LABELING THEORY (NOTES)
 Labeling theory is the theory of how the self-identity and behavior of individuals may
be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them. It is
associated with the concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping. (Wikipedia)
 self-fulfilling prophecy - where an individual accepts their label and the label
becomes true in practice
Example: A student labeled as deviant actually becomes deviant as
a response to being so-labeled.
[Deviant = a person who behaves in a way that most people consider to be not
normal or morally correct]
 Stereotyping - to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular
characteristic are the same
Example: ethnic or gender stereotyping
LABELING THEORY IN EDUCATION
 Labeling theory was developed by Howard Becker.
 It is applied to education in relation to teachers applying labels on their pupils in
terms of their ability, potential or behavior. These labels can be positive or negative
and can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Labeling is seen as an internal factor that
could explain differential achievement in schools by class, ethnicity or gender.
 Closely related to teacher expectancy or name calling.
 Labeling happens when teachers attach label to their students as dull, bright,
hardworking or lazy, smart or stupid, and troublesome or disciplined.
 The labels which teachers give to pupils can influence the construction and
development of students’ identities, or self-concepts: how they see and define
themselves and how they interact with others. This in turn can affect their attitudes
towards school, their behavior, and ultimately their level of achievement in
education.
 Negative labels breed student alienation, school failure, and foster attitudes that lead
to mocking, taunting, and ostracize.
[1. alienation= to make (someone) unfriendly; to cause (someone) to feel that she or he no longer
belongs in a particular group, society, etc.; 2. taunting = to say insulting things to (someone) in order
to make that person angry; 3.ostracize = to not allow (someone) to be included in a group : to
exclude (someone) from a group]
 According to David Hargreaves, one of the most important aspects of the
interactionist theory of education concerns the ways in which teachers make sense
and respond to the behavior of the pupils.
CLASSIC STUDIES ON TEACHER LABELING IN EDUCATION
1. Deviance in Classrooms
o David Hargreaves (1975) in their classic book ‘Deviance in Classrooms’
analyzed the ways in which students came to by typed, or labeled. He
investigated how teachers classified pupils. He found out that rather than
categorizing pupils in the academic parameters, teachers initially
categorized them through non-academic way of stereotyping, such as
categorizing their appearance, ability, and enthusiasm for work, likeableness,
their personality, their relationship with other students, and their conformity to
discipline. Significantly, he discovered that social class or one’s socio
economic standing in the society played a major role in this classification.
2. Looking-glass self
o Labeling theory is similar to the looking-glass self of Charles Horton Cooley.
o In the early 1900s, Cooley asserted that it is through the individual’s
interaction with others that they learn to know who they are.
o He used the metaphor looking glass-self to capture the idea that the
development of the self is a result of individual’s social interactions with other
people (Schaefer 2000). In this concept, he argued that human beings
acquire their sense of self by seeing themselves reflected in the behavior of
others and their attitudes toward them. The way others treat them is like a
“mirror” reflecting their personal qualities. They imagine how they appear to
other persons and based on the imagination they judge their appearance.
o The development of identity in the process, according to Cooley (1956),
consists of three elements: (1) how actors imagine their appearance; (2) how
actors believe others judge their appearance; and (3) how actors develop
feelings of shame or pride, feelings that become an inner guide to behavior.
This process is not a conscious process, and the stage can occur quickly. The
results can either be a positive or negative self-evaluation.
3. Negative labeling opposite effect
 Negative labeling can sometimes have the opposite effect – Margaret Fuller’s (1984)
research on black girls in a London comprehensive school found that the black girls
she researched were labeled as low-achievers, but their response to this negative
labeling was to knuckle down and study hard to prove their teachers and the school
wrong.
ROLE OF SCHOOLS ACCORDING TO INTERACTIONIST THEORY
 Labelling theory is one of the main parts of social action, or interactionist theory,
which seeks to understand human action by looking at micro-level processes,
looking at social life through a microscope, from the ground-up.
 Interactionists generally focus on micro-level classroom dynamics, such as the
teachers’ expectations of their students and how these affect the students’ actual
achievements.
 The role of school, in this paradigm, is to observe and record the social drama in the
school, especially inside the classroom. For instance, schools must record: the life in
school from student’s perspective; the stereotyping done by the teachers and
students, particularly children of ethnic minority, children with color, and children of
the poor, the knowledge that counts most for students; and the rewards and
punishments given to them.
 Interactionists believe that awareness of these issues creates a high chance of
leading the students to greater equality in the classroom and better interpretations of
life and of themselves.
 Labeling theory attributes too much importance to ‘teacher agency’ (the
autonomous power of teachers to influence and affect pupils) – structural sociologists
might point out that schools themselves encourage teachers to label students – in
some cases entry tests, over which teachers have no control, pre-label students into
ability groups anyway, and the school will require the teacher to demonstrate that
they are providing ‘extra support’ for the ‘low ability’ students as judged by the entry
test.
Possible Meanings Constructed by Students in Their School Interaction

