Social origin, school performance and social reproduction Teachers' representations and practices

Research over time has shown that students who succeed or fail in school generally come from the upper or lower social classes, respectively. Poor school performance, particularly failure, in compulsory education, may became a great obstacle for students as their learning progress and effectiveness are both qualified and validated by their teachers and is firmly linked to the particular way a teacher chooses to assess his students’ learning and give feedback afterwards. The purpose of this research is to investigate teachers" perceptions concerning the relationship between students’ social background and their different school performance and how much these perceptions are taken into account while teachers shape their grading report practices. The qualitative analysis of the data revealed that teachers, knowingly or unintentionally, take into account their students’ social background. Furthermore, the research has shown that they are being aware of this correlation between social background and school performance and that their grading criteria are influenced, consequently.