Annotated Bibliography: Social Class And Adult Education

Getting an education is an important part of every child and teenager’s life, but not all get the same type of education. In Jean Anyon’s essay “From Social Class And The Hidden Curriculum Of Work”, she explains and talks about the four levels of education. According to Jean Anyon, the four levels of education are the Working-Class School, Middle-Class School, Affluent Professional School, and Executive Elite School. From my experience, I attended a working-class school named Santa Ana High School located in a low income and high crime neighborhood of the city of Santa Ana, CA. In the author’s words, a working-class school is, “A school for students with parents with low income jobs, and with an income at or below $12,000”(Anyon 138). I believe got a working-class education because we rarely used the textbooks in class, learned through common core, and taught an education from average standard courses. Also, I believe I attended a working-class school because my high school education just taught me the basic skills of attaining a minimum wage job, whereas in professional school, or elite school students are taught knowledge and skills that lead to higher wage jobs. My experience relates to author Jean Anyon’s essay because I felt the working-class school category matched my high school education. For example, in the essay she states, “In working-class schools, work is following the steps of a procedure. The procedure is usually mechanical, involving rote behavior and very little decision making or choice”(Anyon 140). Author Jean Anyon also states, “Available textbooks are not always used, and the teachers often prepare their own dittos or put work examples on the board”(Anyon 140). Both of these examples from the essay relate to my high school education because we would often do assignments created by the teacher rather than do assignments provided by the school textbooks. From my high school education, I received a working-class education because although we did have new buildings, new technology, and a clean school campus, the high school was located in a low income, and dangerous neighborhood, and students received an education from average standard courses. In my opinion, I received a working-class

James Loewen begins his argument by establishing that students are leaving high school without knowing the basic inner workings of the class structure. He goes on to attribute some of the ignorance concerning class structure to have stemmed from a lack of labor history and class system information in high school history books. Loewen continues to describe the shortcomings of history books on topics such as social stratification, the realities of social classes in colonial America, and social class inequalities. He then goes into great detail about the continuous inequalities between those in higher and lower social class. Overall, the author of this piece argues that a person's social class influences too many aspects of their life. He claims

Social Class and Education”. It opens by discussing research conducted in the 1960’s in an effort to identify factors contributing to differences in the academic achievement of Whites and Blacks (Banks & Banks, 2013). Researchers hypothesized that the achievement gaps were mainly the result of disparities in school resources and characteristics, but found that there is a high correlation between achievement and socioeconomic status (SES) (Banks & Banks, 2013). Furthermore, attention is drawn to the class stratification which exists in our educational system and works to maintain inequality through exclusion strategies such as ability grouping and tracking (Banks & Banks, 2013). Evidence of the correlation between social class and

Social movements are not spontaneous events, and they must build towards their goals over time on a series of phases and preconditions. Successful social movements rely on a number of micro and macro factors including efficient organizational structures, the ability to mobilize human and material resources, as well as effective leadership and rapid diffusion of ideas. As it will be shown, the presence of mobilizing structures, movement frames as well as suitable political opportunities combined with reactionary incentives during the Civil Rights Movement helped culminate both short and long term societal changes.

A social movement is a group of individuals that focus on political or social issues. Though this explanation appears pertinent, movements are rarely that simple. In the case of racial militancy, a social movement is characterized by the need for justice, preserving the community and the emergence of the New Negro. What distinguishes racial militancy from other groups is the inclination to question society and combat relentlessly for their objectives. Frequently this movement employed empowerment, unity, and a new identity to define their movement.

Julie Bettie’s book Women Without Class, she describes social groups in Waretown High and their race, gender, and social class composition. Bettie is an observant who is really interested in “women from working-class families across racial/ethnic identities…” (Bettie, pg. 8). She started her project in a community college, where she talks to the first generation of families attending college. Bettie observes that 20 percent high school graduates transfer to community colleges to four-year schools nationally. In addition to this “another 28 percent of Waretown graduates go directly to four-years schools; 3 percent attend trade schools; and the remaining 16 percent are without plans for post-secondary education” (Bettie, pg.11). In other

Is it true that social class in the United States is still a major problem? Some individuals would like to believe that we are a nation that no longer has social classes, and that everyone is much better off than they were many years ago. William Sumner and Jane Addams were two talented writers, who had different outlooks on social class. William Graham Sumner wrote “What Social Classes Owe to Each Other” in 1883. Sumner essential question that he asking is, “What do social classes owe to each other?” he is ultimately saying that they owe each other nothing. In the book he asks vital important questions, which makes you ponder. Sumner was a sociologist at Yale University and a great individual of classical laissez-faire. In this book Sumner is tackling the attempt to adjust economy and improve social problems. On the other hand, Jane Addams is known as a peace activist. She published “Democracy and Social Ethics” in 1902. This book indicates the issues that delay the capability of all individuals of society to establish their own comfort. Addams came from a privileged family and dedicated her life to other women. She advocated for women’s rights, and labor rights, and she was among the first generation of college-educated women in the United States. This essay will analyze the important aspects of comparing and contrasting social inequality, poverty, and education.

