Does the Education System Benefit the Ruling Class?

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Lindsey Lowndes AS Sociology Coursework

TITLE: DOES THE EDUCATION SYSTEM BENEFIT THE RULING CLASS?

Hypothesis/Aim:

To explore reasons why the middle class benefit more from their relationship with teachers than the working class.  From a functionalist perspective the education system is based on a meritocratic theory, in that if you work hard you achieve success.  However, there are many factors that can hinder this process.  The focus of my study is from an interactionalist perspective and the way teachers relationships, including expectations, labelling and streaming has a positive impact on the middle class.

(Word Count: 78)

Concepts and Concepts:

Labelling is my first concept.  Labelling results from a certain group of people being categorised.  For example, those pupils with elaborated speech are less likely to be criticised and also understand what is being taught therefore may be labelled as achievers.  This can eventually lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, my second concept.  This is when the original prediction or label activates itself and becomes true. For example the pupils labelled, as achievers will respond to the expectations of the teacher and subsequently become high achievers.

My first context is a study carried out by the sociologist R.C. Rist, 1970 ‘Labelling and social class.’  He studied several Kindergarten schools in North America.  Rist observed that by the 8th day of a new academic year the children had been permanently seated.  Table one were the fast learners and tables two and three were the less able children.  Rist believed that it was not ability that determined the seating plan but it was conformity to the teacher’s own middle class standards that separated the children.  Obviously the middle class children conformed more so than working class because they look and sound better, i.e. Rist concluded that teachers evaluated and labelled pupils on the basis of their social class, and subsequently the children were seated on ability based tables; this is like a streaming process.

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My second context is a study carried out by Rosenthal and Jacobson in the 1960’s in an elementary school, California.  They informed the teacher of a group of children who were known as ‘spurters’, the teachers believed this was based on IQ tests, however, the ‘spurters’ were picked by random sampling.  12 months later, 47% of the ‘spurters’ achieved a 20+ IQ score compared to only 19% of the other children.

Rosenthal and Jacobson believed,

“This difference was due to expectation advantage- teachers expected and so got more from the ‘spurters’”

As identified in my 1st context, middle class are ...

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