Latent DiStinction: A Study On Label Effect Of Classroom

The equal chance for education is an important content of educational democratization, the equal chance for education is not only the basic purpose and direction of the educational reformation and development but also the public concern. The majority of scholars hold that the equal chance for education is the key issue of education equity. The equal educational chance itself means the equal chance to receive education for all the children and the equal rights to enjoy the education resources. And if we regard it as a process, it means the education to ensure equality through the whole process even to get a equal result. And the essay explores equal chance in class during the educational process. In terms of sociology, class is like a micro Society, the key activity is teaching in the class. Teaching is the process of communication between teachers and Students. Various tasks are undertaken through the interaction between teachers and Students. During this process, so called"top"students and"inferior"Students are classified, which give rise to unfair educational chances at micro level. The reasons for such discrepancies are varied. And the issue is analyzed according to label theory. Through researching on the whole process of labeling from beginning to the results it caused, the essay expounds how the discrepancy and hierarchy is produced through interaction and communication between teachers and students. Moreover, this essay further explains the factors deeply rooted in the labeling to clarify the Social factors behind it.In the research, a class in grade one in a middle school was chosen as the subject. The process of labeling is described in forms of practical occasion. The concrete methods such as observation and conversation were adopted. The conclusion was made according to generalization in root theory.The essay can be divided into four parts. The first part is introduction which includes the reasons for beginning such research, the definition of related conception, the backgrounds and status quota of the theory for the research, the point and purpose of the research, and the basic thought and methods taken in the research. In the second part, the process of labeling actually shows the expectation to students classification by teachers as a representatives to society. And the classification made by teachers is based on the family background, appearances of the students, class disciplines and academic results. Then according to the classification, teachers would conduct different interaction with different students. For instance, the teachers would not only give different comments to different students but also unfairly ask and distribute questions among Sstudents. The unfairly interaction to some extent affect the communication among the students, which strengthen the effect of labeling. In the third part, the results of labeling would be expounded. As a result of labeling, students would enjoy different resources such as power, reputation and academy, which would finally lead to the discrepancy and hierarchy in a class. By the power resources, it means the formal structure of class is like a pyramid, the students on the top of it is owns the Superior power, which in generally owned by"top"students. In the middle of pyramid is group leader. The ordinary students Stand at the bottom of the pyramid. Therefore, they hold the poorest resources. On reputation resource, students are mainly divided into four parts, isolating group, moderating group, center superior group and critic group. The academic resource means the different results among students. In the fourth part of the essay, the deeply rooted reasons for labeling affect would be explored. Based on long time observation and conversation, combined with the sociology theory behind the effect, it is concluded that labeling is essentially caused by reproduction of social production which is entailed by cultural and linguistic single division. The last part of the essay discusses the ways to solve this problem. Through the analyses of the four parts, the labeling effect would be incorporated with equal chance for education and adopting different methods according to different characteristics of the Students. And some suggestions will be posed, hoping more concerns can be given from education researchers and people involved in the educational practice.What the essay mainly demonstrates is that the labeling hiding in the teaching process limits the conducts of teachers and students. This would become the invisible power to affect the equity in class and lead to discrepancy and hierarchy among students.