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Education Inequality in America
Impact of social class on education attainment
Short notes on educational equality
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Success. Society tends to correlate “success” with the obtainment of a higher education. But what leads to a higher education? What many are reluctant to admit is that the American dream has fallen. Class division has become nearly impossible to repair. From educations such as Stanford, Harvard, and UCLA to vocational, adult programs, and community, pertaining to one education solely relies on one’s social class. Social class surreptitiously defines your “success”, the hidden curriculum of what your socioeconomic education teaches you to stay with in that social class. The education system has heavily relied on students socioeconomic factors to dictate their education style ultimately preparing them for skills necessary to fit in their social class. The American dream is dead, it is no longer to strive and work hard to become successful, rather as Bambara shows it, work hard to barely survive day to day. Bambara portrays this division by the inference that the characters have little to no knowledge or respect for a higher education or for a matter of factor a education at all. Silvia, the main character, features all three minority factors, low income and an African American female. Moreover, the expectancy of success is nevertheless little to nothing greater than her parents. Due to her socioeconomic background, higher education is viewed as a joke, referred to a “goddamn college degree” (254). Silvia is then subjected to live a lifestyle common to her parents, to not strive to be able to buy a toy boat for a thousand dollars, but to frown upon the possibility. As described by Rose, in his vocational track, students were constantly yelled at, for example the P.E teacher, in some cases it relates to the lesson that the syst... ... middle of paper ... ...oped by the system that keeps them within the cycle. Society is the wall that blocks one to success, but it is their own shadow of fear and normalcy that ultimately covers the opportunity. Works Cited Anyon, Jean. “From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 163-179. Print. Bambara, Toni. “The Lesson.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 253-260. Print. Rose, Mike. “I Just Wanna Be Average.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 151-163. Print.
The teachers in Voc. Ed. were not capable of teaching well and did not believe in the abilities of their students. Rose’s homeroom teacher, Brother Dill, physically harmed his students by either shaking or smacking them to keep control in the classroom. Furthermore, the author soon deduced that the entire program was intended to be “a dumping ground for the disaffected” due to the lack of enthusiasm or
The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.
John Marsh, Ph.D., shares his epiphany, that his sharing the popular belief that higher education was the answer to bringing about economic equality and curing poverty, was in fact wrong; in this short selection, “Why Education Is Not an Economic Panacea”, taken from his book, “Class Dismissed: Why We Cannot Teach or Learn Our Way Out of Inequality”. Marsh had felt that gaining a higher education himself worked to bring him to a level of economic equality, so, it should work the same way for everyone else. His change of heart comes after perhaps stepping down from the pedestal that many, with lots of letters after their name, sit on, or are put upon by others, and witnessing first-hand the dismal rates of graduation of students in the single course he teaches for The Odyssey Program. Serving as good Public Relations for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the program’s purpose was two-fold; it was to provide, at no cost, college level course(s) for low-income adults and look good for the University. In this excerpt, Marsh’s narrow vision seems to have opened up somewhat, however, it does not demonstrate that his visual field widened enough to see that there is much, much more than simply economics or education that is at play in determining where people end up in the spectrum of being considered successful in the United States. (Marsh 914)
Recently, the recession has increased the wealth gap resulting in the rich getting richer and the poor to get poorer. This is an important issue facing society. As the poor and the middle class struggle for financial stability and wealth the top 1% of the rich continue to grow their assets. What is the reality of this issue? Is society’s perception of this issue accurate? How does one’s socioeconomic status influence success? There are many perspectives to this provocative topic and can vary when looking at them through an economical or a political lens. Often times, the wealthy are privileged with an unfair advantage over the poor.
In order to establish a PHILOSOPHY ON TEACHING, a sequence of events happen in history to open a doorway to “Society about Education and Schooling”, as the description of Public Education Goals for Our Educational System came from the ideas of two famous men, Horace Mann and Thomas Jefferson.
Education has been historically considered as an equalizer of society in America, allowing the opportunity for even the disadvantaged to reach success. Race was once the strongest factor in determining future achievement, but today Stanford Sociologist, Sean F. Reardon, says income level has become more consequential (Tavernise). President Barack Obama was one of the lucky few able to overcome the obstacles he faced growing up being both African American and underprivileged, but most children are not as lucky (Rampton , Nawaguna). In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, the Lacks family lived in poverty and struggled to perform well in school, resulting in many of them dropping out even before high school (Skloot). The success gap between high and low income students in the U.S. has increased significantly in recent years (McGlynn). The educational achievement of students is significantly affected by their home life, and those living in poverty are much more likely to fall behind academically than children coming from affluent families.
