Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Relationships and Processes within Schools - Coggle Diagram
Relationships and Processes within Schools
School Teaches You a
Hidden Curriculum
Schools pass on a set of social norms and values to their students
Turning up on time, dressing smartly and working hard to achieve rewards are all part of it
All teach things students need in adult life
Part of many areas of school life
E.g. a hierarchy of management staff, teaching staff and students teaches respect for authority.
Punishments for failing to do homework teach students the importance of following instructions
Labelling Theory
- Teachers can create self-fulfilling prophecies
Very popular idea in the 1970s and 1980s
States people decide on the characters of others and treat them accordingly, whether it's fair or not
Labels are an important part of teacher-pupil relationships
If a student is labelled as a 'trouble-maker', they're disciplined more harshly than classmates
A student labelled a 'bright spark' is given encouragement to help them to succeed further
Can create a self-fulfilling prophecy, where the student internalises the label they've been given as part of their identity and 'acts up' to it.
E.g. Troublemakers might behave poorly because that's how they think their teacher expects them too
Gillborn and Youdell
(2000)
Found that black pupils were more likely to be disciplined than their white classmates for the same behaviour
Black students felt their teachers had low expectations of them
There are Different Ways to
Organise Teaching
in School
Streaming
Sorted into classes according to ability, and they stay in them for all or most of their subjects
:(
Students are likely to be better at some subjects than others
Some 'bottom stream' aren't challenged enough to certain subjects
Some 'top stream' struggle in some subjects
Setting
Sorted into classes according to ability, but on a subject-by-subject basis
E.g. a student could be in the top class for maths and lowest for music
:)
Students can work at their own level and pace
:(
Can lead to low self-esteem for those in the lowest ability classes
Ball
(1981)
Found teachers had high expectations for the highest ability classes
They received even more attention and encouragement, whilst lower classes suffered from negative labelling and performed poorly
Can actually increase the differences in student achievement
Mixed Ability
Sorted into classes that aren't based on ability, so the highest and lowest achieving students are taught together
:)
Can avoid worsening gaps in pupil achievement
:(
Studies have shown teachers still hold low expectations for lower ability pupils, and often lower their level of teaching to suit them
Can mean there isn't enough challenging work for the higher ability students
Pupils can Form
Subcultures
in Schools
A group who share ideas and behaviour patterns which are different from the mainstream culture
Positive or Negative effect on student achievement
Much debate over how and why they form
Pro-School Subcultures and Anti-School Subcultures
- Most Common
Lacey
(1970) Streaming
Claimed it's a result of streaming
Conducted his study in a grammar school
Even though all pupils had been selected as 'bright' at age 11, bottom stream still formed an anti-school subculture, because they were labelled as failures.
Fuller
(1984) Ethnicity
Looked at a group of black girls in Year 11 at a comprehensive school
High ability, but felt their teachers were racist, so didn't work for their teachers' approval
They formed a subculture, worked alone and succeeded
Willis
(1977) Social Class
Studied a group of boys who formed an anti-school subculture
Found 'the lads' deliberately disrupted lessons as a way of gaining respect from others within the subculture
Observed that the boys were WC and likely to get manual jobs after school
Seemed to believe school was of no use to them in the future
Identity
is a More General Way of Studying School Pupils
Labelling, self-fulfilling prophecies, the organisation of teaching, and subcultures all have an impact on the achievement of school pupils
It can be hard to work out the specific effects of each
Considering a pupil's identity can be a way of bringing together all these, and thinking about them alongside factors outside of school
E.g. Parental attitude and whether they're suffering from poverty
:(
Very complex
If a sociologist wants to study the specific process within a school on achievement, then identity can make this difficult