Assess the view that factors and processes within the school are the main cause of differences in the educational achievement of different social groups.
It is clear that there are differences in educational achievement of certain social groups, such as gender, ethnicity, and social class. Some may argue that this is due to internal factors, reasons from within the education system. However, others argue that the differences are due to external factors, which occur outside of the education system.

An internal factor that causes difference in educational achievement is labelling. This is when a teacher makes assumptions about a student and treats them accordingly to that assumption. An example of this is the fact that teachers label boys as more disruptive than girls. Teachers communicate with girls more positively because they see them as being more co-operative. This can then raise girl’s self esteem which raises their achievement. Teachers have lower expectations of boys, and expect them to misbehave more often. Becky Francis found that while boys got more attention in class, they were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers. This would lead to them retaliating with bad behaviour, thus lowering their achievements.
Labelling can also happen to people due to their ethnicity. Gillborn found that teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils than others for the same behaviour. Gillborn and Youdell found that this is the result of teacher’s radicalised expectations. They expected black students to present more discipline problems and often misinterpreted their behaviour as threatening or a challenge to authority. Black students felt like they were picked on and, in return, retaliated. It also lowered their self esteem, and they were less likely to achieve because of this. Also, Wright found that primary school teachers tended to underestimate