Today, a good education and gainful employment are merely the status quo -- these qualifications are no longer a proven formula for wealth and success. A reflection of this statement is the entrepreneur and creator of Apple, Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was a college dropout, and around his death in 2011, his net worth was about $11 billion (Smale). Many more fall under this category, including Michael Dell, creator of Dell Computers, and Rachael Ray, the famous culinary and TV star. These success stories contribute to the idea that success isn’t defined by a college education or degree. Success should not be generalized into one definition or category. Each individual has the right to decide what exactly success means and looks like to them, and whether a university can achieve that definition is ultimately up to the student. School can either be a stepping stone or a road block, but forcing one direction upon a student is unfair and diminishes the fact that students have and should make the choice based on what is best for them and their
Education provides an individual with the necessary skills to progress in life. But socioeconomic factors such as race, gender and ethnicity can influence the quality and the availability of education as well as the ability of education to improve life. Therefore it is important to have a clear understanding of what affects one’s educational attainment.
In January 2013 a prominent national US newspaper quoted former Secretary of State, Condolezza Rice, “It doesn’t matter where you come from, but where you are going.” However, In “The Land of Opportunity,” James Loewen discusses how significant inequality is in America. The social class that you are born into will influence your outlook on social class and will also be the social class you stay in (Loewen, 1995. 322). Your social class will determine the opportunities available for you including health, fitness, nutrition, education, SAT scores, medical resources and more (Loewen, 1995. 321-322). Loewen also proposes that the education system in America does not incorporate a proper analysis of our social class (Loewen, 1995. 323). It is necessary for students to be realistic about social inequality because it is linked with history. As students, we are socialized from an early age to believe in the American Dream through media and our loved ones. We were raised to believe our merit determines our success. In reality race and ethnicity, class, and gender play vital roles in determining where an individual ends up in life. The following articles raise inconvenient facts that go against the American Dream.
Poverty is the Main Cause of Social Class Differences in Educational Achievement This essay will assess the view that poverty is the main cause of social class differences in educational achievement. There are many causes of these differences which can be linked to cultural deprivation, and will be discussed in this essay. Material deprivation is lack of money and things which money can buy. and is the main cause of poverty.
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In the United States, where the technology accelerates, the economy explodes, and the prosperity proliferates, seemly one aspect hinders an American from achieving the American Dream: a college education. Nonetheless, after years of propelling students into higher education, the United States oversees substantial controversy over college viability. Numerous proponents refer to the statistical trends; college graduates uphold higher probabilities of generating more money, obtaining a job easily, and living a comfortable life. Furthermore, advocates proclaim that college enrollees foster communicative skills that augment the perspectives of individuals as they transition into the working society. Nevertheless, opponents of higher education introduce
The Relationship Between Social Class and Educational Achievement Many sociologists have tried to explore the link between social class and educational achievement, measuring the effects of one element upon the other. In order to maintain a definite correlation between the two, there are a number of views, explanations, social statistics and perspectives which must be taken into account. The initial idea would be to define the key terms which are associated with how "social class" affects "educational achievement." "Social class" is the identity of people, according to the work they do and the community in which they live in. "Educational achievement" is the tendency for some groups to do better or worse in terms of educational success.
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
America is considered the land of possibility to many, the land of the free. There is a plethora of businesses that function only through the collaboration of members that reside in every level of social class. As Anyon puts it, “… social class describes relationships which we as adults have developed, may attempt to maintain, and in which we participate in every working day”(anyon 398). One’s social class contains and is built by many different interactions. Your social class begins to be constructed at birth and is developed through interactions in the community, work place, and before all else places of education. Indeed the skills and level of thinking learned through education is a deciding factor in how strongly you can participate in the economy there for determining a major factor in social class (Anyon 398 p. 10). This topic is discussed in articles written by (Kozol, Matzios, and Jean Anyon) who pose similar arguments to reinforce this observation but also have contrasting ideas on the subject.