What determines teacher’s expectations:
Labelling Theory:
The labels which teachers give to pupils can influence the construction and
development of students’ identities, or self-concepts: how they see and define
themselves and how they interact with others. This in turn can affect their
attitudes towards school, their behavior, and ultimately their level of achievement
in education.
Labelling refers to the process of defining a person or group in a simplified way –
narrowing down the complexity of the whole person and fitting them into broad
categories. At the simplest level labelling involves that first judgement you make
about someone, often based on first-impressions – are they ‘worth making the
effort to get to know more’, are you ‘indifferent to them’, or are they to ‘be
avoided’.
Labelling theory is one of the main parts of social action, or interactionist theory,
which seeks to understand human action by looking at micro-level processes,
looking at social life through a microscope, from the ground-up.
It follows that in labelling theory, the students attainment level is, at least to
some degree, a result of the interaction between the teacher and the pupil,
rather than just being about their ability.
Criticisms of the labelling theory of education
1. Negative labelling can sometimes have the opposite effect – Margaret
Fuller’s (1984) research on black girls in a London comprehensive school found
that the black girls she researched were labelled as low-achievers, but their
response to this negative labelling was to knuckle down and study hard to prove
their teachers and the school wrong.
2. Given the above findings it should be no surprise that the Rosenthal and
Jacobson research has been proved unreliable – other similar experimental
studies reveal no significant effects.
3. Labelling theory attributes too much importance to ‘teacher agency’ (the
autonomous power of teachers to influence and affect pupils) – structural
sociologists might point out that schools themselves encourage teachers to label
students – in some cases entry tests, over which teachers have no control, pre-
label students into ability groups anyway, and the school will require the teacher
to demonstrate that they are providing ‘extra support’ for the ‘low ability’
students as judged by the entry tes.
4. One has to question whether teachers today actually label along social class
lines. Surely teachers are among the most sensitively trained professionals in the
world, and in the current ‘aspirational culture’ of education, it’s difficult to see
how teachers would either label in such a way, or get away with it if they did.
Self-fulfilling theory:
The self-fulfilling prophecy holds that what a person believes about him/herself
(or what others believe about them) will influence their performance. The self-
fulfilling prophecy can act positively or negatively, depending on whether
expectations are positive or negative.
In educational contexts, the self-fulfilling prophecy is often used to explain
differences in performance among students, such that a high-performing
student might be responding to high expectations from others (e.g., teachers,
parents, classmates) while a low-performing student might be responding to low
expectations. [2] illustrated the self-fulfilling prophecy through an experiment in
which elementary school teachers treated students differently based on their
initial positive expectations of those students, and over the course of the school
year, students performed in ways that were consistent with teachers’ positive
expectations.
Self Fulling Prophecy Theory argues that predictions made by teachers about the
future success or failure of a student will tend to come true because that
prediction has been made. Thus if a student is labelled a success, they will
succeed, if they are labelled a failure, the will fail.
The reasons for this are as follows (you might call these the positive effects of
labelling):
teachers will push students they think are brighter harder, and not expect as
much from students they have labelled as less-able.
Building on the above point, a positive label is more likely to result in a good
student being put into a higher band, and vice versa for a student pre-judged to
be less able.
Positively labelled students are more likely to develop positive attitude
towards studying, those negatively labelled an anti-school attitude.
The above may be reinforced by peer-group identification.
Functionalist Perspective
Education serves several functions for society. These include (a) socialization, (b)
social integration, (c) social placement, and (d) social and cultural innovation.
Latent functions include child care, the establishment of peer relationships, and
lowering unemployment by keeping high school students out of the full-time
labor force. Problems in the educational institution harm society because all these
functions cannot be completely fulfilled.
Conflict Perspective:
Education promotes social inequality through the use of tracking and
standardized testing and the impact of its “hidden curriculum.” Schools differ
widely in their funding and learning conditions, and this type of inequality leads to
learning disparities that reinforce social inequality.
Conflict theorists point to several key factors in defending their position. First,
property taxes fund most schools; therefore, schools in affluent districts have
more money. Such areas are predominantly white. They can afford to pay higher
salaries, attract better teachers, and purchase newer texts and more technology.
Students who attend these schools gain substantial advantages in getting into the
best colleges and being tracked into higher‐paying professions. Students in less
affluent neighborhoods that do not enjoy these advantages are less likely to go to
college and are more likely to be tracked into vocational or technical training.
They also represent far higher numbers of minority students.
School’s Psychology and expectations:
On cb
Pioneers Perspective:
John Dewey
John Dewey is probably most famous for his role in what is called progressive
education. Progressive education is essentially a view of education that
emphasizes the need to learn by doing. Dewey believed that human beings learn
through a 'hands-on' approach. This places Dewey in the educational philosophy
of pragmatism.
Pragmatists believe that reality must be experienced. From Dewey's educational
point of view, this means that students must interact with their environment in
order to adapt and learn. Dewey felt the same idea was true for teachers and that
teachers and students must learn together. His view of the classroom was deeply
rooted in democratic ideals, which promoted equal voice among all participants in
the learning experience.
He saw education as an instrument of social progress and envisioned schools
closely connected to society. Children were seen as socially active human beings
eager to explore and gain control over their environment (confront personal and
social problems). Children have to use the scientific method to solve the problem.
As such they will become reflective thinkers who can direct their experiences n
ways that lead to personal and social growth. He saw education as an instrument
of social progress and envisioned schools closely connected to society. Children
were seen as socially active human beings eager to explore and gain control over
their environment (confront personal and social problems). Children have to use
the scientific method to solve the problem. As such they will become reflective
thinkers who can direct their experiences n ways that lead to personal and social
growth.
