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The relationship between education and other social institutions
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Formal Education Formal Education – education that takes place in a formal setting of the school. - It involves a specific range of subjects (formal curriculum) - Mastery is tested through formal examinations Industrialization brought about mass education - a need to educate the workforce - education is closely linked to the workforce
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Prussian Model of Education
Prussian Educational Model
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Functionalism Society is a social system consisting of different institutions (family, work, education, religion, etc.) - each institution performs essential (core) functions providing the means of survival (work) or secondary socialization (education) - each institution needs things from other institutions to work. Workplace needs individuals with a certain amount of knowledge or skill. Different qualifications of knowledge or skill (degrees/certifications)
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Changes in Institutions
Industrial work requires individuals with literacy and skills. This requires one of 2 things to occur Institutions such as family change to accommodate this need. 2. New institutions such as formal education are created. Without one of these changes, the economy would not function.
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UK Education – Tracking Process
UK Distinction between - academic pupils – destined to move on to a university and professional employment - vocational pupils – destined to follow a practical or technical track At age IQ test determines which track you follow Intelligence – capacities and abilities related to the acquisition and demonstration of knowledge and skills, such as problem-solving and decision- making.
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UK Education ‘Education is the proving ground for ability and hence the selective agency for placing people in different statuses according to their abilities’
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Neo-Functionalist/New Right
Post-Industrial Societies (like USA) - move away from manufacturing - moving towards service and computer technologies New focuses in education - breakdown of distinctions between ‘vocational’ and ‘academic’ subjects - move away from all content knowledge to skills ability to work with others problem solving Education looks very different today, than 50 years ago.
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Meritocracy Meritocracy – system based on equality of opportunity. Those with ability and talent achieve their just rewards regardless of their social characteristics. Marxists argue that ‘meritocracy myth’ hides class reproduction - working class kids get working class jobs
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Social Democratic Theory
Social Democratic Theory – political theory that advocates technocratic and meritocratic solutions to the problem of differential educational achievement shift to a service industry (finance, computing, IT) - social change focused on gender, ethnicity, and class Comprehensive education – system where schools are open to all children, regardless of their ability to pay, where they live or prior educational achievement social democrats see comprehensive education as a way of reducing class inequalities by creating more opportunities for working-class children.
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Marxism Marxism in Education – the structure and organization of the workplace is mirrored in the organization of schools. Behaviors are regulated - compulsory attendance - where to be and when to be there Hierarchy in the school - teachers exercise authority over the students Students have no control over - the process as a whole - content of education - the teaching and learning process - students compete for grades
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Marxism Correspondence Principle – the organization of schools closely corresponds to the organization and demands of the workplace. - for those destined for lower level work, focus is on rule following - for those destined for higher level work, emphasis on independent work and taking some control over their academic work Cultural Reproduction – Marxist idea that higher social classes try to reproduce their leadership and privileges by investing time, money, and resources in the education of their offspring. For Marxists, meritocracy is a myth - private schools, tutoring, etc.
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Streaming Streaming – children of different abilities are taught separately in all subjects on the formal curriculum.
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Cultural Reproduction and Marxism
Formal curriculum assists cultural reproduction through streaming Streaming shows students that life is ‘unequal’, and this is normal Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) – Marxist concept that argues that institutions such as schools encourage values favorable to the interests of a ruling class in capitalist societies. Vocational education has advantages for ruling class - eliminates working-class children as competitors for high-level jobs - gives the appearance of being ‘chosen’ through academic performance
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Vocationalism in the UK
Vocationalism – the knowledge and skills required for specific types of employment. Work-experience programs (young people) – government subsidizes employers (pay salaries) to take employees and train them in vocational positions. - criticisms? Long-term unemployed - must take unpaid work - employees lose government benefits if they leave the job - fair?