Social movements are large groups of people who are usually without political power and influence that decide to promote or resist social change through unconventional means (Monnier, 2010). Social movements begin when there is a problem identified by a certain group of people. The group finds out who is responsible for failing to appropriately address their issues and at that point proceed to take action themselves. These movements can be violent or nonviolent when addressing the responsible parties. There are many types of social movements that include but not limited to civil rights, animal rights and environmental rights movements. The basis of these movements would derive from the conflict theory. The conflict theory

“Our inequality materializes out upper class, vulgarizes our middle class,and brutalizes our lower class” (Matthew Arnold). In Chapter 7 “The Land of Opportunity” from Lies My Teacher Told Me, the author James Loewen addresses that middle-class and lower-class children don’t have the equal America to flourish in. Loewen studied high school history textbooks and discovered that many of them had no index listings for “social class” or “class structure” in half of the books he studied (Loewen 202). That, in turn, verifies Loewen’s claims that history textbooks do indeed not present information needed in high school curriculum.

People are told that getting an education will make them successful in life. That is not the case. Jean Anyon conducted a study on the four different schools in different social-class. In the article “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” Jean Anyon states, “In the two working-class schools, work is following the steps of a procedure. The teacher rarely explains why the work is being assigned and how it might connect to other assignments” (2). Students are not taught to think for themselves. They are taught to follow their parent’s footsteps into the work force as very low skilled workers. Compared to the students in the capitalist class where they are taught to use their own knowledge and reason to solve problems. The students in the executive elite schools are given a better chance in succeeding in life.

Today's workers need to prepare with continuous job training, growth and development. Given the increased age, experiences and diverse lifestyles of the working population, it is understandable that adult education practices must move beyond the traditional model of teachers and learners, while new skills, working with local companies to match their needs and sending staff into factories and other workplaces to spread the word about state and federal retraining assistance. While trying to decide how to rebuild your life after loss of employment and lack of job opportunities following the current recession, or devastated from a divorce? Adult students faced with other struggles; studies have shown that older adult students face different hurdles, family problems, and poor self-image. These along with poor time management, weaker academic preparation and a need for remediation an increased focus on adult learners and their needs can help. (armour)

The purpose of this assignment is to Examine the extent to which social class determines life chances in contemporary Britain, and explore the relevance of the issue for students on a social work degree. Within this document I will identify and explore key concepts and approaches in the sociological analysis of social differentiation in modern society. I will then use these concepts and apply them to contemporary britain in order to explain how social class influences an individual 's life chances. I will also discuss and examine the value of these theories to students on a social work course.

In reflecting on this Creative Experience assignment, the content in this course influenced my passion further toward preparing the adult learners to enter the world using the education they obtained. Areas to be viewed will be the relevancy of national issues and policy to be considered, and the approach of programs. The field of adult education continued to influence my hunger to efficiently equip the learners to be successful after completing their education. Educators must become aware of what learning approaches to use to ensure individual’s learning potential while determining what skills are gained as development occurs through interactions.

Education is something often seen as an equalizer in the face of social injustice. The concept of using school and information to put different people on a level playing field is a noble but misguided attempt at social equality. Education undoubtedly affects the position of people in society positively, while creating an outlet to educate the ignorant, it becomes problematic when education is not an equal opportunity for everyone. In Adrienne Rich’s essay, “Taking Women Students Seriously”, she speaks of the inequality mainly affecting women while subtly hinting at the inequality present in education in regards to race and class. Gender, race and class are three characteristics that work together to create either a positive or negative profile for one’s education.

According to Smulders (2006), the theories of Eduard Lindman suggest that adult education started in the late 70s and early 80s. In order to reduce the high school drop-out rate, there was increase in research and the hope to accelerate literacy level. Due to the constant change in the global economy, economic downsizing and reduced white collar jobs, the benefit of adult education was not realized. At that time, with the enormous need for increased education, many adults re-entered the educational field to increase their chances to be hired in a field, increased education is mandatory for the adult learner. Whether the education is a short seminar or receiving a PhD, continuous education was a necessity to stay competitive. The need for added education for the adult populace, coupled with the problems of educating adults is distressing. While there is a severe lag with financial aid for the adult populace, there have been many steps made to increase the retention of the “non-traditional” students. Understanding that adult learners are different from traditional learners and have more to offer have given great insight into teaching the adult populace effectively. Adult learners share several characteristics. First, adult learners are