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Effects of social class on education
How social class affects education
Roles of a hidden curriculum
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Hidden curriculum essay
How well do you think you know what your children are being taught in today’s school system? Maybe you did not know there is a hidden curriculum which categorizes children into special positions to either be the future working class or the new CEO of some corporation. Jean Anyon, chairperson of the Department of Education at Rutgers University describes in her article, “From Social Class and The Hidden Curriculum of Work,” the different teaching methods, philosophies of education and preparation needed to occupy a particular spot in the society. She does this by observing five schools from different communities located in New Jersey. When observing schools from one community to another, we find that these hidden curriculums
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Lower and middle class schools are taught to get the right answer by following directions and rules, with little or no creative decision making. They are evaluated according to whether the child learned the right steps and by what is in the text books or booklets. In addition, upper middle affluent class children get to be creative while expressing ideas and concepts. This class is evaluated by the quality of expression and for the appropriateness of its concepts on the task. On the contrary, executive elite students develop analytical intellectual powers, they reason through a problem to produce intellectual products, which leads them to be more creative. Moreover, children conceptualize rules and apply them in solving a problem. They had critical evaluation, research reports, essays and experimental analysis. According to Anyon, “schoolwork helps one to achieve, to excel, to prepare in life,” the main purpose of education of the executive elite class is to be prepared for what comes after students are done with school. The endless loop of the hidden curriculum in the different districts prepares students for their segregated future jobs, and they will be either labor force or top …show more content…
America is based on this idea of “the land of the free,” but just how free are we if children in our society cannot grow up to be who they what to be. Anyon describes how students are categorized by social class, income, parent’s occupation and background characteristics. These variables affect how these children are receiving their education. Being categorized by your current social level and how children have to face the fixed school system to become the future workforce is a shocking discovery. We should bring to light this hidden curriculum that benefits a small percentage of the population in order to bring about change and give our children a chance to be whoever they
The essays by Jean Anyon and Jonathan Kozol explore the idea of education not being equal for everyone across the United States. For example, Jean Anyon discusses the idea of a "hidden curriculum". The hidden curriculum that her essay describes implies that the information taught and the way it is taught differs among schools of varying socioeconomic backgrounds. She and her team visited five different schools in New Jersey, with the schools being classified into working class, middle class, affluent-professional, and elite (Anyon 165-6). She then observed the classes and the way they are taught. This brought to light the differences between the way children
Otherwise, why now the parents spend a lot of money to send their children to a good school to study, because the school education environment to the children’s influence is very important. When Wes A moved to Bronx, his mother had made a decision to send her children to private school after her seeing how poor the public school system had become, so she worked multiple jobs to manage the cost and relied on her parents to take care the children before and after school while at work. “My mother decided soon after our move to the Bronx that I was not going to public school. She wasn’t a snob, she was scared.”(47) Because she knew, if the children are growth of a bad education environment, the children of the world to know nature will be distorted. Without a good education, there is also no habits; No good sense, and also there will be some bad behavior. Today, the rate of crime is high; almost all can find the root cause of their growth environment. Maybe the lack of discipline, discouraged by mistake friends or too much stress, but all shows the importance of good education environment for children to grow
In the article “Against School”, John Taylor Gatto urges Americans to see the school system as it really is: testing facilities for young minds, with teachers who are pounding into student 's brains what society wants. Gatto first explains that he taught for 30 years at the best and worst schools in Manhattan. He claims to have firsthand experience of the boredom that students and teachers struggle with. Gatto believes that schooling is not necessary, and there are many successful people that were self-educated. He then explains the history and importance of mandatory schooling.
Some people may believe that education all over the United States is equal. These people also believe that all students no matter their location, socioeconomic status, and race have the same access and quality of education, but ultimately they are wrong. Throughout history, there has been a huge educational disparity between the wealthy and marginalized communities. The academic essay “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by Jean Anyon, an American critical thinker and researcher in education, conveys that depending on the different economic backgrounds students have, they will be taught in a specific way. He reveals that the lower economic background a child has then the lower quality their education will be and the higher their economic background is the higher quality their education is. Anyon’s theory of a social ladder is extremely useful because it sheds light on the
Juveniles are being taught that in order to have a nice car, branded cloths and the house of their dreams, by getting into an expensive mortgage, they have to be an employee of a huge corporation. In addition, they have to undergo to a prestigious school, study hard, have excellent grades in order to become popular and respectable in the world. However, many people would not become those super leaders, but these majority of people have a great role in the capitalism society of the US. As Gatto says, “We buy televisions, and then we buy the things we see on the television. We buy computers, and then we buy the things we see on the computer. We buy $150 sneakers whether we need them or not, and when they fall apart too soon we buy another pair” (38). Such results are in part of a wrong education that teenagers have received trough many decades. In addition, Gatto highlights that modern educational system has been working in a six basic functions methods that makes the system strong and unbreakable: The adjustable function, indulge students to respect authorities. The integrating function, which builds the personality of the students as similar to each other as possible. The diagnostic and directive function, which allows a school to set permanent scholar grades in order to determinate his or her future role in society. The differentiating function, which gives to the student a good education and after his or her role is diagnosed, they prevent any educational progress. The selective function, function that the system has used to prevent academic growth for the non-selected students. The propaedeutic function, which works in the selection of specific groups of intellectual adults to keep perpetuating the system all over again making it a continuous sequence. (Gatto 34). Gatto’s facts revealed the survival of the educational system for decades,
Anoyn, J. (n.d.). From social class and the hidden curriculum of work In EDUC 160 Urban Education (Spring 2014, pp. 127-136).