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Criticisms of Marxism Criticisms of Marxist Perspective - working-class students are not passive - students resist following rules - schools are autonomous and interpret curriculum as they wish
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Feminism Feminist Argument – men and women are channeled into different types and levels of work Female-Dominated Professions - teaching, nursing, secretarial Male-Dominated Professions - engineering, computing, construction
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Male Dominance in the Workplace
Even in fields where women are the primary workers, males tend to dominate the higher level positions. - ie – teachers/principals, nurses/doctors, etc. (women relegated to ‘secondary labor markets’) Subject Choices - girls typically choose English, Psychology, Sociology, Art, Design - boys typically choose Physics, Business, Physical Education Gendered Curriculum – situation in which males and females choose, or are given, different subjects to study. Shop Class / Home Economics
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UK Educational Achievement
Educational Achievement – gaining different levels of educational qualification UK – girls are consistently outperforming boys at all levels of the UK examination system. But this is not helping women into well-paid jobs.
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Gender Stereotyping in UK
Gender Stereotyping – assigning particular characteristics to whole gender groups, regardless of their individual differences. Stereotypes - Girls – childcare, nursing, hairdressing, secretarial - Boys – computing, accounting, plumbing Gender Stereotyping – most fully pronounced in vocational programs - 45% of girls allocated to caring placements although it did not reflect their choices - Boys allocated to placements considered as traditionally male - Girls unsuccessful in their preferred placements, were allocated to traditionally female occupations.
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Activity Graphic Organizer - How does school mirror that of the workplace? Give Examples - Where is there no correspondence between school and the workplace?
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Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
Intelligent Quotient (IQ) – a specific measure of individual intelligence, where a score of 100 is average, conventionally based on tests of mathematical, verbal and spatial skills. IQ – used at age 11 to determine who is set on grammar school track or vocational track. SAT – partly used for entrance into college in the USA
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IQ Tests Supporters argue that they measure ‘intelligence’ independently of class, gender, age, or ethnicity Critics argue that prior education, reading habits, experience with tests, cultural upbringing, mental and physical health will effect scores. Critics argue that intelligence is too complex to be reduced to simple forms of testing. These tests are all context dependent. IQ tests justify social and academic segregation IQ tests provide support for middle and upper classes families to have a privileged status.
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Intelligence and Educational Achievement - Agnostic
Agnostic – we do not know if there is a correlation between intelligence and achievement there is no agreed definition of intelligence so we do not know what is being measured if we could agree on what intelligence is, there is no consensus about how it can be reliably and validly measured.
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Intelligence and Educational Achievement - Positive
Positive Correlation - research shows a positive correlation between intelligence and educational achievement. In the UK, Saunders argues that intelligence while not determined at birth differs amongst social classes. - knowledge and experience passed from middle class parents to children - middle class parents instill the importance of educational qualifications.
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Activity Pairs Discussion
If intelligence, attainment, and employment are closely related (the brightest achieve the most and get the best jobs), why are there so few women in higher-income professional work?
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Social Mobility Social Mobility – the ability to move up or down the class structure - relative to where you start Inter-generational mobility – movement between generations, parent and child as adult Intra-generational mobility – movement within one person’s lifetime Modern Industrial Societies – position in society is not fixed by characteristics such as age, gender, or ethnicity.
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Consensus Approaches Functionalism – link between education and economy - important social positions are filled by those most qualified - upward mobility earned through merit Meritocracy - high pay and high status are rewards for abilities and efforts in education, therefore inequality is inevitable - must be equal opportunity for everyone Neo-Functionalism / New Right - blends a meritocracy with individual and group’s choices.
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Meritocracy Vocabulary
Social Inequality – unequal and unfair distribution of resources in any system such as education. - Inequality of educational opportunity, for example, refers to the way some children are treated unfairly based on class, gender, or ethnicity. Social Capital – extent to which people are connected to social networks (who you know) and how this can be used to their advantage.
