School Subjects as Social Categorisations

Abstract

The present study set out to examine school subjects in terms of social categorisations of a child's educability. A group of academically educated (N = 180) and vocationally educated parents (N = 249) with a child in the third grade of comprehensive school were asked to indicate their child's strongest and weakest school subject and to give reasons for their choices. The parents' most frequent choices for both the strongest and the weakest subject turned out to be mathematics and Finnish, which substantiates the pivotal role of the cognitive-verbal competencies in defining the child's educability. The choices were guided by the child's gender, so that mathematics was typically regarded as the strongest subject of boys and the weakest subject of girls and conversely, Finnish was regarded as the strongest subject of girls and the weakest subject of boys. The parent's educational position organised the reasons given for the subject choices so that self-serving attribution was stronger among the academically educated than the vocationally educated parents, suggesting that the parents' education relates to the trust they place on their child's educational potential.

How Teachers’ and Students’ Mindsets in Learning Have Been Studied: Research Findings on Mindset and Academic Achievement

“…The researchers also addressed that there was a "moderate and positive correlation" between the teachers' and parents' ratings of children's potential. This result was consistent with earlier research demonstrating that teachers' mindset for children's potential was related to the mindset of a child's mother (Räty, Kasanen, & Kärkkäinen, 2006).…”

University students’ perceptions of their ‘ability selves’ and employability: a pilot study

“…Theoretically, the concept derives mainly from social psychological research on the common-sense conceptions of intelligence and abilities (e.g. Furnham, 2001;Mugny & Carugati, 1989;Räty, Kasanen, & Kärkkäinen, 2006). Accordingly, 'ability self' can be defined as that part of an individual's self-concept which relates to the individual's perception of his/ her abilities and other characteristics, understood as more or less internal and constant personal features, which orientate an individual towards education, work and career.…”

“…While participating in the differential routines of a school, students tend to adopt the culturally predominant criteria used to evaluate their potential (educability), particularly the far-reaching distinction drawn between 'hand' and 'head' (Rosenholtz & Simpson, 1984), reflecting the status hierarchy of abilities and the related school subjects (Mugny & Carugati, 1989;Räty et al, 2006).…”

Dichotomized Metaphors and Young People's Educational Routes

“…Teachers of practical subjects (c.f. Räty et al, 2006) often challenge this dichotomy. One teacher argued in the interview that you do not know what to do unless you have 'the track of movement from the head to the hands'.…”