Internal Factors Affecting Working-Class Underachievement in Education
Internal factors within schools significantly impact working class underachievement in education. These factors include labelling, the self-fulfilling prophecy, streaming, pupil subcultures, and pupil identities. Sociologists use these concepts to explain class differences in educational outcomes.
Definition: Internal factors refer to elements within the school environment that can influence a student's achievement.
Labelling is a crucial internal factor affecting working-class achievement. Teachers, who hold power over students, often attach labels based on stereotypical assumptions about students' backgrounds. This process typically results in negative labels for working-class pupils and positive labels for middle-class students.
Vocabulary: Labelling refers to the attaching of a definition to an individual.
Becker, an interactionist sociologist, developed the theory of labelling. His research suggests that teachers judge pupils based on how closely they fit the image of the "ideal pupil." Middle-class pupils often match this ideal more closely due to their use of elaborated speech codes, smart dress, and polite behavior towards teachers.
Example: Middle-class pupils are more likely to be labelled as the "ideal pupil" because they speak in elaborated speech codes used in schools, dress smartly, and are polite to teachers.
Rist's research in primary schools found that labelling occurs early in a child's education, with teachers using information about a child's background and appearance to place them in groups. This practice negatively affects working-class educational achievement.
The concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy, as argued by Rosenthal and Jacobs, suggests that teacher labelling can become a reality for students. As teachers hold power, students internalize these labels, which eventually become true. This phenomenon helps explain why working-class pupils are more easily influenced by teachers and why middle-class pupils tend to perform better in school.
Highlight: The self-fulfilling prophecy explains how teacher expectations can shape student performance, particularly disadvantaging working-class pupils.
While interactionist perspectives focus on these internal factors, Marxists argue that labels are not solely the result of individual teacher opinions but reflect wider societal influences that reproduce class inequalities.
