relationships and processes within schools

• research has suggested that how well students perform in school is affected by school processes and organisation, and the teaching and learning context
• most of the material in this topic is based on the Interactionist perspective. Interactionist approaches tend to use micro or small-scale studies of what actually happens in school in contrast to macro theories like Functionalism and Marxism
• interactionists seek to discover how, through interactions with other pupils or teachers, pupils develop their attitudes and values towards school which influence the educational progress they make. This is shown by teacher expectations/stereotypes, streaming, labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy
• the ethos of a school refers to the core values, attitudes, beliefs and culture of the school and classroom
• examples of school ethos:

  • emphasis on academic success
  • emphasis on equal opportunities
  • a sense of community
  • encouraging pupils to participate in school life like taking part in decision-making through school council
• students learn values reflected in the school ethos and hidden curriculum simply by participating in the daily routines of school life e.g. a school with sports specialism may have displays of athletic trophies rather than other achievements- this encourages students to respect them
• examples of the hidden curriculum are punctuality, respect for authority, uniform, raising their hands to speak and school assemblies aim to instil certain values, attitudes and behaviours in students
• teacher-student interaction can influence the construction of positive or negative pupil self-concepts and identities: how they see themselves and how others define them
• teachers judge pupils by classifying pupils in certain ways such as whether they are bright or slow learners, troublemakers or ideal pupils.
• labelling by teachers can contribute to the moulding of student identities and has been shown to affect the educational performance and classroom behaviour of students
• Stereotype


  generalised belief held by the teacher (good/bad, thick/bright, 'normal'/deviant student and so on)
• Halo effect


  A teacher who has formed a good impression of a student in one way, for example seeing them as cooperative, polite and helpful, may see that student more favourably in other unrelated ways too - for instance, as being bright and hardworking (even if they're not) - and therefore encourage and support them
• Opposite halo effect


  A poor impression in one area - for example for being stroppy, difficult and disruptive - may affect other unrelated impressions too, with the student also being seen as lazy or not very bright (even if this isn't true)
• Waterhouse (2004), in case studies of four primary and secondary schools, suggests that teacher labelling of pupils as either normal/average or deviant types, as a result of impressions formed over a period of time, has implications for the way teachers interact with pupils and deal with them
• Pivotal identity


  A core identity providing a pivot which teachers use to interpret and reinterpret classroom events and student behaviour, and these pivotal pupil identities ('deviant' or 'normal'), once established, dominate the interpretation of specific acts of classroom behaviour
• A student once typed or labelled with a pivotal identity of 'deviant'


  Is likely to have episodes of normal, conformist classroom behaviour be interpreted by the teacher as a temporary episode or phase in the life of someone who is typically a classroom misfit
• Episodes of deviant, disruptive behaviour by a student typically labelled as 'normal' or average


  Are likely to be interpreted as a temporary phase or episode which will soon pass, and will have no long-term implications for the pupil's identity or for their future school careers
• The construction by teachers of normal or deviant pupil identities may lead to the self-fulfilling prophecy
• Pupils' behaviour is influenced by the way teachers react to them, and may give rise to student responses such as teacher-pupil conflicts, classroom confrontations, and the formation of a range of pro- or anti-school subcultures
• Ideal pupil


  The standard for teachers' judgements of the quality of young people as pupils, representing the typical normal or average conforming pupil
• Ideal pupil identity(Hempel-Jorgensen)


  • Hard work
  • Concentrating and listening to teachers
  • Performing well academically, such as through tests and exams
  • Good behaviour
  • Staying out of trouble
  • Conforming to rules laid down by teachers in order to achieve well
• Ideal learner


  The characteristics pupils think their teacher would like in a new pupil if one was to come into the class
• where do ideal pupil and ideal learner identities come from

  Arise out of the daily teacher-pupil and pupil-pupil interactions in the schooling process
• The category of 'ideal pupil' has become a significant reference point for teachers. This is shown by long-established research by Becker, Rist and Hargreaves
• The extent to which students conform to or deviate from the ideal pupil identity influences teachers' dealings with pupils, and how students view their own and their classmates' learner identities
• Factors that make up the stereotype of the ideal pupil and influence teachers' assessment of ability


  • Speech
  • Dress
  • Personality (how cooperative, considerate, likeable, polite, helpful and so on)
  • Relationships with other children
  • Conformity to discipline
  • Enthusiasm for work
  • Conduct
  • Appearance
• Becker and Rist found that social class of students, and the extent to which they conformed to the middle-class standards of teachers, rather than student abilities, were the most significant factors influencing teacher typing or labelling. Ethnic background and sex can also have important influences on this evaluation
• Photographs of children from different ethnic and social class background(Harvey and Slatin)


  • White, middle-class children were identified as more likely to be successful students
  • Teachers had lowered expectations of those from poorer and non-white backgrounds
• Gillborn found that the ideal pupil stereotype held by teachers favours those who are white, and many teachers simply do not see black children as likely academic successes
• Teachers were denying opportunities to black children, especially Black Caribbean pupils, regardless of their social class or gender, their ability and achievements, their subject choices or their drive and ambition(Gillborn)
• The ideal pupil stereotype is also more likely to be applied to girls, including Indian Asian girls, than to boys
• Students - particularly male students - from lower-working-class homes, and from some ethnic groups, are often seen as being poorly motivated and lacking support from the home, and liable to be disruptive in the class-room. This means they may be labelled as lacking ability even if they are very able.
• Those from middle-class and white backgrounds most closely fit the teacher's ideal pupil stereotype, and teachers may assume that children who enter school already confident, fluent and familiar with learning, who are more likely to be from middle-class homes, have greater potential, and will push them to achieve accordingly
• The 'ideal pupil' - and the associated 'ideal learner' identities held by pupils - in general fit most closely the profile of white, middle-class and Indian Asian girls
• The 'ideal pupil' conception can positively or negatively affect students' later academic achievement by, for example, influencing decisions about what streams or sets to put students in, and what options and exams are available to them
• The expectations arising from teacher stereotypes and evaluations

  May change the behaviour of pupils and their learner identities, and lead to the self-fulfilling prophecy
• Ideal pupil


  The standard for teachers' judgements of the quality of young people as pupils
• Teachers initially evaluate pupils in comparison with their stereotypes of the 'ideal pupil'
• Becker(1971) discovered that teachers initially evaluate pupils in relation to their stereotypes of the 'ideal pupil'
• how does the way teachers assess and evaluate students affect pupils?

  Affects pupil identities and subsequently their achievement levels