Sociology As, Class Differences In Education, Internal Factors

Front 1

What are interactionalist sociologists interested in?

Back 1

Interactionalist sociologists focus on interactions between individuals and the effect that had on them and the society around them- in regards to who is labelled ect.

Front 2

What did Howard Becker study? What year was his study?

Back 2

Becker (1971) carried out an important internationalist study of labelling, based on interviews with 60 Chicago high school, found that teachers judged pupils depending on how close they fitted the 'ideal pupil', the 'ideal pupil in their eyes was essentially the children that were middle class whereas the believed working class children to be naughty and miss behave.

Front 3

What did Amelia Hempel-Jorgensen find in relation to Howard Beckers study? What year was her study conducted?

Back 3

Amelia Hempel-Jorgensen (2009), elaborated on Beckers work on labelling and the 'ideal pupil. She studied two primary schools , one located within a predominantly working class area, the other predominantly middle class. Hampel- Jorgensen found that teachers within the working class school had particular behavioural problems and therefore saw the 'ideal pupil' as those who are passive and behave, whereas teachers from the predominantly middle-class school based who is an 'ideal pupil' on their academic success.

Front 4

What Did Dunne and Gazey find? What year did they conduct their study?

Back 4

Dunne and Gazey (2008) from conducting interviews in nine English state secondary schools Dunne and Gazey found that teachers labelled middle-class parents as supportive of their children's education e.g through paying for music lessons ect. Whereas they labelled working class parents as uninterested in their children's education. Due to these labels when a working-class child was failing the teachers believed it was inevitable and put little additional help in place to support them and entered them for easier exams. However, when a middle-class child was falling behind they set them additional work and gave them additional support to help them catch up. Dunne and Gazey concluded that labelling was, therefore, the dominant explanation for class differences in education.

Front 5

What study did Jacobson and Rosenthal conduct and what year was the study conduct?

Back 5

Jacobson and Rosenthal (1868) conducted a study at Oak Community school. The displayed how self-fulfilling prophecies work. They pretended to be psychologists and made students take an IQ test. They then randomly selected 20% of the class and told their teachers that this 20% were 'spurters' (would educationally advance faster than the other students), when they returned a year later they found that 47% of the 20% identified as 'spurters 'had significantly improved their academic performance. Demonstrating that after being told these randomly selected children were 'spurters' their teachers then gave them additional encouragement and attention because the way they perceive the children had changed. This, therefore, demontates a self-fulfilling prophecy, simply by accepting the idea that the children would spurt ahead, the teachers then brought it about. The fact that the children were selected randomly suggests that if teachers believe a pupil to be a certain type, they will, therefore, become that certain type.

Front 6

Why is Jacobson and Rosenthal's study important? Plus what date was it written in again?

Back 6

1968- The study's finding is important as it illustrates an important interactionalist principle that what people believe to be true will have significant effects, even if they were not initially true.

Front 7

What did Douglas find regarding children and streaming? (Think of Doug saying something really obvious but being like 'oh hey I'm a clever sociologist because he's drunk)

Back 7

Douglas found that children placed in higher sets by the age of 8 had improved their IQ score by the age of 11.

Front 8

What do Gillborn and Youdell discuss reguarding the 'IDEAL PUPIL'? What year were they writing in?

Back 8

Gillborn and Yodell (2001) argue that teachers have an image of an ideal child within their head and compare all children against that. They are less likely to see working class and black children as ' ideal pupils', they, therefore, allow them less access to resources they need to educationally succeed, which therefore further widens the gap in achievement.

Front 9

What Do Gillborn and Youdell link streaming too?

Back 9

Gillborn and Youdell link streaming to the publishing of school league tables. Schools gain higher positions on league tables depending on how many students achieve A*-C in GCSE. The higher they are on the league tables, the higher they are on the league tables, the more students attend the school which means the school gains more funding. This, therefore, creates an A*-C economy in schools. Pupils are placed into 3 groups, an 'Educational triage': Pupils who will pass the exams anyway, students who are C/D borderline and those who are helpless cases. Youdell and Gillborn argue that Working class and black students are almost always labelled as being 'hopeless cases'. Schools focus their attention and resources on the C/D borderline students in order to help them gain a C , so they look better within the school statistics and subsequently gain more funding. This, therefore, reinforces class inequality.

Front 10

Why is Gillborn and Youdell's study interesting?

Back 10

Gillborn and Youdell's study is interesting because it uses interactionalist, micro concepts such as labelling and setting and streaming and further links it to macro concepts such as exam league tables and the marketisation of education.

Front 11

What did Colin Lacey argue? What year?

Back 11

Colin Lacey (1970) Argue that subcultures within schools develop through two things: differentiation and polarisation. Differentiation is the process of teachers categorising pupils depending on their opinion of the pupil. An example of differentiation is streaming within schools. A study of Hightown boy Grammer school demonstrated Polarisation in which pupils respond to streaming by placing themselves at opposite poles, those at the top developing 'pro school subcultures', those at the bottom developing anti-school subcultures. According to Lacey when placed in lower streams children are subjected to a drop in self-esteem as deemed as in a position of inferior status. In order regain self-esteem pupils create an anti-subculture, gain more esteem pupils may 'doss around' and misbehave in order to gain status among their friends. However, their behaviour has a negative consequence on their education.

Front 12

What Did David Hargrove Find? What year?

