Last Updated on May 12, 2017 by Karl Thompson
Main Sub Topics
The Interactionist Perspective – Introduces the topic area, make sure you can explain the difference between Interactionism and Structural Theories
School Ethos and The Hidden Curriculum
- The School Ethos
- The Hidden Curriculum
Teacher Stereotyping and the halo effect
- The ideal pupil
- Labelling and the Self Fulfilling Prophecy
Banding, streaming and setting
- Definitions of banding/ streaming setting
- Summaries of evidence on the effects of banding etc
- Unequal access to classroom knowledge
Educational triage
- Gilborn and Youdell’s work focusing on the significance of league tables and ‘writing off students who have no chance of passing
Student responses to the experience of schooling: school subcultures
- Differentiation and Polarisation
- Pro-School subcultures
- Anti-school (or counter-school) subcultures =
- Between pro and anti-school subcultures: a range of responses
Evaluations of in-school processes
- Determinism (labelling)
- Evidence based on micro processes (generaliseablity?)
- Out of school more important (90% of the difference)
| Selected concepts and research studies you need to know | |
| · Labelling theory and the self-fulfilling prophecy
· Banding and Streaming · Subcultures · The Hidden Curriculum · School Ethos · Educational Triage · Deterministic |
· Gilborn and Youdell
· However Becker · Stephen Ball · Rosenthal and Jacobson · Paul Willis |
| Selected short answer questions |
| Outline three ways in which the curriculum might be ethnocentric (6)
Outline two criticisms of labelling theory (4) Using material from item A, analyse two ways in which the hidden curriculum may disadvantage working class students (10) |
Selected Essay Questions
Evaluate the view that it is mainly in-school processes which explain differential education achievement across different groups in society (30)
Research Studies on In-School Processes
You are expected to be able to cite named research when looking at ‘in school processes’ in an essay – below are some studies we’ve looked at already, you should know these….
| Research on Teacher Labelling and pupil responses
|
| 1. Howard Becker – Labelling and the Ideal Pupil
2. Rosenthal and Jacobsen – The Self Fulfilling Prophecy (p104) 3. David Gilborn and Cecile Wright – Found that teachers had ‘racialised expectations’ (in ethnicity hand-out 4. Heidi Mirza (p119) – found that there were’ three types’ of teacher racism…. And that black girls had to adopt particular strategies for dealing with this 5. Research has also shown that teachers label boys and girls differently…. (in gender hand-out) 6. NB – Margaret Fuller (p118) – found that not all pupils accept their labels |
| Research on Peer Pressure and Pupil Subcultures
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| 7. Paul Willis – The Counter School Culture
8. Mac an Ghail – found there were a variety of ‘class based subcultures’… (in class hand-out) 9. Becky Francis – found that boys were more likely to adopt ‘laddish subcultures’ (in gender hand-out) 10. Louis Archer also found that working class girls’ ‘style subcultures’ can come into conflict with the school….(in gender hand-out) 11. Tony Sewell – notes that although there is a distinct ‘anti-school culture’ amongst some African- Caribbean boys, but there are also a wider variety of African- Caribbean subcultures (p119)
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| Research on Banding and Streaming |
| 1. Stephen Ball’s 1960s work on banding in beachside comprehensive showed that…. (class hand-out
2. Gilborn and Youdell Found that there is an ‘A-C Economy’…. (ethnicity hand-out) |
| Research on School Ethos and the Hidden Curriculum |
| 1. Feminists argue that Gender Regimes still exist…(this and below both in gender hand-out
2. School Ethos can have an effect on how boys express their masculinity – independent schools tend to have fewer problems with laddish subcultures than schools in poorer areas… 3. Stephen Strand argued that ‘institutional racism’ exists in schools
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Yup, you basically got it!
Is the main difference between structuralist theories (marxism, functionalism) and interactionalism that structural theories focus on the whole of society to explain education whereas interactionalists focus on the individual to explain behaviour, so through self-concept, labelling, etc? The structuralists are top-down, whereas the interactionalists are bottom-up?