Pupil Subcultures.

Definition: A pupil subculture is a group of pupils who share similar values & behaviour patterns.
1. Often emerge as a response to the way pupils have been labelled & normally as a reaction to streaming.
A number of studies have shown how pupil subcultures may pay a part in creating different class differences in achievement.
1. Colin Lacey's (1970) concepts of differentiation & polarisation to explain how pupil subcultures develop.
  1. Differentiation: is the process of teachers categorising pupils according to how they perceive their ability, attitude & behaviour. streaming is a form of differentiation, since it categorises pupils into different classes.
  2. Polarisation: on the other hand, is the process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one of the opposite 'poles' or extremes.
  3. in his study of Hightown boys grammar school, Lacey found that streaming polarised boys into pro-school & anti-school subcultures.
The pro-school subculture:
1. Pupils placed in high streams (largely middle class) tend to stay committed to the values of school.
2. They gain their status in the approved manner, through academic success.
3. Their values are those of the school.
The anti-school subculture:
1. Those placed in low streams (working class) suffer a loss of self esteem: the school has undermined their self-worth by placing them in a position of inferior status.
2. This label of failing pushes them to search for alternative ways of gaining status. Usually this involves turning the schools values of hard work, obedience & punctuality upside down.
3. Lacey says 'a boy who does badly academically is predisposed to criticise, reject or even sabotage the system where he can, since it places him in an inferior position.
4. Such pupils form a anti-school subculture as a means of gaining status among their peers.
Abolishing streaming: Stephen Ball's (1981) study of Beachside comprehensive school.
1. Was in the process of abolishing banding, a form of streaming in favour of teaching mixed-ability groups.
2. He found that once the school abolished banding, the basis for pupils to polarise into subcultures was largely removed & the influence of the anti-school subculture declined.
3. Although pupil polarisation all but disappeared, differentiation continued. teachers continued to categorise pupils differently & were more likely to middle class pupils as cooperative & able.
  1. This positive labelling was reflected in their better exam results, suggesting that the self-fulfilling prophecy had occurred. Ball's study showed that class inequalities can continue as a result of teachers labelling, even without the effect of subcultures or streaming.
Peter Wood (1979) points out that there are other types of subcultures dues to labelling and streaming besides pro-school & anti-school subcultures:
1. Ingratiation: being the 'teachers pet'
2. Ritualism: going through the motions & staying out of trouble.
3. Retreatism: daydreaming & mucking about.
4. Rebellion: outright rejection of anything the school stands for.

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