ABSTRACT
Some teachers used the name of a stream (’an F or G student’) or a track (’commercials’ vs ‘generals’) to characterise the students personally. More widespread was the use of concepts that made academic success the effect of some embedded quality of the person: ‘able’, ‘low IQ’ ‘bright’, ‘dull’, ‘capable’, ‘high potential’. In a number of cases it is quite clear that this ability is assumed to be a fixed attribute of the person, not affected by teaching, nor by effort at learning. Teachers also have categories for describing where the kids come from. Much the most heavily trafficked are the notions of ‘good homes’ and ‘bad homes’. Also reasonably common was the idea of a class difference between teachers and pupils in the state schools. Classroom teachers are not called on to acquire that kind of information. Their professional knowledge is more focused on their subjects’ content and methods.
