Discussion on the Social Psychological Influences on Academic Achievement, Based on a Classroom Learning Experience

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The learning activity involves a typical working class boy called Kevin who is involved in petty crime and is not motivated to gain qualifications, as he is expecting to find unskilled manual labour work elsewhere when he finishes school, just as his father did. This mirrors Paul Willis’ study of working class boys (1977), which shows that this is a common issue in schools with a high intake of students with a working class background. The Head of Year is trying to get Kevin to focus on his future, so he does not miss out on any opportunities open to him, but he is focusing on the short term rewards of earning money immediately, rather than the long term potential which would result in him having a better quality of life with fewer opportunities for his petty crime to escalate. There are many theories that could be used to describe the situation that Kevin is in, some of them are; Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, Self-Schemas, Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT) and Social Identity Theory, these areas best describe what is expected of the subject and the possible actions that they could pursue. Merton describes Self Fulfilling Prophecy as ‘the parable that tells us the public definitions of a situation (prophecies or predictions) that become an integral part of the situation and thus affecting subsequent developments’, (1948) for example, when a teacher constantly tells a child they are naughty, they will believe the fact and will become more inclined to act naughty. This theory links with Kevin’s case, as it is clear from his previous history in petty crime, that he feels the law and his school are against him, becoming alienated from society, because he is being consistently punished. If a more positive outlook on his education was encour... ... middle of paper ... ...son. 502. Snyder, M; Tanke, D; Berscheid, E. (1977). Social Perception and Interpersonal Behaviour: On the Self-Fulfilling nature of social stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psycology, 35, 656-666. Found in: Hewstone, M; Stroebe, W; Jonas, K. (2012). An Introduction to Social Psychology. Chichester; John Wiley & Sons. 364. Weerd, M; Gemmeke, M; Rigter, J; Van Rij, C. (2005). Indicators and Options for Monitoring Active Citizenship Education. Amesterdam: Regioplan Beleid-Sonderzoek. Found In: Hoskins, B. (2005). Monitoring Policy Development in the Field of Education for Active Citizenship. In: Colley, H; Boetzelen, P; Hoskins, B; Parveva, T Social Inclusion for Young People: Breaking Down the Barriers. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. 115 – 123. Willis, P. (1977). Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids get Working Class Jobs. Farnborough: Saxon House.

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