Students with low academic achievement and labeling theory

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to explore the perceptions of general education teachers (PE70) of the island of Lesvos for the student’s “profile” with low school performance, using Labeling Theory as interpretive tool. To carry out this research, we have chosen semi-structured interviews as the method of research method, with the participation of 16 general education teachers from Lesvos. The findings of the research have shown that: (a) teachers can identify and “recognize” specific characteristics as identifying elements of a low school performance; (b) teachers find it difficult to attribute low school performance to its real dimension; and that (c) the label of the “bad” student is attributed to the student who is “weak” in learning and adapting socially to the school environment.