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Neo-Functionalist Vocabulary
Equality of Opportunity – absence of discrimination within institutions such as schools According to Neo-Functionalists, out choices determine out outomes. - Do you choose to work hard in school, or do you choose to drop out of school and get pregnant? Marketization – process whereby the supply and consumption of educational goods and services are opened up to private and public competition. Cultural Capital – anything in the individual’s cultural background that gives them advantages over others. - ie - higher educational qualifications are exchanged for more better jobs and higher pay.
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Conflict Approaches Marxism – Cultural reproduction through education, cement your social status - educate the masses just enough to be useful employees, then a select few ‘more than enough’ to rule over them - education is a way of reproducing inequality in the workplace - costs associated with advancing educationally are huge. Neo-Marxism - inequality like Marxism, but with the ‘consent’ of the led, particularly through the media. - IQ tests and myth of equality of opportunity has people blaming themselves - the myth of meritocracy
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Functionalism – Causes of educational underachievement
Functionalism – supports argument for a meritocratic system. Working Class underachievement explained by cultural deprivation Cultural Deprivation – a lack of important cultural resources such as parental encouragement are the cause of educational underachievement of working class. - parental interest in education - family size (poorer families are typically larger) - position within family (older children typically achieve more) - deficient care of babies (at home parenting has positive effect)
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Cultural Deprivation Working-class children encounter difficulties adjusting to middle-class norms and values found in schools. Elaborated speech codes – complex vocabulary and ideas. (Middle Class) Restricted speech codes – simple language to convey direct meanings. Predictable and express relatively simple, straightforward ideas. (Working Class) Restricted speech of students clashes with the elaborated speech of middle class teachers. Research shows that this has influenced teacher assessments.
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Cultural Deprivation Immediate Gratification – parental attitudes and economic pressure has working class children leave school to enter workforce at earliest opportunity. - families living hand to mouth Goodman and Gregg (2010) - 80% of most affluent mothers expected their children to go to university - 40% of least affluent mothers “hoped” this children would go to university
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Compensatory Education
Compensatory Education – supplementary educational programs designed to compensate children for their deprived home background services provided to pre-school children and families to increase achievement - programs to get pregnant teenagers back into school - outside of school activities and events to encourage parent involvement
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Neo-functionalist / New Right
Argues that material and cultural factors are the causes of the educational failure of those disconnected from society the socially excluded are not just poor but are victims of anti-education, anti-marriage policies which have undermined personal responsibility The argument is that the underclass is responsible for their underachievement due to parents not taking responsibility for socialization and childcare.? - poor parenting - ‘anti-school’ peer pressure - inability to take responsibility for their own behavior
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Neo-Functionalist – New Right
Tiger Moms – Chinese mothers pushing their children to achieve more higher academic achievement of Asian students has a correlation to parent attitudes, higher marriage rates, and supportive extended families.
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Another Explanation Social Exclusion – being excluded from participation in social institutions such as education or employment marginalized youth struggle to come to terms with their low status and social exclusion - as we move away from industrialization, this group becomes marginalized
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Marxism and Achievement
Marxists believe that differential achievement comes from material deprivation and cultural capital. Material deprivation – a cause of educational underachievement, refers to factors such as poverty, a lack of physical resources, etc. Marxists focus on materialistic explanations of poverty - poor diet - lack of study facilities - need to work to help family
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More Marxism and Educational Achievement
Education systems are dominated by middle class norms, values, and beliefs. This creates a class sub-culture within schools and many students can not adapt. - the by-products are underachievement, truancy and exclusion *Social class is the best predictor of academic achievement
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Marxist View Gender and Ethnicity in Education
Marxists focus on gender in education by looking at gender within social class. - go figure… Marxism and Social Classes Ethnicity is a good general predictor of educational achievement - some argue this is correlated to social class - some argue that there is institutional and cultural racism Labeling – a process by naming something and, by so doing, associating it with a specific set of social characteristics Do schools fail to inspire and educate working class pupils?
