Class Differences in Achievement - Internal Factors

Class Differences in Achievement - Internal Factors

1. Labelling

   • To label someone is to attach a meaning/definition to them
   • Studies show that teachers often attach labels regardless of the pupils' actual ability/attitude
   • Labelling in Secondary Schools
     • Becker carried out an important interactionist study of labelling
       • He found that they judged pupils according to how closely the fitted the image of the 'ideal pupil'
       • Pupils' work, conduct and appearance were key factors influencing teachers' judgements
     • Cicourel & Kitsuse's study of educational counsellors
       • Shows how labelling can disadvantage W/C students
       • Counsellors play an important role in deciding which students get onto courses that prepare them for higher education
         • Found inconsistencies in the way counsellors assessed students' suitability for courses
   • Labelling in Primary Schools
     • Labelling occurs from the outset of a child's educational career
     • Rist's study found the teacher used information about the child's home background & appearance to place them in separate groups
       • She decided the fast learners, named 'tigers', tended to be M/C, having a neat & clean appearance
         • Seated these at the table nearest her, showing them greatest encouragement
       • Other 2 groups - the 'cardinals' and 'clowns' - were seated further away
         • These groups were more likely to be W/C
         • Given lower-level books to read, fewer opportunities to demonstrate their abilites
     • Sharp & Green studied Mapledene, a 'child-centred' primary school
       • Children were allowed to choose activities for themselves & develop at their own pace
       • The teachers believed that children who were not ready to learn should be allowed to engage in 'compensatory play'
       • Findings support interactionist view that children from different class backgrounds are labelled differently
       • Argue the negative labelling of W/C children results in inequalities between social classes
   • High & Low Status Knowledge
     • Studies show how labelling of W/C pupils puts them at a disadvantage
       • Studies show that labelling can be applied to the knowledge that they are taught also
     • Keddie found both pupils and knowledge can be labelled high or low status
       • Comprehensive school classes that were observed were streamed by ability
         • However, all streams followed the same humanities course & covered the same course content
       • Teachers believed they were teaching all pupils in the same way
         • When teaching A stream, they gave them abstract theoretical, high status & knowledge
         • When teaching C stream pupils, they gave descriptive, common sense, low status knowledge, related to more everyday experience
     • Gillborn & Youdell
       • Found that W/C and black pupils are less likely to be perceived as having ability, and more likely to be placed in lower sets and entered for lower-tier GCSE's
         • Denies them the knowledge and opportunity needed to gain good grades
           • Widening the class gap in achievement

2. Self-fulfilling Prophecy

   • Is a prediction that comes true simply by virtue of having it been made
   • Interactionists argue labelling affects pupils' achievement by creating a self-fulfilling prophecy
     • Step 1: Teacher labels a pupil (e.g. being very intelligent), makes predictions about him/her
       • Step 2: Teacher treats the pupil accordingly, acting like the prediction is already true (e.g. by giving more attention & expecting higher standard of work)
         • Step 3: Pupil internalises the teacher's expectations which becomes part of their self-concept/self-image, so becomes the kind of pupil the teach believed them to be
           • The prediction is fulfilled
   • Teachers' Expectations
     • Rosenthal & Jacobson show the self-fulfilling prophecy at work
       • Told Oak Community School they had a new teset specially designed to identify those pupils who would 'spurt' ahead
         • This was untrue, because the test was simply a standard IQ test
       • They suggest that teachers' beliefs about the pupils had been influenced by the suppose test results
         • Teachers had then conveyed the beliefs to the pupils through how they interacted with them
           • This demonstrates the self-fulfilling prophecy
             • Simply by accepting the prediction that some children would spurt ahead
       • The study findings illustrate an important interactionist principle:
         • What people believe to be true will have real life effects - even if the belief was not true originally
   • The self-fulfilling prophecy can also produce under-achievement
   • Streaming & The Self-fulfilling Prophecy
     • 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
     • Becker shows teachers do not usually see W/C children as ideal pupils
       • They tend to see them as lacking ability and have low expectations of them
         • As a result W/C children are more likely to find themselves put in a lower stream
     • Once students are streamed, it is usually difficult to move up to a higher stream
       • Children are more or less locked into their teachers' low expectations of them
       • Children in lower streams 'get the message' that their teachers have written them off as no-hopers
         • This creates the self-fulfilling prophecy in which pupils live up to their teachers' low expectations by under-achieving
       • By contrast, M/C pupils tend to benefit from streaming
         • They are likely to be placed in higher streams, reflecting teachers' view of them as ideal pupils
           • As a result they develop a more positive self-concept, gain confidence, work harder and improve their grades