Students construct numerous meanings about life through their lived experiences inside the
classroom. The meanings become the guide to which they behave and relate them with
their teachers or fellow students. It also acts as standards to which they define their success or
failure in school. Few example of possible meanings derived inside the school are elucidated
as follows:
1. The teacher-dominated classroom atmosphere makes students from their identity as
passive receivers of knowledge and empty receptacles to be filled with lifeless information by
the teacher. Moreover, this type of set up conveys that knowledge comes only from the
teacher, and students cannot generate their own knowledge;
2. The strict implementation of disciplinary rules and regulations conveys that to succeed in
school, students must become conformists and obedient. Doing the contrary leads to poor
grades and unfavorable experiences with the teacher, principal, security guards, and
prefect of discipline;
3. The emphasis on testing after teaching implies that students have to learn in order to pass
the test to obtain good grades. Teaching is done for testing, not for the enjoyment of seeking
knowledge and the sublime purpose of learning. Also, using test to discipline students can be
interpreted as a form of punishment to them and not to measure their learning;
4. The common usage of lecture method by the teacher conveys that lecturing is the only
and the best method to teach and learn. In the lecture method, students are expected to
listen patiently to the lecturing teacher, paying attention to every detail he says;
Non-Verbal Interaction and Other Symbolic Languages Used in School
 In interactionist perspective, the tool people use to develop and modify meanings is
through the use of non-verbal and symbolic language, which may constitute
physical, social, and abstract ideas.
 The stick used by the teachers, for instance, is symbolic of their power and authority.
Similarly, dropping the names of the university president, principal, and school
authorities to demand compliance and to persuade other members of the strength
of their power and authority.
 Symbolic languages, such as non-verbal communication (body language) are used
during interactions in school. These are so-called paralanguage, which are used as
auxiliary communication devices of interaction by the teachers.
 Gestures, glances, slight changes in tone of voice, facial expression, and postures are
examples of paralanguage. These body languages in the classroom may be direct
and explicit.
 For instance, there is a difference between saying “Sit down, be quiet, and finish your
work NOW,” as compared to saying, “Please sit down, be quiet and finish your work.”
The first statement is a direct and explicit display of the teacher’s high regard to
personal power in the classroom; the second manifests the teacher’s indirect
command and implicit use of his authority.

5. The dominant use of paper-and-pencil test to evaluate learning makes the students
believe that the only way to measure and evaluate learning is through written test. It is only
through assessment that one’s academic performance, skills, and intelligence are
determined;

6. The everyday conduct of classes inside the classroom makes the students believe that the
classroom is the only learning place. They do not realize that the world is a huge learning
place;

7. The teachers’ inability to integrate concepts in different subjects makes students conclude
that Math, Science, Filipino, English, Social Studies, and other subjects are not interconnected
but simply isolated bits and pieces of instruction; and

8. The highly regimented and programmed lessons in school make the students think that
they are not capable of independent learning, without the school and the teachers.