More handpicked essays just for you.
Sociological explorations of education inequality
Inequality in education in america
Education inequality in america
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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 …show more content…
In many low income communities, there are teachers that are careless and provide their students with poor quality education. These teachers are there just to make sure that they keep receiving their monthly paychecks and act in this way because they believe that low income students do not have the drive, the passion, or the potential to be able to make something of themselves and one day be in a better place than they are now. Anyon reveals that in working class schools student’s “Work is often evaluated not according to whether it is right or wrong but according to whether the children followed the right steps.” (3). This is important because it demonstrates that low income students are being taught in a very basic way. These children are being negatively affected by this because if they are always being taught in this way then they will never be challenged academically, which can play a huge role in their futures. This argument can also be seen in other articles. In the New York Times
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
Anoyn, J. (n.d.). From social class and the hidden curriculum of work In EDUC 160 Urban Education (Spring 2014, pp. 127-136).
My educational development has primarily been in the private school system. My younger sister attended public schools as well as my son so I have some experience with them as well. I am going to summarize three scholarly essays I have read and compare them to my own academic history.
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.
The American school system is no stranger to criticism, but everybody seems to have a distinct idea of what should be done to improve it. It was not too long ago that we had no public schooling system at all. A man would change that forever, immortalizing himself as the “father” of American education. It was surprising to me that I had never heard of this man, especially considering I had finished my journey through free and compulsory education two years ago. The man who went on to change American education, was Horace Mann, the first Secretary of the Board of Education in Massachusetts. Horace Mann tirelessly campaigned for the public to be educated, heralding it as a “great equalizer.” So why is the gap between social classes rising exponentially? There are fundamental issues holding us back from fulfilling Horace Mann’s dream of an education system which empowers citizens by leveling the playing field for everyone, including pedantic policies, a limited curriculum, and standardized testing.
The current socio-economic climate of the United States and the world at large can best be characterized as one in which access to both opportunity and wealth are increasingly scarce to those living in poverty. While there are a number of contributing factors that create this mass inequality, the scope of this argument will focus on education. The American schooling system is lagging behind globally and the current programs in place are ineffective to the point of being detrimental. This paper asserts that specific changes to the public education system will produce positive outcomes not only in the global ranking but will be additionally beneficial in bridging the opportunity gap and countering the growing culture of classism. Specifically, the argument, backed by statistics and application of sociological principles, will support the notion that adding sociology as part of a compulsory curriculum is a viable means to reverse the increasing disparity between the rich and the poor.
Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s problems. Most importantly, money cannot influence student, parent, teacher, and administrator perceptions of class and race. Nor can money improve test scores and make education relevant and practical in the lives of minority students. School funding is systemically unequal, partially because the majority of school funding comes from the school district’s local property taxes, positioning the poorest communities at the bottom rung of the education playing field. A student’s socioeconomic status often defines her success in a classroom for a number of reasons.
...is model of teaching leaves out the students from poor economic and social disadvantages. Failing to take into account that even if they receive the same education as someone from a middle-class background; these students still have to go home and deal with unfortunate circumstances.
Why do children graduate high school without fully understanding concepts that relate to the core subjects of Math, English, Science, and History? Because education is unequal in America. Sociologist Doctor James W. Loewen and award winning writer Jonathan Kozol agree that classism is to blame. Loewen also believes that history textbooks take some of the blame for the student’s ignorance of inequality within education, while Kozol believes it is ignorance from well educated people that are two blame. Although Loewen and Kozol are correct in citing classism as a problem in the education system, little is acknowledged about a solution.
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.
Social status can be defined as the position or rank of a person or group, within their society. Social status can be gained through a multitude of ways such as the career field one is in, the amount of community involvement they display or by a persons financial standing. Students of course, not having a surmountable amount of status rely on their parents. An example of this could be “ the working class schools” in which most of the student parents have blue-collar jobs who are below the federal poverty level ( at or below $12,000 or less). In these schools students receive an education that is far more mediocre compared to the students whose families make a larger income in that the higher statues students receive an education that prepares them to be independently minded and creative while the low status student learning to memorize and work to be able to follow directions. In Jean Anyon essay “From Social Class And The Hidden Curriculum Of Work” she assesses this theory of social class discrimination. Anyon examines the type of learning and objectives focused on in 5 different school which represent 5 different statues of families in society. In Anyon’s examination she discovered that the students whose family has a low social status receive a more command and follow type of instruction in which any command not followed is reinforced by punishment. On the other hand
This film focused on a teacher who was willing to fight for the students and find ways to reach them with tactics other than just typical pedagogy or academic discipline. Where it is commonly believed that students growing up in poor families seem to be labeled as juvenile delinquents and not much is expected of them, Mr. Dadier tried to change this perception by showing his s...
Living in poverty exposes children to disadvantages that influence many aspects in their life that are linked to their ability to do well in school. In the United States of America there are an estimated 16.4 million children under the age of 18 living in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). “The longer a child lives in poverty, the lower the educational attainment” (Kerbo, 2012). Children who are raised in low-income households are at risk of failing out before graduating high school (Black & Engle, 2008). U.S. children living in poverty face obstacles that interfere with their educational achievement. Recognizing the problems of living in poverty can help people reduce the consequences that prevent children from reaching their educational potential.
In an education journal, Anyon (“Social”) provides the reader with the concept that there are four different types of schools, working class schools, middle-class schools, affluent professional schools, and executive elite schools, after observing five schools. The working class schools are made up of parents with blue-collar jobs, with less than a third of the fathers being skilled, and the majority of them being semiskilled or unskilled. “Approximately 15 percent of the fathers were unemployed… approximately 15 percent of the families in each school are at or below the federal ‘poverty’ level…the incomes of the majority of the families…are typical of 38.6 percent of the families in the United States” (Anyon, “Social”). In a more recent study conducted by Anyon (“What”, 69), she states that,
For the most part it is not the students fault as to why they are failing, but the teachers. In run down schools in poor towns, most teachers can only do so much with what they are given. In most cases it leads the teachers to just give up. In David K. Shipler’s The Working Poor: Invisible in America, Shipler states, “It had been a science class, and the teacher had given up and allowed a student who had brought a Nintendo game to plug it in” (Shipler 240). If the teacher ends up giving up or stops caring all together, the student will follow suit. In the student’s mind if the authority does not see it as important, why should they. It is important that the teachers, no matter the school, not give up on the students, for most it is the only the students have to look up to. According to Lyndsey Layton, writer for the Washington Post, just about 11 million children were living below the poverty level (Layton). For that amount of children to be living that low in life is unacceptable, but because of how education is in these areas where the children are living in are bad, they don’t have much hope for their future. Education is the only outlook these kids have for a better future and if that is corrupt or interfered with than there is a really good chance of them not being able to escape the poverty. Although there are millions of teachers that do strive to provide the best for his or her