Labelling
Sociology: AQA A Level, topic 2.3.2
Labelling and the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Interactionists see labelling theory in action in education. Labelling theory says that people make judgements about others and label them accordingly.
Labelling
- The way teachers label pupils can influence a number of factors, including pupil identities and, ultimately, achievement.
- Rosenthal and Jacobson demonstrated that pupils can bring their self-image and behaviour in line with these teacher stereotypes and expectations; a phenomenon known as the ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’.
The self-fulfilling prophecy
- The negative effects of the self-fulfilling prophecy have been found to be more pronounced on working-class and black boys and are most positive on middle-class pupils and girls, most notably, Indian Asian girls.
Labelling theory in education
- Teachers may label a student who gets low exam scores or performs badly in a particular class as a low achiever.
- A student may find this label difficult to “shake off,” which can create a self-fulfilling prophecy (Merton 1968).
- This is when someone starts embracing the identity of the label they've been given.
Self-fulfilling prophecy example
- Consider a secondary school student who often cuts class and gets into fights. Teachers frequently tell the student off, and soon enough, the student develops a reputation as a “troublemaker.”
- As a result, the student starts acting out even more and breaking more rules. The student has adopted the “troublemaker” label and embraced this identity.
Iverson study
- In his book High School Confidential, Jeremy Iverson writes about his experience as a Stanford graduate posing as a student at a California high school.
- One of the problems he identifies in his research is that of teachers giving students labels that the students are never able to lose.
Iverson study cont.
- One teacher told him, without knowing he was a bright graduate of a top university, that he would never amount to anything (Iverson 2006).
- Iverson obviously didn’t take this teacher’s false assessment to heart. But when an actual 17-year-old student hears this from a person with authority over him or her, it’s no wonder that the student might begin to “live down to” that label.
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968)
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) demonstrated that pupils can bring their self-image and behaviour in line with teacher stereotypes and expectations; a phenomenon known as the ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’.
Experiment
- Rosenthal and Jacobson tested the theory of the self-fulfilling prophecy using a field experiment.
- In a state primary school in California, they gave teachers false information about the IQ scores of some of the pupils.
Method
- Pupils were selected at random but teachers were told that one group was particularly bright and that the other group had low IQ scores and weren’t expected to progress very far.
Findings
- Results showed that, in general, the pupils performed in line with the (false) information that had been given to teachers.
Evaluation: Reliability
- The study has been replicated many times, with some of the results confirming the impact labelling has on academic achievement.
- However, other studies have failed to find a relationship.
Test yourself on Labelling
Who demonstrated that pupils can bring their self-image and behaviour in line with teacher stereotypes and expectations?
What does Rosenthal and Jacobson's lack given that the study has been replicated many times with different results?
How were pupils assigned to the two conditions in Rosenthal and Jacobson's study?
When did Rosenthal and Jacobson conduct their research?