Assess the View That Factors Within Schools Are the Greatest Influence on Social- Class Differences in Educational Achievement
Assess the view that factors within schools are the greatest influence on social- class differences in educational achievement. (20 marks)
I am going to be looking at the view that schools and the education system determine how successful each individual student will become; sociologists have very mixed opinions about whether the education system is beneficial to all pupils. There are some sociologists that believe labelling and stereotypes affect the way a student achieves within the education system.
To label a student means to attach a meaning or make a presumption about their behaviour, labelling can be detrimental to a student while at school, for example, if a student isn’t focused in one of their lessons and isn’t as successful as they could possibly, the teacher will label the student as distracted and possibly lazy, not doing as much work as they should be; if in meetings teachers discuss this with other teachers it could possibly influence their opinion on the student and realise they are not reaching their full potential. When teachers first meet their pupils they automatically make an assumption about them on how they look and how they carry themselves, if a student comes in to a classroom with a hood on, baggy trousers and with a bad attitude it can be quite easy for a teacher to suggest the student isn’t going to be intelligent or an asset to the class room.
Once a teacher sees a student dressed inappropriately for school and carrying themselves in a certain way, it’s almost natural that they begin to question the social class of the student, in this case they would assume the student is working class, and that education isn’t something of a priority to the student. Becker (1971) studied labelling in secondary schools, using interviews of 60 high school teachers; he found that teachers stereotyped students based on their work, conduct and appearance. Teachers saw middle class children as the closest to their stereotype of the ‘Ideal pupil’
I am going to be looking at the view that schools and the education system determine how successful each individual student will become; sociologists have very mixed opinions about whether the education system is beneficial to all pupils. There are some sociologists that believe labelling and stereotypes affect the way a student achieves within the education system.
To label a student means to attach a meaning or make a presumption about their behaviour, labelling can be detrimental to a student while at school, for example, if a student isn’t focused in one of their lessons and isn’t as successful as they could possibly, the teacher will label the student as distracted and possibly lazy, not doing as much work as they should be; if in meetings teachers discuss this with other teachers it could possibly influence their opinion on the student and realise they are not reaching their full potential. When teachers first meet their pupils they automatically make an assumption about them on how they look and how they carry themselves, if a student comes in to a classroom with a hood on, baggy trousers and with a bad attitude it can be quite easy for a teacher to suggest the student isn’t going to be intelligent or an asset to the class room.
Once a teacher sees a student dressed inappropriately for school and carrying themselves in a certain way, it’s almost natural that they begin to question the social class of the student, in this case they would assume the student is working class, and that education isn’t something of a priority to the student. Becker (1971) studied labelling in secondary schools, using interviews of 60 high school teachers; he found that teachers stereotyped students based on their work, conduct and appearance. Teachers saw middle class children as the closest to their stereotype of the ‘Ideal pupil’