Roles and Processes in Schools

Define ‘setting’

Means placing students in groups according to ability in individual subjects

Define ‘streaming’

Means placing students in groups according to ability across all subjects

Define ‘ideal pupil’

Means the characteristics that a teacher subconsciously looks for in a good pupil eg female, white, middle class, quiet

Define ‘self fulfilling prophecy’

Means when a pupil takes on the label that they have been given by the school and then act accordingly

Bernstein - Elaborated code

Restricted code = working class, limited vocabulary, short unfinished sentences, grammatically simple, context dependent

Elaborated code = middle class, wide vocabulary, grammatically complex, varied and abstract grammatically, context free

What is labelling theory?

Suggests that teachers often attach a label to a pupil that has little to do with their actual ability or aptitude. Instead they form an opinion of the student based on how close the students fit the ideal pupil

Becker - Labelling theory

Suggests that teacher/pupil interactions are based upon labels and can lead to a self fulfilling prophecy where the students take on the label and act accordingly

‘Teacher agency’

Teachers are not passive actors who always act on stereotypes - they can make conscious, professional choices that challenge labels and support all students

Evaluation of labelling theory

• Deterministic

• Focuses on the negative effects

• Teacher training

Fuller - Rejection of the label

Research on black girls in a London comprehensive school found that the black girls she researched were labelled as low achievers, but their response to this negative labelling was to knuckle down and study hard to prove their teachers and the school wrong

(CS) Rosenthal and Jacobson

• Pygmalion in the classroom

• Fake IQ test given to students, a random 20% of students were identified as bright (bloomers)

• Went back after a year and found that those students had made more progress than others

(CS) Ray Rist

• US primary school study

• Teacher used home background to group/segregate students

• Tigers (neat m/c, fast students), Cardinals (w/c middling ability), Clowns (w/c troublesome)

• Labels carried through later years

(CS) Hempel Jorgenson

• Ideal pupil varies according to the make up of the school

• Aspen: w/c school, discipline was a problem, ideal pupil is quiet, passive and obedient

• Rowan: m/c school, few discipline problems, ideal pupil is defined by personality and academic ability rather than behaviour