Sunday, April 11, 2010

Talking Point 8

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work by Jean Anyon talked about the different types of education students receive according to their social rank. The schools divided into four different types: working class, middle-class, affluent professional, and executive elite. Here are some quotes that I felt were important to this article:

1.) “…have argued that knowledge and skills leading to social power and regard (medical, legal, managerial) are made available to the advantaged social groups but are withheld from the working classes to whom a more practical curriculum is offered.” (1)
- I felt like this article did not prove this statement. It just gave a lot of examples, when it really should have given more insight on the curriculum the children were receiving from the teacher's, rather than discussing what they did and how they did it. From my experience, everyone is basically given the chance to get the skills and knowledge leading to social power – it is just the student’s interest to grasp that opportunity and to take advantage of their future. It’s the teacher's job to provide them with the necessary tools needed to be successful both in and out of the classroom.

2.) “We use ESS (Elementary Science Study). It’s very good because it gives a hands-on experience –so they can make sense out of it. It doesn’t matter whether it [what they find] is right or wrong. I bring them together and there’s value in discussing their ideas.” (8)
- I believe that the children of today learn better and more easily with hands on activities because it’s hard to forget something that you physically did. For example, I am a kinesthetic learner (hands on learner) – I tend to understand the material more easily and get better grades, when my teachers have me do a lot of activities or projects. Also, I feel that having discussions are very important – by discussing ideas people can help each other see how something really can or can’t work. I don’t believe that a teacher should just say something is right or wrong, they should dig deeper into the student and ask them why they believe something is so.

3.) “School experience, in the sample of schools discussed here, differed qualitatively by social class.” (12)
- After reading this article I don’t feel that it is the social class, but the teachers who make the schools the way they are. The teachers are the ones that provide the education and methods of teaching. I believe that everything depends on the teacher you have, considering where they attended college and their background. I have experienced many of the things described in this article from all the "classes," so I don't really see it coming from a certain community or social class - I find the problem to be coming from the teacher's themselves.

Overall, the article was okay. I felt like it gave too much examples and not exactly enough information about the curriculum the children were receiving. It said at the beginning, that it was going to talk about the different types of education and how each social class had its advantages and disadvantages in receiving the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in life – but I felt like Jean did not really prove her point.

Here’s a video that gives a little more information on social class and education…


Here’s another article I found called “Social Class Determines Child’s Success”…

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