Some Sociological Concomitants of Academic Streaming in a Grammar School

Abstract

A great deal is now known about the macro-sociology of secondary education in Britain. Recent studies (for example, Floud et al., 1957; Douglas, 1964) focusing on selection for entry and on the performance in secondary schools of pupils with various social and psychological characteristics, have sketched in the major dimensions of the problem. This paper, on the other hand… is an attempt to lay bare some of the micro-sociological mechanisms within one school and dwells primarily on processes of differentiation and sub-culture formation. It must therefore be seen against the background of well-established findings in the field.

Reprinted in part from Colin Lacey (1966) “Some sociological concomitants of academic streaming in a grammar school”, British Journal of Sociology, 17: 245–62, with the permission of the publishers and the author.