Education - All Studies

Front 1

Becker (labelling)

Back 1

Becker carried out an interactionist study of labelling. Based on interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers, he found that they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted an image of the ‘ideal pupil’. Pupils’ work, conduct and appearance were key factors influencing teachers’ judgements. The teachers saw children from middle-class backgrounds as the closest to the ideal, and the lower working-class children as furthest away from it because they regarded them as badly behaved.

Front 2

Lacey (differentiation)

Back 2

Lacey’s concept of differentiation is the process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive their ability, attitude, or behaviour. Streaming categorises people into different classes- those that the school deems ‘more able’ are given high status by being placed in a high stream, while those deemed ‘less able’ are placed in low streams and are given an inferior status.

Front 3

Spender (teacher attention)

Back 3

Spender found that teachers spend more time interacting with boys than with girls. Moreover, Jane and Peter French analysed classroom interaction, and found similar results. Boys only received more attention because they attracted more reprimands.

Front 4

Francis (teacher attention)

Back 4

Francis also found that while boys got more attention, they were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers, who tended to have lower expectations of them

Front 5

Douglas (intellectual development)

Back 5

Found that working class pupils scored lower on tests of ability than middle-class pupils. He argued that this is because working-class parents are less likely to support their children’s intellectual development through reading with them or other educational activities within the home.

Front 6

Bernstein and Young (intellectual development)

Back 6

Basil Bernstein and Douglas Young reached similar conclusions, finding that the way mothers think about and choose toys has an influence on their children’s intellectual development. Middle-class mothers are more likely to choose toys that encourage thinking and reasoning skills and prepare children for school.

Front 7

Bereiter and Engelmann (language)

Back 7

Bereiter and Engelmann claim that the language used in lower-class homes is deficient. They describe lower-class families as communicating by gestures, single words or disjointed phrases.

Front 8

Bernstein (language)

Back 8

Restricted code and elaborated code. Restricted includes single words and gestures, unfinished sentences. Elaborated is complex with wider vocabulary, used in textbooks.

Front 9

Feinstein (attitudes and values)

Back 9

Feinstein found that working-class parents’ lack of interest was the main reason for children’s underachievement and was even more important than financial hardship or factors within school. Middle-class children are more successful because their parents provide them with the necessary motivation, discipline and support.

Front 10

Hyman (attitudes and values)

Back 10

Hyman argues that the values and beliefs of lower class subculture are a ‘self-imposed barrier’ to educational and career success. Believe they have less opportunity for individual advancement and place little value on achieving high status jobs, and so do not see any point in education. Less willing to make sacrifices involved in staying on at school.

Front 11

Sugarman (attitudes and values)

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Sugarman believes working-class subculture has four key features that act as a barrier- fatalism ( a belief in fate), collectivism (valuing being part of a group), immediate gratification (seeking pleasure now than making sacrifices and receiving a bigger reward later) and present-time orientation (seeing now as more important than future, no long term goals).

Front 12

Howard (diet and health)

Back 12

Howard notes that young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals. Poor nutrition affects health, for example by weakening the immune system and lowering children’s energy levels. Results in absences and difficulty concentrating in class.

Front 13

Wilkinson (diet and health)

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Wilkinson states that among 10 year olds, the lower the social class, the higher the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders, all of which are likely to have a negative effect on the child’s education.

Front 14

Bull and Tanner et al

Back 14

Bull ‘the costs of free schooling’.

Tanner et al found that the cost of items such as transport, uniforms, books etc. place a heavy burden on poor families.

Front 15

Rosenthal and Jackson (sfp)

Back 15

Told the school they had a test to identify those who would 'spurt' ahead. Was a normal IQ test. School believed them, identified the children who passed the test as 'spurters'. 47% of the 'spurters' made significant progress.

Front 16

Fuller (rejection of sfp, deterministic)

Back 16

Black girls who did not conform to the label of black girls underachieving at the school, instead channeled their anger into achieving high grades to prove otherwise.