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Explain Some Of The Ways In Which Labelling Process May Lead To Educational Under Achievement

Decent Essays

Nazeefah Nazir Ali
Outline some of the ways in which labelling process may lead to educational under-achievement for some people
The explanations of differential educational achievement that have been examined so far suggest that pupils’ progress is influenced by factors over which they have little control. Yet the most obvious place to look for explanations is within the education system. Schools play an important role in determining the success of failure of an individual’s education. There are many factors which lead to the under achievement for some people, these fall under three main categories Genetic, External and Internal. The focus of my essay will be to outline factors leading to under achievement through internal factors. …show more content…

They are interested in how people attach labels and the effects this has on those who are labelled.
Becker (1971) based on interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers it was found that they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted the image of the ideal pupil. Pupils work conduct and appearances were key factors influencing teachers’ judgements, those from Middle Class backgrounds were closer to the ideal pupil than Working Class. In relation to this Keddies study reflected how Labelling can be applied not just to pupils but also to the knowledge they are taught. Classes are streamed by ability and Keddy found that although teachers believed they were teaching all pupils in the same way, the higher streams were given more abstract, theoretical and high status knowledge. The less able streams were given descriptive common sense knowledge which created differences in educational attainment.
Labelling then leads on to Self fulfilling prophecies, it is a prediction that comes true simply by being labelled as much. Interactionists argue that labelling can affect pupils’ achievement by creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Hargreaves used an example to illustrate the self-fulfilling prophecy. Firstly he speculated how the teacher labels a pupil and on the basis of this label they make predictions about them. The teacher then treats the pupil accordingly, acting as if the prediction is already true. The step is Stabilisation; the pupil

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