Using Material from Item a and Elsewhere, Assess the View That Social Class Differences in Educational Achievement Are the Result of School Process as Labelling

Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that social class differences in educational achievement are the result of school process as labelling

Self fulfilling prophecy

streaming

pupil subcultures

Explain how these may create class differences in achievement

Labelling is the process of attaching a definition or meaning to an individual or group; e.g. teachers may label a pupil as a ‘trouble’. Most of the time, this label is a stereotype that defines all members of a group in the same way. In addition, social classes have got to do with social groupings or hierarchy based on differences in wealth, income or occupation. In the UK, there are two main social classes; these are the working class and the middle class.

There are quite a few school processes that can create class differences in achievement. The self fulfilling prophecy is when a label is attached to a student and in the long run due to being called this label, the student accepts it and ends up living up to this prophecy, fulfilling the label they were attached with.

This self fulfilling prophecy is linked with teacher’s idea of the ‘ideal pupil’. It is said that middle class pupils are more likely to fit this description of the ‘ideal pupil’. In addition, Becker has discovered that because they fit this image of the ‘ideal pupil’, teachers treat them more favourably according to a study by Becker. Whilst middle class students were being showered with praise, it said that working class pupils tend to have more chance of being negatively labelled and less academically motivated compared to students from middle class background. Although some pupils might be negatively labelled and accept the label, thus leading to academic failure, some students actually reject the label. Consequently, proving the teachers wrong which not pushes them to do just as well as middle class students but dismissing the label as whole. However, for the pupils that do get labelled and fail to reject the...