labeling theory

Labeling theory which is also known as theory of social interaction was developed by sociologist Howard Becker. According to this theory, we can see changes in behavior and self-identity of the human influenced by the terms used to describe them by others. It was widely used in explaining criminals’ behavior; however this concept is suitable for pupils. Teachers usually are tend to classify their students more by subjective opinion rather than objective. There is a tendency that they label students from middle-class as bright and optimistic and so pupils from working-class as less able, lacking motivation and difficult to control. And usually these labels accompany students for a long time even if they don’t want it. This is because of concepts of self-fulfiling prophecy and stereotyping. Self-fulfiling prophecy is a “prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true”. The concept of self-fulfiling prophecy was developed by Rosenthal and Jacobson when they showed in an example how this concept works: “They selected a random sample of 20 per cent of the student population and informed the teachers that these children could be expected to show rapid intellectual growth. They tested all pupils for IQ at the beginning of the experiment. After the year the children were re-tested and, in general, the sample population showed greater gains in IQ. In addition, report cards indicated that teachers believed that this group had made greater advances in reading skills.”
This example shows us how teachers’ relation and expectations can influence mind and future of the pupil. 

Stereotyping another important concept, according to which one who gets a label usually will be associated with this label and so if he was labeled as lacking motivation and with ‘laddish’ behavior, it would be very difficult for him to change people’s mind about him and more likely that he would continue to behave in a way he was labeled. However there are many exceptions and Margaret Fuller in her research tried to show that it is not always when students behave according to their labels: “In a study of a group of black girls in a London comprehensive school the girls resented the negative stereotypes associated with being both female and black. They felt that many people expected them to fail, but far from living up to their expectations they tried to prove them wrong. The girls devoted themselves to school work in order to try to ensure their success.”

Also labeling theory is strongly connected with streaming and setting. If somebody passed a test and was set to an ability group which is considered to be the brightest one, it usually will affect his progress. One of the researchers who were evaluating this idea was Nell Keddie. She as Becker argued that in schools there is a tendency of creating an image of ‘ideal pupil’ to pupils from middle-class: “Teachers perceived students from non-manual backgrounds as closest to this ideal; those from lower working-class origins as farthest from it.”
So as we can see, teachers have a big power in influencing on educational process of their students. And all these examples show that inequalities start already from school, when students with ‘low abilities’ from working class families deny schools and studying which are essential for educational future and their career..