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Feminism Feminism has shifted from female underachievement to learning to cope with school and workplace disadvantages. - girls now typically outperform boys academically Traditional gender roles are stronger with working class girls Today families are getting more involved in their daughters education Today girls have a wider range of gender identities ** Everyone turn to page 175 to look at the gender distribution chart
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‘Concerns about Male Underachievement’
Lack of male role models in schools Female-friendly teaching practices Curricula reflects positive discrimination in favor of girls - ie – AICE Sociology, dual burden, triple shift, etc.
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Interrelationship between Class, Gender, and Ethnicity
Marxists – Class is the primary factor, gender and ethnicity are subgroups of class Educational Achievement Predictors - class is the best predictor of educational achievement *** - ethnicity is in the middle - gender is the narrowest Compounding of inequalities are more significant than simply class, gender, or ethnicity
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Activity Assessing the Functionalist, Neo-Functionalist, and Marxist Perspectives Pairs – Make a Chart
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Modernity Formal Curriculum defined by those in power - define curriculum and examinations Access to knowledge is limited through control of curriculum Exams validate qualifications Some knowledge is more valuable than others, (AICE v. core v. electives) Clear division between vocational and theoretical knowledge
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De-Schooling – A reaction to modernity
De-Schooling – proposed by Illich, based on the abolition of formal schools. 1. Institutionalization – schools destroy student creativity, and through qualifications turn education into a commodity. 2. Professionalism – the middle class teachers are shaping the structure, content, and development of the curriculum in their own image. Middle class is deciding what “legitimate knowledge” is. 3. Commodification – Institutionalism and Professionalism are turning something abstract “knowledge” into something concrete “qualification”.
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Cultural Capital Cultural Capital – different advantages and disadvantages conferred by people’s cultural histories. Middle and Upper classes are willing to invest more time, money and effort into their children’s education. - This gives these students a distinct advantage - This undermines the idea of a meritocracy
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*** Postmodernism Postmodernists – see schools as systems of control - teachers and students are constantly challenging the systems of control Mental Control - subjects, knowledge, curriculum (which texts we read) Physical Control - Bodies – what teachers and pupils can and can not do, ie- where to sit, when to speak, etc. Structure - periods, bells, quantification through tests, little sense of individuality
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Language, Deprivation, and Knowledge p182
There are differences in working class and middle/upper class language codes. These codes can be seen as cultural deprivation. - restricted / elaborate language codes “Greetings to you, that individual of the female sex to whom I a directly related by ties of kinship and personal affection” or “Hello, mum” Habitus – “habitat”, the school’s interests, beliefs, and values mirror those of middle and upper class families.
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Teacher-Pupil Relationships
Teacher/Student relationship is key to having students ‘conform’ to a particular teaching style. - this affects a student’s perception of education Teaching Styles - teacher-centered – teacher directs and informs class - demonstrator – teacher-centered but focus on demonstration and having students experiment - student-centered – teacher as facilitator, students responsible for learning - delegation – students work independently of teacher
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Students “Switching Off”
When pupils fail to see what they are learning as useful now and in the future, it turns a large number of them off to learning. This is influenced by teaching styles and teacher-pupil relationships. Two typical responses by students - learned dependence - educationally successful students quickly learn to follow what the demands. - experienced alienation - students see school, teachers and education as alien, irrelevant and threatening. These responses have their origins at home, based on values and norms. Higher suspension/expulsion rates for working-class students Middle/Upper Class students see school as “gaining qualifications”
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Hidden Curriculum Hidden Curriculum – things students learn through the ‘process’ of attending school, both positive and negative. ie – making friends, consequences of disobeying authority. Informal Education – things students learn that are not part of the curriculum. ie- value of learning, behavior within the school, attitudes of authority. Socialization Messages – behavior to succeed in school ie – attendance, rules, recognize teacher’s authority, not question what is being taught Status Messages – Messages relate to the ideas a student has about their “worth” ie – private schools, school grade, streaming (labels), academic/vocational
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Labeling and Streaming
Labeling determined by classes (AP/regular) also by reputation. Cultural capital has a significant impact on a student’s ability to negotiate barriers to success such as exams or negative labeling. Streaming has a strong correlation with social class. Middle/Upper classes in the higher streams. Streams make students feel like a “success” or “failure” Labels have a crucial influence on how students are perceived by new teachers.
