Social Class Effects On Education

Social class has always had an effect on different aspects of people’s lives. However one effect that has recently come to light is social class’s affect on education. Social class is no longer just a harmless label for many; it affects the education of many students around the United States. Anyon’s Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work, Mantsios’ Class in America, and Kozol’s Still Separate, Still Unequal all touch on the topic of how social class effects education in public schools in the past and present. All three authors bring something important to an analysis of the relationship and so taking from each author helps best describe how the American public school system fails to give students of the lower class equal opportunities

in education.
Anyon describes how children of different social classes receive different types of education.

Anyon argues that schools have different curriculum and ways of teaching for students of different social classes. These different types of education correspond to personality traits that are deemed appropriate in different occupations. Working classes require obedience and compliance while upper class occupations require creativity and ingenuity. In a social experiment, Anyon reflects on how different schools representing different social classes differ in teaching style. Students in “working class” schools learn in a mechanical way that requires rote behavior and very little decision making or choice. Students are not allowed to think for themselves rather the teacher is the one who thinks for them. For example, after a science experiment the teacher wrote questions to be answered on a note card for the students to answer. The students were not allowed to come up with their own questions. The teacher also told them how much to write and what books to use. The teacher explained to the observer that they must tell the students what to do or the students would not be able to do it. Students that were enrolled in “middle class” schools were given a little bit more freedom than the students of the working class. The students were still required to follow directions; however the directions often required some figuring, choice, and decision making. The children must often figure out by

themselves what the directions ask them to do and what steps they can do to get the answer. The tasks that the students are asked to complete require little creativity and little opportunity for the students to express their own ideas and feelings. For students that attend “affluent professional” schools, work is creative and actively carried out independently. Students are encouraged by the teacher to express their ideas by applying ideas and concepts. When the students are giving answers to questions from the teacher, the teacher would often ask the children to expand on what they had to say and to give more details. Lastly, students that attend “executive elite” school are continually asked to reason through a problem, and to use past studies to figure out how to solve a problem. These different teaching styles condition students to the types of qualities required for their respective working classes. Anyon describes social class as being based solely on occupation as she exposes the hidden curriculum that steers students into the same occupations as their parents. This curriculum gives lower class students an unequal opportunity to rise from their social class, and in the end keeps students in the lower class in the lower class. As Anyon exposes how social class affects teaching styles and curriculum, Mantsios explains how school performance strongly correlates with economic class.
In Mantsios’ essay, four myths about class in America are debunked while seven realities are put up for discussion.

One of Mantsios’ realities is that class standing has a significant impact on chances for educational achievement. Mantsios defines class by family income and the effectiveness of education based on standardized tests such as the SAT. In a study for the Carnegie Council on Children, a relationship can be seen between social class and scores on standardized tests. As the family income of a student increases so do the median SAT scores. Richard De Lone came to the conclusion that the higher the student’s social class, the better the chance that he/she will get higher grades. William Sewell showed a positive correlation between class and overall educational achievement. When the top quartile was compared with the bottom quartile, he found that students from upper-class families were twice as likely to obtain training beyond high school and four times as likely to attain a post-graduate degree. Sewell’s research proved that the higher the social class a student belonged to, the greater the probability of higher educational achievement. This study relates to the conclusions of Anyon that different social classes are given different curriculums and teaching styles which very well can affect school performance as shown in De Lone’s study. As Mantsios shows how the different teaching styles discussed in Anyon effects academic performance, Kozol exposes why some

schools treat students of different social classes differently, giving students of the lower class unequal forms of education.
In Still Separate, Still Unequal, Kozol explains how public schools are still very much segregated and the different social classes that correspond with different schools do not receive the same quality of education. Inner city schools are usually filled with minority students with low family incomes. These schools typically receive less funding per student from the government. For example a primarily black school in New York City received about $8,000 a year on the education of a third grade student. If that student were to attend a school in a white suburb, the government would spend around $12,000 on their education. This difference in funding leads to under qualified teachers and a subpar educational experience. Under qualified teachers and smaller budget are factors that explain the correlation between family incomes and SAT scores discussed by Mantsios. Kozol also explains how the primarily poor minority students are often educated in a way that prepares them for the same careers as their parents. Just as Anyon described, Kozol touches on the subject of students often required to take skill classes that prepare the lower class students for blue collar jobs even if the students have no interest in pursuing a blue collar job. This unequal spending in public system causes a drastic difference in educational experiences. These different schools provide unequal educational opportunities.
These three authors give different accounts on how social class affects a student’s education. Schools have different curriculums and teaching techniques for different social classes. These curriculums and teaching techniques push students to stay on the same working path as their parents. Studies have shown the impact of family income on educational achievement. And lastly, segregated schools with a majority of lower class students have shown to receive less funding than those of white suburban schools causing unequal forms of education. Even though students are supposed to be treated equally when it comes to education, the truth is that the public school system is far from equal. Students are often compared to their parent’s social class and thus have very little opportunity to move up from their current social status. Depending on social class, students are educated in a way that prepares them for the line of work similar to their parents. Students should not receive different types of education just because of their social class. Students should receive the same education so that students that are in low income families are able to better themselves in the future. Our school systems are far from equal and even with integration; many are segregated by not only race but also social class. Changes need to be made to the public school system so that all students have an equal opportunity for educational achievement.