Answer to Question 1
Symbolic interactionists focus on classroom communication patterns and educational practices, such as labeling that affect students' self-concept and aspirations. According to symbolic interactionists, the process of labeling is directly related to the power and status of those persons who do the labeling and those who are being labeled. In schools, teachers and administrators are empowered to label children in various ways, including grades, written comments on classroom behavior, and placement in classes. For example, based on standardized test scores or classroom performance, educators label some children as special ed or low achievers, whereas others are labeled as average or gifted and talented.. For some students, labeling amounts to a self-fulfilling prophecyan unsubstantiated belief or prediction resulting in behavior that makes the originally false belief come true. A classic form of labeling and the self-fulfilling prophecy occurs through the use of IQ (intelligence quotient) tests, which claim to measure a person's inherent intelligence, apart from any family or school influences on the individual. In many school systems, IQ tests are used as one criterion in determining student placement in classes and ability groups. In the 1960s, two social scientists (Rosenthal and Jacobson) conducted an experiment in an elementary school during which they intentionally misinformed teachers about the intelligence test scores of students in their classes.
Despite the fact that the students were randomly selected for the study and had no measurable differences in intelligence, the researchers deliberately misinformed the teachers that some of the students had extremely high IQ test scores whereas others had average to below-average scores. As the researchers observed, the teachers began to teach exceptional students in a different manner from other students. In turn, the exceptional students began to outperform their average peers and to excel in their classwork. This study called attention to the labeling effect of IQ scores.
Answer to Question 2
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