setting and streaming

A second key feature of school life studied by interactionist authors is setting and streaming. This can be described as a formal form of labelling, where pupils are placed in different groups based on ability. Streaming involves separating children into different ability groups or classes called ‘streams’. Each ability group is then taught separately from the others for all subjects.

a) Labels and Sets – Becker

Becker researched a number of schools and identified a trend of middle class pupils being over-represented in the higher sets, with working class pupils over-represented in the lower sets. Like labelling, there was a strong relationship between setting and social class, with those placed in the lower sets – overwhelmingly working class pupils - receiving a very clear negative message from the school and its teachers. Children in the lower streams ‘get the message’ that their teachers have written them off. By contrast, middle-class pupils tend to benefit from streaming as they gain confidence and work harder.

Evaluation

1. Becker can be criticised for being too deterministic. It is assumed all individuals are passive and accept labels given. However, not all students do accept labels given; many will resist and reject labels given. For example, working class children do not always accept the label and ‘get the message’ they may reject this and aim higher to prove their teachers wrong.

2. There is a lot of support available in schools for students who are underperforming which has evidence of raising students’ attainment. For example, mentoring sessions, revision sessions or extra lessons aimed at students who are struggling. As well as this, not all teachers label students by their social class, with a lot of teachers coming from working class backgrounds themselves.

b) The A to C Economy – Gillborn & Youdell

Since the introduction of marketisation in the 1980s by the New Right Thatcher government (Education Reform Act 1988), schools have to increase their popularity to attract more able pupils and attract more funding. This can be achieved by a high ranking in the League Tables, where schools are ranked by the number of 5A*-C grades, including Maths and English, pupils achieve.

The A-to-C Economy & Educational Triage - Gillborn & Youdell believed League Tables led to the “A-to-C Economy” – where schools ration their time, effort & resources, concentrating on pupils with potential to get 5 grade Cs at GCSE so boosting their league table position.

This process is the “Educational Triage” – where schools categorise pupils into

- those who will pass anyway – top set

- those with potential – middle sets

- hopeless cases – bottom set

Teachers used these labels of ability and were more likely to see working class and black pupils as “hopeless cases”. This meant they were more likely to be placed in the lower sets and consequently received a different type of education to those who were labelled as having potential. This could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy and failure.

Evaluation

1. Ball is strongly critical of the practice of setting and streaming, memorably describing it as ‘social barbarism’. He said setting and streaming of pupils is now widespread, not because of its educational value but because it allows well-off parents to separate their children from "others" whom they consider socially and intellectually inferior.

2. Some sociologists would argue that many governments have supported the use of streaming in schools as a way of helping students of differing abilities. For example, Gillborn and Youdell themselves note that the New Labour government saw streaming as a way of ensuring students were taught at a level appropriate for them to gain the best support from their teachers.