Processes inside schools

Overview

Labelling and Hargreaves's typing, Fuller's resistant pupils, the hidden curriculum, streaming, setting and banding, Ball's Beachside, the self-fulfilling prophecy, and Willis's lads.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is labelling in education?

   Model answer

   Labelling in education means attaching a judgement to a pupil, such as ‘bright’ or ‘troublemaker’. Interactionists argue teachers' labels shape how pupils see themselves and how they behave.

2. 2

   What three stages of typing pupils did Hargreaves (1975) identify?

   Model answer

   Speculation comes first, when teachers guess what kind of pupil a newcomer is. Elaboration then tests the guess, and stabilisation fixes a settled label that shapes how the pupil is treated.

3. 3

   What did Hargreaves (1967) find in his study of a boys' secondary modern school?

   Model answer

   Hargreaves, an interactionist, found teachers labelled boys in the lower streams as failures. Denied status by the school, these boys formed a delinquent subculture that rewarded misbehaviour. Hargreaves spent a year in the school, observing lessons and interviewing pupils and teachers.

4. 4

   Give one criticism of labelling theory in education, with evidence.

   Model answer

   Labelling theory can be too deterministic, implying every labelled pupil accepts the label. Fuller (1984) found Black girls in a London school rejected negative labels and worked hard to prove teachers wrong.

5. 5

   Define the hidden curriculum.

   Model answer

   The hidden curriculum is the norms and values pupils learn through a school's routines and organisation, not formal lessons. Punctuality, obeying authority, uniform rules and competing for rewards are all taught this way.

6. 6

   How can the hidden curriculum teach gender roles?

   Model answer

   Feminists argue that dress codes, teacher expectations and who holds senior posts send messages about gender. Girls may learn to be quiet and helpful, while boys learn to be assertive.

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