Sociology Homework – Monday 28/09/2015 by Maria Taravkova.
Evaluate the view that factors and processes within the school are the main cause of differences in the educational achievement of different social groups (20 marks)

* Decode = The meanings of encoding/decoding, it is how media messages are produced, circulated and consumed by the nation, proposing a new theory of communication.
Stuart Hall (cultural theorist) argued that the meaning is not fixed or determined by the sender, the message is never transparent. There is a “ lack of fit “ between the moment of the production of the message ( which is referred to as ENCODING ) and the moment of its reception ( which is referred to as DECODING ).
The meaning of the text is located between the producer and the reader. The producer – encoder ‘ encoded ‘ meaning in a certain way, while the reader decoder – ‘ decodes ‘ it differently according to his/her personal background, beliefs and values.

* Interactionists Labelling Theory = ‘ Interactionism ‘ is a sociological perspective that focuses on a small-scale interactions between individuals and groups. And ‘ Labelling Theory ‘ is the theory of how the self-identity – ( what someone thinks of themselves. E.g what they are, who they are e.t.c ) and behaviour of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them. As we are talking about ‘ Interactionists Labelling Theory ‘ meaning that the only relevant meaning in this case, is the small group interactions and how they interact together and how the label themselves and the people in their small groups, also, what their beliefs and values are. * A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy = Is a prediction that comes true simply by a virtue ( behaviour showing high moral standards ) of it having been made. Interactionists argue that labelling can affect pupils’