Class DEA- internal factors

Becker

Researched 60 high school teachers and he found that teachers saw the ideal pupil as m/c smartly dressed and well-behaved students. Whereas, w/c students were regarded as badly behaved and furthest from the ideal student.

Rist

Teachers perceptions of ability were based on home background and appearance. Children labelled as fast learners, tended to be m/c, were placed on the ‘tiger’s’ table near the teacher and given harder work; more encouragement and individual attention.

Slow learners were more likely to be w/c and placed on the ‘clown’s’ table further away.

Hempel-Jorgensen

They researched two primary schools, one with mainly m/c pupils the other w/c. The ‘ideal pupil’ was seen as someone who as well-behaved by the w/c school and the one who was able by the m/c school.

Dunne and Gazeley

The way that teachers dealt with underachievement created class DEA. They researched 9 schools. Teachers saw underachievement by w/c pupils as normal- they did not try and help them because they labelled the parents as uninterested. They helped m/c underachieving pupils and set them extension work because they labelled the parents as supportive.

W/C students who were doing well were labelled as overachievers.

Rosenthal and Jacobson

They conducted a study in a primary school to assess the effects of labelling and S.F.P. They selected the children deemed to be ‘late-bloomers’. The children’s names were taken out of a hat and chosen by a table of random numbers. It was a random selection research method.

This study found that teachers unknowingly treated these "late-bloomers" differently, which positively affected their academic performance, demonstrating the self-fulfilling prophecy in educational settings.

What were the 4 ways teachers’ behaviour changes towards the ‘late bloomers?’

1: The climate- positive school atmosphere

2: The Input factor- teachers teach more

3: Response-opportunity factor- students have more opportunity to participate in lessons.

4: Feedback factor- positive reinforcement/more differentiated answer.

Lacey

Teacher’s differentiation causes students to polarise into subcultures. Lacey studied a boys’ grammar school and found that streaming led to polarising boys into 2 subcultures- a pro or an anti-school subculture.

Pro-school subculture

Associated with the m/c, positive stereotypes, halo, positive S.F.P and high expectations.

Anti-school subculture

Associated with the w/c, negative stereotypes and labels, and no halo effect.

What does differentiation mean?

Refers to the way that teachers categorise pupils by ability- this can be influenced by stereotypes. For example, setting, streaming, higher and foundation tier exams.

What does polarisation mean?

This is the way that pupils respond to differentiation, they move towards 2 opposite subcultures. A pro and an anti-school subculture.

What does ‘Nike identities’ mean?

Symbolic violence leads pupils to seek alternative ways of creating self-worth, status and value. The right appearance earned symbolic capital and approval from peer groups and safety from bullying.

What does self-elimanation/self-exclusion mean?

There is a clash between working class identity and the habitus of the HE.

What does labelling theory mean?

This suggests that teachers often attach a label to a pupil- which has little to do with their actual ability or aptitude. They form an opinion of the student based on how close the students fit the ‘ideal pupil’ . Becker- teacher/pupil interaction is based on these labels which lead to a S.F.P.

What does setting and streaming mean?

Setting is the placement of students into ability classes within individual subjects.

Streaming is the placement of students into ability groups going across all subjects.

What does self-fulling prophecy (S.F.P) mean?

Students take on the label attributed to them by the school/teacher- they internalise the label until it is their self-image.

Gillborn and Youdell (educational triage)

A* to C grade- Gillborn and Youdell found that the A* to C grade economy is a system in which schools focus their time, effort and resources on those pupils they see as having potential to get 5 grade C’s. To boost the schools league table position and will provide funding for the school.

Triage- those who will pass anyway, borderline C/D grade pupils- targeted for extra help and the hopeless cases that are doomed to fail.

Evaluation of Gillborn and Youdell

When Gillborn and Youdell did their reserach the league tables were based on the % of pupils achieving A*-C grades at GCSE.

Attainment 8- used to measure the performance of schools.

Progress 8- shows if students at school have made more/less progress from SATs (end of Yr6).

Evaluation of internal factors-Class DEA

Strength- the Interactionist perspective has the advantage of focusing directly on small-scale interactions in schools and colleges. It provides more detailed evidence of what happens in educational institutions.

Weakness- the Labelling theory has been accused of being deterministic. Pupils can reject a label.

What does habitus mean?

Habits, behaviours, ways of thinking that you develop as a result of your social background or social groups.

What does pupils subcultures mean?

A group of pupils who share similar values and behaviour patterns. Pupil subcultures often emerge as a response to the way pupils have been labelled, a reaction to streaming.

What does symbolic violence mean?

Withholding of symbolic capital- w/c tastes and lifestyles are deemed as inferior. Symbolic violence reproduces the class structure and social class inequality/prejudice. Bourdieu argued that the mainstream education systems possessed a middle-class habitus. They actively treat working-class cultural tastes as vulgar or inferior. Students feel like alien outsiders who must compromise their home identity to fit in.

What does symbolic capital mean?

Pupils who have been socialised at home in m/c tastes and preferences gain symbolic capital or status and recognition from the school and are deemed to have worth or value.This means being given high status by others.

Withholding of symbolic capital

Archer argued that when schools deny working-class styles validation (symbolic capital), students look to peer networks to generate status. They invest heavily in expensive sportswear to build an empowered identity among peers.

Hyper-heterosexual feminine identity

Archer argued that working classing girls invest immense time and money into makeup, hair and fashion. The school’s middle-class habitus views this style as a non-academic distraction, penalising them and forcing them to look to peer groups for status.