According to Dewey, learning was essential for the continuation of society, which
would make the job of the teacher pretty significant. Pragmatists believe that
people learn through informal processes, but these processes must have a
purpose and a flexible plan of action. The teacher’s job is to provide an open
ended opportunity for study in an environment that allows the child to think and
act intelligently in order to test ideas and skills. All children do not learn in the
same way or at the same rate, so teachers are the guides to the learning process,
which meets children at their level of ability. In that respect teachers must have
sufficient knowledge of a subject to be able to break it down into parts for
students to study, and they must be able to link the learning to a motivation and
natural curiosity that the children already possess. It is also important for
teachers to also understand the background and environment that learners are
bringing to school so that they can make suggestions and arouse student interests
in order to help them grow by leading them into new areas of knowledge.
Maria Montessori
It is a system of education very popular around the world with early childhood professionals and
parents.It is based on two important developmental needs:
1. The need for freedom within limits.
2. A carefully prepared environment which guarantees exposure to materials and experiences.
Through these developmental needs, the child develops intelligence as well as psychological abilities.
This method is designed to take advantage of the children’s desire to learn and their unique ability to
develop their own capabilities.
The main premises of Montessori education are:
1- Children are to be respected as different from adults and as individuals who differ from each
other.
2- Children possess as unusual sensitivity and intellectual ability to absorb and learn from their
environment that are unlike those of the adult both in quality and capacity.
3- The most important years of children’s growth are the first six years of life when unconscious
learning is gradually brought to the conscious level.
4- Children have a deep love and need for purposeful work. They work for the sake of an activity
itself.
5-Activities enables them to accomplish their most important goal: the development of their
individual selves- their mental, physical and psychological powers.
Teachers Role:
Make children the center of learning.
Encourage children to learn by providing freedom for them in the prepared environment.
Observe children so as to prepare the best possible environment, recognizing sensitive periods
and diverting inappropriate behavior to meaningful tasks.
Prepare the learning environment by ensuring that learning materials are provided in an orderly
format and the materials provide for appropriate experiences for all the children.
Respect each child and model ongoing respect for all children and their work.
Introduce learning materials, demonstrate learning materials, and support children’s learning.
Friedrich Froebel
He developed kindergarten. He attempted to weave several threads into his
philosophy of education: idealism, nationalism, and child freedom. He believed
that every child’s inner self contained a spiritual essence that stimulated self-
active learning. The kindergarten is a “prepared environment” designed to
externalize children’s interior spirituality through self-activity. The kindergarten
teacher should respect the dignity of human personality and personify the highest
cultural values so that children could imitate those values. The teacher should be
sensitive, approachable, and open. Froebel labeled his approach to education as
"self-activity." This idea allows the child to be led by his own interests and to
freely explore them. The teacher's role, therefore, was to be a guide rather than
lecturer.
Case of Schools:
Behavior expectations are procedures and rules that are taught to students to
encourage positive behaviors and prevent problem behaviors. They form important
building blocks for a positive school culture.
These expectations can address how students treat each other and the teacher, and
how they operate in the classroom. They can also address how students behave
outside of the classroom, such as in the cafeteria, playground, quad, library, hallways,
restrooms, bus, and more.
Here are 5 quick tips to establish consistent behavior expectations in your school
or district:
1. Define your behavior expectations, along with rewards and consequences.
Invite key stakeholders from across your school to create your behavior
expectations. Each desired behavior should be observable, measurable, objective
and specific. Defining behaviors in this way also makes it much easier to model
them for students, so they can see concrete examples of what they’re expected to
do.
Next, establish a reward system for recognizing students who achieve these
expectations, and establish consequences for expectations that are not met. Like
the expectations, the rewards and consequences should be age-appropriate and
consistent.
Finally, share these expectations and get buy-in from all teachers and staff
members to ensure they’ll be implemented school-wide.
2. Clearly communicate your behavior expectations to students — and parents.
One way to communicate consistent behavior expectations to students and
parents is to put them in writing.
Create a handout, and distribute it to all students and parents.
Post the expectations on classroom walls or other prominent places so students
can refer to them as often as needed. Even better, post the expectations in or
near the area where the targeted behaviors are expected to take place (e.g.
posting behavior expectations for the cafeteria on the cafeteria wall).
Post the expectations on the school website.
Include the expectations in the school handbook.
Then, read the expectations aloud to students. Explain what each expectation
means, and why these are necessary and beneficial to everyone.
3. Show students what is meant by each expectation. Model and practice it.
To ensure students understand the behavior expectations, show them what they
look like in action. Demonstrate what it looks like when a student is meeting the
expectation.
4. Track student behaviors daily, and apply rewards and consequences
consistently and equitably.
With Kickboard, you can easily collect, access, analyze, share and act on
behavioral data in real-time. With behavior management tools such as one-click
behavior tracking, you can easily track the positive behaviors that make up your
ideal school culture, as well as inappropriate or negative behaviors that need
improvement. In addition, you can motivate positive behaviors with goal-based
incentives or rewards — such as behavior points, scholar dollars, student
paychecks, or school store rewards — which are automatically tracked in
Kickboard.
Teachers can help each other too, with one-click tools for behavior-specific notes,
teacher-to-teacher comments, sharable dashboards, and room for reflection on
student reports.
5. Review and reinforce these expectations throughout the year.
This keeps the behavior expectations top-of-mind for students and staff — and
emphasizes how important they are to the culture of the entire school.
Clear, consistent behavior expectations, combined with real-time data tracking,
are key components to building a safe, happy school where students and staff
thrive. When students feel confident, respected, cared for and supported,
disruptions and discipline incidents decline, learning increases, and academic
achievement rises.
