Labelling

• Label


  • to label someone is to attach a meaning or definition to them
  • in education, teachers often label pupils according to stereotypes and assumptions rather than reality
• Becker (1971)


  carried out an interactionalist study on labelling. Based on interviews with 60 Chicago high school teachers he found that they judged pupils according to how well they fit the 'ideal pupil', based on work, conduct and appearance.

  • they saw m/c pupils as closest to ideal and w/c as more badly behaved

  *could link this to what Wilkinson said*
• Hempel-Jorgensen (2009)


  studied 2 uk primary schools and found differences in the definition of an ideal pupil:

  • one primary's ideal pupil was quiet, passive and obedient whilst the other's was defined in terms of personality and academic ability
• Dunne and Gazeley (2008)


  • interviewed 9 english state secondaries and they argue that schools persistently produce and normalise w/c underachievement due to the labels and assumptions from teachers
  • they set extension work for m/c pupils but entered w/c into easier exams
  • m/c parents more supportive
• Rist (1970)


  studied an american kindergarten and found that teachers used info about pupils' home background and appearance to separate them into different groups