = they may answer instead of other members in the class so the teacher moves on even though some might still not understand
* Feedback factor- more advanced feedback to favoured pupils = they are more pushed to achieve