Sociology B

Education Worksheet 2

Task 1

Working in small groups, discuss the following questions:

1. Think back to your own school days. With hindsight, how do you think teachers might have labelled you? What effect do you think this had on your educational outcome?

2. Does labelling theory help us to understand educational performance? What problems occur with labelling theory? Why do some students go on to perform well academically despite negative labels?

3. Is it possible to avoid labelling in schools?

Task 2

Read the article from the Scotsman (March 25 2004) and discuss the following questions:

1. Why are boys apparently falling behind girls?

2. What else might influence educational achievement?

3. Does this mean that feminist theories are outdated, or have gone too far?