Sociology explanations have suggested many different reasons for the class base differences in education achievement. Studies have shown that there is a 45% gap between classes in A* - C GCSE outcomes. It is suggested that the diversity in educational success between different classes are due to inside factors. These are factors within schools and the education system that could cause these differences.
One internal factor is labelling. To label someone is to attach a meaning or definition to them, which is done in schools between the different classes – especially by teachers as they usually label working class as negative because of their look, speech code (restricted) and attitude to learning. Becker’s study in 1971 is a prime example of labelling as he studied 60 high school teachers reporting that teachers’ ‘ideal’ pupil most closely fitted the characteristics of the middle class students. Labelling done by teachers can influence a student’s level of confidence and self-esteem, therefore making them feel like they may as well not try and not achieve well in school. However, Fuller’s researcher found that some students fight back against their negative labels and achieve more than expected.
The self-fulfilling prophecy is another internal factor that can be linked to social class differences in achievement. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true simply by virtue of it being made and some sociologists argue that labelling can affect pupil’s achievement by creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rosenthal and Jacobson did a study of a primary school to see if this was the case by giving teachers misleading scores of the student’s abilities and they’d identified 20% of them at ‘spurters’, but a year later a half of this group had made significant progress. This shows that not all students actually live up to their self-fulfilling prophecy as they