The first scholarly essay I am going to discuss is Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work by Jean Anyon. Anyon believed that students of different economical statuses and the schools in their communities taught differently. She used schools in four different types of communities. The four types of communities are working class, middle-class, affluent professional and executive elite. She studied the students, teachers, principals, and staff as well as
Jean Anyon’s “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” claims that students from different social classes are treated differently in schools. Anyon’s article is about a study she conducted to show how fifth graders from the working, middle, and upper class are taught differently. In Anyon’s article, she provides information to support the claim that children from different social classes are not given the same opportunities in education. It is clear that students with different socio-economic statuses are treated differently in academic settings. The curriculum in most schools is based on the social class that the students belong to. The work is laid out based on academic professionals’ assumptions of students’ knowledge. Teachers and educational professionals assume a student’s knowledge based on their socio-economic status.
Education holds power over determining one’s class. Knowledge and refinement can set one individual apart from another who lacks the qualities of successful individuals. Finances and opportunities distinguish class meaning the lower class has difficulty in obtaining the same conditions of the upper class. Education ultimately dictates success and power in society. Education is taken for granted and should be recognized for the significance it possesses.
After watching the Teach Us All documentary on Netflix, it opened my eyes to many of the issues regarding educational inequality. The study looked at schools in Little Rock, New York City, and Los Angeles to show us the current state of U.S. education and how far we have come since the school desegregation crisis. The thesis of this documentary is that since the efforts of the Little Rock Nine, our belief is that educational inequality has improved when in reality, it hasn’t improved and the actions of our country have had negative effects. Teach Us All emphasizes the need for unity and collective action to improve our education system for the kids in poor communities that are in the most need. Our country has devoted all the resources to the middle and upper class for education and are taking money away from where it needs to
The assumptions that everyone can learn, and that schools have the potential to transform a country with a tradition of hatred and an unequal distribution of wealth, extend from the vision of education as a democratic practice where there is "a struggle for both change and the freedom to change" (Irwin, p. 51, 1991). The change is about transforming an exclusive, often oppressive and disempowering system into a more inclusive, equal, and equitable one that is accessible to children from ...
Most students are not able to share their knowledge, experiences, and assets with educators to guide their own learning, but instead have to learn what curriculum and standards require. Normally, this does not include learning about diverse communities and cultures, which directly affects how students in different social classes view knowledge. Since working-class and middle-class students cannot relate to what they are learning in school, they view knowledge as something only higher up officials in the education system possess and make while also thinking it has to do with memorizing facts and information. Furthermore, they do not view knowledge as something they possess. However, affluent professional schools have more opportunities for this type of learning and recognize knowledge as something they can make by making statements such as, “You can go explore for new things” and “I’d think of something to discover, then I’d make it” (Anyon). These statements show how these affluent students can think critically and abstractly about a concept rather than just memorizing facts. Because they were given the opportunity to share their experiences, and connect to most things being taught within the education system, they have more opportunities for meaningful
The Quality of a child’s education often either limits or opens up a world of opportunities. Those who study the purpose of public education and the way it is distributed throughout society can often identify clear correlations between social class and the type of education a student receives. It is generally known by society that wealthy families obtain the best opportunities money can buy. Education is a tool of intellectual and economical empowerment and since the quality of education is strongly influenced by social class, a smaller portion of the American population obtains the opportunities acquired from a top notch education. Many people believe that educational inequalities are perpetuated from the interests of specific classes, but some researchers like John Gatto believe that there are even stronger social forces in play. In the essay “Against Schools” the author John Gatto presents three arguments: (1) that are educational system is flawed, (2) that the American educational system is purposely designed to create a massive working class that is easy to manipulate, and (3) alternative teaching methods should be applied to teach children to think for themselves. In this essay I will be summarizing and relating each of these arguments to other educational essays. Also, I will be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s argument.
The education system has been a controversial issue among educators. Requirements of school do not let students choose what they want to study for their future. It’s a big issue to force students to study specific curriculums, which don’t help them improve, and what they like to create. Educators choose a general system of education for all students based on general knowledge. Intelligent or genius students have to be in that system of education, which doesn’t let them improve their creativity.
The hidden curriculum refers to the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in school (Hidden curriculum, 2014). According to Glatthorn, Boschee and Whitehead (2012, p.25), the classroom is where most of the hidden curriculum come into play. The teacher uses several kinds of power to control the selection of content, the methods of learning, movement in the classroom, and the flow of classroom discourse. Students unconsciously learn the skills and traits required by society that is part of the curriculum such as; how to be punctual, clean, stand in line, take turns, and how to wait (Glatthorn, Boschee and Whitehead (2012,