The document discusses interactionist approaches to understanding education. Interactionists believe that human behavior is influenced by how individuals perceive themselves based on interactions with others, rather than being determined by external forces alone. The research of David Hargreaves found that teachers initially categorized students based on attributes like appearance, ability, likability, and conformity. These initial categorizations often led to stereotyping, known as the "halo effect." Further research found that teacher labeling of students as bright or thick could become self-fulfilling prophecies, influencing how students perceived and performed themselves.

1. Interactionist Approach to Education Functionalist, Marxist and Feminist approaches to understanding the purpose of education are said to be deterministic Determinism means a person’s behaviour is controlled by an external force or forces The external force for Marxists is capitalism and the external force for Feminism is patriarchy

2. Interactionist Approach to Education However not all sociologists believe that human behaviour is determined or controlled by external forces and these sociologists are known as interactionists Interactionism is where individuals choose how they want to behave (think of the puppet controlling the strings) because of the way they perceive themselves from the interaction with other people

3. Hargreaves and interactionism One of the most important aspects of the interactionsist theory of education concerns the ways in which teachers make sense and respond to the behaviour of their pupils In his research called ‘Deviance in Classrooms’ David Hargreaves researched how teachers classified pupils Hargreaves and the other researchers in this presentation used interpretivist research methods

4. Activity Identify several categories that teachers’ might place their pupils as

5. Hargreaves’ research found teachers initially categorized students by: Their appearance Their ability and enthusiasm for work How likeable they were Their personality Their relationship with other students Whether they deviant How far they conformed to discipline

6. The Halo Effect Hargreaves found that from this initial phase of categorizing teachers’ eventually end up categorising their pupils It is important to note that these categories are non-academic These categories stereotyping a pupil This is known as the halo effect, where pupils are stereotyped on earlier non-academic impressions

7. Activity Can you think of any incidents in your school career whereby a teacher or teachers have labelled a student/pupil in someway? Do you know of any instances where teachers’ have regularly labelled a student as being thick or deviant?

8. Labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy Cicourel & Kitsuse research found that labelling is a real phenomenon in schools Labelling is where teachers attach a ‘label’ to their pupils as being, thick or bright, hardworking or lazy This classification by the teacher affects the way a pupil perceives themselves and consequently behaves They found social class played a significant role in classification

9. Rosenthal & Jacobson Research by Rosenthal & Jacobson found that when teachers labelled students as bright and praised them, the pupil reacts in a positive way and the original prediction is fulfilled – a self-fulfilling prophecy Conversely they found that when teachers labelled students as thick and ignored them, the pupil reacts in a negative way and the original prediction is fulfilled – a self-fulfilling prophecy