Howard Becker is an American sociologist who's most notable work is what he has done on labelling and the issues of deviance, his most famous book, 'Outsiders' was published in 1966 and has widely been credited as being the first book to come into the idea of labelling. His theories have been used for decades now and applied to many different fields of sociology, it has been used by many other sociologists, developed and criticised. He is seen as a rather remarkable sociologist who has done a lot for his field of research into deviance. The book 'Outsiders' does not directly indicate towards the uses of labelling theory in education however it does state that labelling is present in daily life and that it can be used on anyone. He indirectly gives us examples of how labelling happens, through stereotypes being used to decide how somebody acts and then using those stereotypes to label people.
His work in labelling can be applied quite easily to education. He states in his book that labels are often used to give people meaning, that labels group people together, which is often how stereotypes are brought about, which forces people to adjust in order to fit in with the people around them. These adjustments can cause labels to become reality, as Becker indicates in his book people are given expectations and whether those expectations are good or bad people tend to try and live up to those expectations. This is what occurs often in schools, when the teacher has labelled a pupil as someone who will do well they thrive to do well, while if a pupil is labelled as someone who will do badly they may not see much point in trying to do well as they are taught to an extent by their teacher that they will not do well. While talking about deviance Becker gives up the idea that people adjust their lines of activity in order to fit in with the social group they have been put in, often in schools teachers group their pupils together, this is often when friendships begin, and often you will see all the good children grouped together and all the bad children grouped together which would result in their behaviour becoming more obvious and thus the label will grow, they won't try and break out of that label however they will instead try and impress those around them which would cause their behaviour to become more noticeable.
His work in labelling can be applied quite easily to education. He states in his book that labels are often used to give people meaning, that labels group people together, which is often how stereotypes are brought about, which forces people to adjust in order to fit in with the people around them. These adjustments can cause labels to become reality, as Becker indicates in his book people are given expectations and whether those expectations are good or bad people tend to try and live up to those expectations. This is what occurs often in schools, when the teacher has labelled a pupil as someone who will do well they thrive to do well, while if a pupil is labelled as someone who will do badly they may not see much point in trying to do well as they are taught to an extent by their teacher that they will not do well. While talking about deviance Becker gives up the idea that people adjust their lines of activity in order to fit in with the social group they have been put in, often in schools teachers group their pupils together, this is often when friendships begin, and often you will see all the good children grouped together and all the bad children grouped together which would result in their behaviour becoming more obvious and thus the label will grow, they won't try and break out of that label however they will instead try and impress those around them which would cause their behaviour to become more noticeable.