Back 12

David Hargrove (1967) found a similar response to Colin Lacey's study, from studying the response to labelling and setting in a secondary modern school. For the view of the education system, the boys were triple failures when places in a bottom band. Not only had they failed their 11+'s but they additionally had been placed in lower sets and were labelled as worthless failures by the school. According to Hargrove the boys had little choice but to form an anti-school subculture with high status that disrespected school rules.

Front 13

What did Stephen Ball Find? What year?

Back 13

Stephen Ball (1981) in his study of beachside comprehensive, a school in favour of mixed ability groups, found that by removing the setting, polarisation that produced anti-school subcultures was demolished. However, although polarisation was removed, differentiation was not: children were still labelled by their teachers depending on their class. Middle-class students were still labelled as more able and cooperative. The positive label was reflected in the exam results produced by the children, suggesting a self-fulfilling prophecy had occurred. Ball's study shows that even without the effects of subculture, class inequalities can continue as a result of teachers labelling.

Front 14

Theorists such as Ball claim there are two responses to streaming: the development of anti- school subculture or pro school subculture, however, Peter Woods says there are 4, what are the 4 ?

Back 14

1) Integration: being the 'teacher's pet'.

2) Ritualism: going through the motions and staying out of trouble.

3) retreatism, daydreaming and mucking about

4) Rebellion - outright rejection of the school and everything it stands for.

Front 15

Critiques of labelling theory?

Back 15

Too deterministic-it assumes pupils who are labelled negatively have no choice but to fulfil the prophecy. However, studies such as Mary Fuller's in 1984 show this is not always true ( where a group of black girls rebelled against the labels placed against them and did really well in their exams!!)

Marxist also further critiques labelling theory by claiming it blames teachers automatically rather than looking at the wider society that cause such prejudice through secondary socialisation.

Front 16

What does Habitus refer to and who talks about Habitus?

Back 16

Habitus refers to the disposition or learned way of thinking of being, shared by a social class. Including their tastes, preferences about life, expectations and what is realistic for 'people like us'. A groups habitus is formed in response to their position within the class structure.

Front 17

What does Louise Archer argue? Who's work does she draw on? What date?

Back 17

Louise Archer (2010) draws on the work of Bourdie (1984) referring to habitus of different classes. Archer argues that although each class has a different habitus , no one is superior to another, but the middle class have the ability to dictate which class is perceived as superior within the education system.This gives the middle class an advantage, pupils that have been socialised into middle-class tastes or preferences gain 'symbolic capital' and status recognition from the school. By contrast, the school devalues the working class habitus. Bourdieu calls this the holding of symbolic capital 'symbolic violence' by defining working class lifestyles as inferior, symbolic violence reproduces the class structure and keeps the lower classes 'in their place'. Due to the fact the education system values middle class habitus over working class , working class students are made to feel alien and unnatural. Archer Further found that working class pupils felt that in order to achieve in school , they would have to change the way they present themselves. Therefore educational success for working class students is a process of losing themselves. They feel they would not be able to access middle-class careers and universities without changing their identity. Such places are not for 'people like us'.

Front 18

What does Louise Archer further argues regarding 'Nike identities?'

Back 18

Archer (2010) argues that 'Nike identities play a role in the rejection of school. The school's habitus clashed with the working class habitus so they feel as though they need to create their own identity and do so wearing branded sports clothing such as 'Nike' to represent their identity. The middle-class teachers see the clothing as tasteless and leads to conflict with the school's uniform. The working class children, however, use it as part of generating symbolic capital and self-worth and it was 'social suicide' if they did not fit in with their peers. However, this leads to greater risk of being labelled negatively by their teachers. The Nike syles play a part in the rejection of higher education by the working class pupils, which is something that see as unrealistic and undesirable. Unrealistic as they know they would not fit in as a place that had a middle-class habitus and something that they would not be necessarily able to afford. Undesirable because it would not suit their preferred lifestyle e.g they would not be able to but branded clothing if they went to uni, but the clothing forms part of their identity. According to Archer Et Al 'Nike identities' is a cause of working class marginalisation. It expresses their positive preference for a particular lifestyle and working class pupils may choose self-elimination or self-exclusion from education. Not only do they 'get the message'that education is not 'for us' but they actively choose to reject education because it is not 'for the likes of them'.

Front 19

What did Nicola Ingram find? What date?

Back 19

Nicola Ingram (2009) studied a group of working class boys in a deprived area in Belfast. After taking the 11+'s some went to the local grammar school while those that had failed the test went to the local secondary modern. The secondary school had a habitus of low expectations and underachievement, whereas the Grammar school had a predominantly middle-class habitus and expected high academic achievement from its pupils. The working class community that surrounded the boys placed large value on conformity and they were entirely immersed within it, the neighbourhood's close family and friends gave the boys a sense of identity and belonging. However, out of the boys that attended to grammar school, the working class habitus of the boys often clashed the middle class habitus of the school. For example, Ingram discusses the case of a boy named Callum , who was ridiculed by his classmates for wearing a tracksuit to school on a non-school uniform day. For opting to identify with his neighbourhood he was made to feel worthless by the middle class habitus of the school. Callum's ridiculing is an example of symbolic violence - working class pupils are forced to change their identity in order to fit in with the school's middle class habitus.

Front 20

What does Sarah Evans find? what date?

Back 20

Sarah Evans (2009) from studying a group of 21 girls in south London, studying their A-levels, Evans found that most girls were reluctant to apply for elite universities such as Oxbridge and those who did apply felt a sense of hidden barriers of not fitting in.