The main on being labelling and teacher racism. An example of labelling can be if a student labels a student as 'bright' they are more likely to stick to this label and achieve higher grades. However this also means that teachers may label students due to their ethnic background without considering their actual level of cleverness. For example black students do not fit the ideal pupil silhouette and may therefore be labelled as a 'troublemaker leading them to not do as well as white pupils. Cecile Wright (1992) found that Asian pupils are also a target of labelling by teachers.
Payne stated that students should learn the “hidden rules” of the middle class from their educators so that they have another set of rules to use if they choose to do so. Impoverished students, compared to students of middle or upper class, often have a lack of proper funding, thus, a lack of appropriate resources to use in their education. Due to this, they are often unprepared for school, not having the money to purchase books and other educational tools. Both authors realize this, but argue that the responsibility lies on different shoulders. Payne states that impoverished students face inequality at school, insinuating that the school should be responsible for helping to provide for these students so that they can have a better education.
The self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true simply by it being made, which leads to a student’s underachievement. If teachers have low expectations of certain children and they are aware of these expectations, these children may develop a negative self-concept. They may come to see themselves as failures and give up trying, thereby fulfilling their original prophecy and leading to underachievement. Studies show that self-fulfilling prophecy is particularly less likely to occur when children are streamed. Streaming involves separating children into different ability groups or classes called 'streams'.
The study found that the counsellor judged pupils largely on their social class; this therefore put them at a disadvantage as middle-class students were placed on higher level courses. The self-fulfilling prophecy is another internal factor that can be linked to social class differences in achievement. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true simply by virtue of it being made. Some sociologists argue that labelling can effect pupil’s achievement by creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. This can be seen in a study of a primary school by Rosenthal and Jacobson.
Many people argue that development is vital in the younger years in the child’s life, and the ability to solve problems and apply ideas help in the long-term. Hyman argues that the lower classes create a self imposed barrier to learning their values. This is because he believes that they have a low value on education, with a ‘play safe’ culture and also a low level of self belief. This would all impact on the child performance at school as they would not have the attitude needed to progress. If at any point they failed, they would see this as a big mistake and give up and have a lack of motivation.
Are Co-ed Schools bad for students’ self-esteem? Studies such as in “The Effects Of Single Gender Schools On Boys’ Self-Esteem And Academic Confidence” by Nichols G. Morgan “ Boys in Mixed gender schools experiencing constant failure will continue a downward spiral of self-esteem and academic performance.” In a study conducted by James A. McGruder, “Comparison of Academic Performance and Self-Esteem Levels in Female Adolescents Attending Single Gender and Coeducational Public Schools,” “…[A]dolescent girls attending coeducational schools are at a disadvantage in terms of developing positive self-esteem and academic achievement. Researches proposed that coeducational schools have difficulty providing a ‘comfortable’ learning environment for adolescent girls. Some researches also observed that adolescent girls attending coeducational schools often do not receive a through and comprehensive education.” Single gender schools would be a better environment for both girls and boys. They would benefit from being in a learning state where they don’t have to be inferior to the opposite sex in a specific subject because that is the stereotype.
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, asses the view that factors and processes within the school are the main cause of differences in the educational achievement of different social groups. Class differences can play a significant role in educational achievement be it under or over-achievement. Underachievement is associated with working-class children, as when they are young they are identified as W/C and then labelled. This view was put forward by Becker (1971) who identified in his study that teachers did not view W/C children as ideal pupils. Their work, appearance and conduct were all factors the teachers based their label around.
On the other hand, is keeping the society working effectively and peacefully what we want from education. Teaching these children in separate groups may result in a lack of communicating skills with different people. Our society is conceived by different people after all, these advanced children may hardly get on well with people who are less cleverer, which will do harm to their future. Worsen off, chaos are unavoidable. Every coin has two sides.
In a special needs school carers/teachers attitude towards special needs children is that they can have strong feeling of pity, a belief that they are less fortunate and a tendency to compensate them for their disability. This might mean that the teacher gets over protecting over the children and cause the children to be hostile and snappy towards him/her. Also by him/her not letting the child do things by themselves will reduce their autonomy. Prejudices – Attitudes that are usually negative. (Attitudes are prejudices when they are generally disapproved of).
Individuals whose deviance becomes known may be more likely to continue in a deviant path because their previous peer circle has deemed them as ‘deviant’ and has ostracized the individual from their peer circle. In turn, because their peers have labeled an individual, they will be more likely to behave in a deviant fashion. Labeling can also insulate individuals from deviant behavior through positive labels. In a similar fashion, teachers that label their students are likely to find that their expectations will impact end of year school outcomes. Specifically, teachers that have labeled their students as ‘slow’ or of below average intelligence will find that their students will perform to the teacher’s expectations.