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Activity Pairs - Teaching Styles and Systems of Control
- Hidden Curriculum in Schools
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Banding and Setting Setting – streaming, but on a subject by subject basis. ie – student may be in AP World, Regular Biology, and Honors English - helps avoid students labeled as “dumb” by being in lowest stream Banding – students are assigned different ‘bands’ in secondary schools based on reports from their primary teachers. Streaming, Banding and Setting are all sources of positive and negative labeling - this affects a student’s self-perception
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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy – a prediction about something, such as ‘ability’ that, by being made, causes it to occur. Teacher beliefs about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ students are transmitted by attitudes and behavior. Class, gender and ethnicity consciously and subconsciously influence labeling Think about labels that we assign to girls and boys in school…… Now lets think about professions dominated by males and females…… Can a whole school receive a positive or negative label?
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Gendered Curriculum Hidden Curriculum and Labeling affect the choices of subjects that boys and girls choose to study. - girls take more medical type classes (nursing) and boys take more business and administrative classes. Socialization, Gender identities, and social expectations come into play. - Women – seen as housewife, domestic capacity - Men - seen as masculine, provider Subject Hierarchy – boys opting for higher status subjects Masculine Labels – Science, Physics Feminine Labels – Social Sciences
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Gender and Job Title Women make up 53% of secondary teachers – but take up a minority of senior management positions (30%) Elementary School – 16% male teachers, but 30% of head teachers are male Lets look at Somerset for a minute…..
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Counter-School Culture
Counter-School Culture – cultural grouping that explicitly rejects the norms and values propagated through traditional types of schooling. Peer Group – group of approximately the same age who are assumed to share similar interests. Pro-School / Anti-School Attitudes of peer groups. - Affected by complex interplay of class, race and sexuality. Pupil Sub-Culture – groups that develop within schools around similar interests, beliefs, and behaviors. What is the significance of who you are friends with in school?
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Educational Performance
There is evidence of a relationship between pupil sub-culture and academic performance. - It is useful to look at the pupil sub-culture in relation to teacher-pupil and school-pupil relationship. Teacher labeling affects educational performance. - danger of setting low expectations for students - stereotypes about social class are also dangerous Students say that positive relationships with teachers are crucial to learning.
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Ethnicity Overt Racism plays some part in the experience of schooling - White British students have less positive attitudes towards immigrants of other countries - Saturday (neighborhood supplementary schooling) exists because black communities feel dissatisfied with ‘white institutions’ failing them, Cultural Racism (ethnocentrism) is a more subtle form of racism - ethnocentric curriculum involves teaching practices and expectations based on cultural norms, histories, and cultural references unfamiliar to ethnic- minorities - lack of role models within schools for ethnic minority pupils. 5% of UK teachers are ethnic minorities, while 15% of students are ethnic minorities
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Denial of Equal Opportunities - UK
Criticism from teachers, stereotypes of cultural differences, communities or speech… all affect academic performance Black Caribbean boys do the worst in UK schools + are set in the lowest bands. Black Caribbean families have the highest rates of single parenthood, and have the lowest rates of educational achievement. Subtle forms of labeling and stereotyping seem to influence educational experiences. - how students are expected to speak and write - teachers generally underrate abilities of black Caribbean students
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Gender Gender differences in school go back to the socialization process at home - expectations and gender roles are different Labeling girls are increasingly labeled as high achievers who work hard and have the least behavioral problems - boys are increasingly negatively labeled in terms of underachievement, laziness, and behavioral problems.
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Activity Activity on p193
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