Hidden Curriculum and Processes Within Schools Produce Inequalities Between Children of Different Social Classes

With the rapid progress of the society, the social status of many occupations are fluctuating with epochs’ changing. Personally speaking, I always believe that teachers now have less influence on students than they had in the past.

Schools are sometimes described as sorting machines which categorize students based on their skills and interests. This process can perpetuate inequalities.

Like the picture, people are lined up in row upon row and are given a certain task to complete. Each student must follow a strict set of rules designed by a few individuals with power. Comparably, the individuals in the photo also had to follow the regulations of their superior. Schools tend to foster conformity and create outliers of those who decide to be their own person. A perfect hypothetical example would be the student Bob. Bob tends to draw in class and doesn’t quite learn the same way as other students. When asked questions, because he was so busy drawing, Bob usually failed to answer the question with the correct response. When Bob did not answer after X amount of times, the teacher resulted in corporal punishment. This labeled him as an outcast and caused the other student to shun him and prevent him from participating in group activities. The picture illustrates the same effect and shows that only the people who obeyed were not shunned but rather accepted into a larger group. This, in both situations, has resulted in the loss of identity and personal characteristics that make people

In the Anthology, Rereading America, Jean Anyon and Jonathan Kozol challenge the reader to really think deeply into the cultural myths that society fills Americans with. In Anyons Article, From Social Class and The Hidden Curriculum, she discusses five different elementary schools all with different socioeconomic classes and talks about how each student is taught to fit the same types of jobs that their parents do so they remain on the same social class level. It can be justified that my educational experience was quite empowering throughout high school because of the good teachers who gave us a voice in the classroom, and brand new facilities which helped me feel comfortable at school.

The book Unequal Childhoods explains a study conducted to prove the significance of social class. Annette Lareau presents the study highlighting two primary ways of parenting that ultimately affect how successful the child becomes as they transition into adulthood. These styles of parenting include Concerted Cultivation which is where parents put through kids through structured activities, and Accomplishment of Natural Growth which is emphasized through freedom and directives. While both styles of parenting have their benefits and their weaknesses, the educational system of the United States is built predominantly on Concerted Cultivation and middle class values, which in turn may negatively affect how children prepare for their transitions into adulthood. This imbalance in education can put students farther ahead and at the same time neglect children who don’t have the resources they need to keep up with the other students. There are a multitude of variables involved with helping students reach their full potential and become successful. Some of the big factors to a student’s success include the student 's socioeconomic background, how they “fit” into the educational system, how strong their relationships are with other people, and their ability to access resources. Creating an education that can accommodate students from all different backgrounds will empower students to reach their full potential.

This article attempts to account for the wage gap in terms racial inequalities in the education system. Instead of focusing on discrimination in the labor market, this article highlights the discrepancy in education system and how it is harmful for African Americans in widening the wage gap. This article does account for African American men in addition to women, however, given the racial discrepancy in the wage gap, it could be important to look into discrepancies in education. The results would still be a major factor of limiting African American women in the labor market.

In the article “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by JEAN ANYON, the author discusses that the lower class students will not taught as higher class students. The article illustrates that there are three different social class, the social class always been a problem in the schools.

Jean Anyon observed five elementary schools over the course of a school year and found that fifth graders of different economic backgrounds are already being prepared to occupy particular rungs on the social ladder. She discusses the study and the results in her article, Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work. In the two working class schools, work was following the steps of a procedure, involving very little decision making or choice. The teachers based lessons on photocopies and handouts. Rote behavior was required, the teacher rapid fired questions demanding immediate answers. The teachers ordered the children around and very rarely said please. Bells alerting the change of class are ignored. In the middle-class school, work was getting the right answer. Most lessons were based on the textbook. These children still had to follow directions, but some decision making was required. Work tasks do not necessitate creativity. The children aren't very excited about the work and assignments appear to have

So what are the causes of this social class hierarchy and what can be done to stop it? The problems appear to be evident at all levels of education including early childhood, primary and secondary education and tertiary education. Studies in education across the world show that the success rates at school are greatly determined by the student’s parents. In particular, their occupational status, money they earn and education. If the child’s parents socio-economic status is not up to high society’s standards, it may influence the child’s social interaction that may cause some children to work to their full capabilities, impaction on what they may gain from their education. An example of how to help the situation of social class would be to look at Graham Holley, the chief executive of the Training and Development Agency in the United Kingdom. Mr Holley has attempted to improve the impact that teaching can have on the quality of children’s education. According to a UK journal ‘The Independent quotes, “Mr Holley called for moves to ensure the most highly qualified teachers were persuaded to teach in the country's

A family’s class background can have a huge effect on child-rearing. The way a family raises a child can be dependent on the class background that they have. Often families with a substantial amount of money are able to provide their children with more opportunities than families with lower income. This can have a tremendous effect on how the child is raised and how much help/support a child can get from their families to become successful and educated. Families with different financial backgrounds tend to raise their children differently and have different values in regards to schooling. In Annette Lareau’s book “Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life” she discusses the impact that economical class and family upbringings can have on a child and society. Throughout this analysis I will discuss the different approaches Lareau mentions, which approach prepares children for more effective school success, and the implications of these discoveries for teachers and schools.

Schools also have a hidden curriculum in which values and norms of behaviour are transmitted. For example, wearing a school uniform and keeping to a set timetable can all be seen as activities that encourage particular standards of behaviour which could be viewed as producing disciplined future workers. Therefore the hidden curriculum implies that pupils not only learn formal subjects such as English or physics but also receive hidden messages about their class, ethnicity and gender from their experience of schooling. Through the choice of teaching strategies and characteristics chosen to be employed by educational institutions it indirectly conveys to students the norms, values and expectations. This is what we refer to as the hidden curriculum. As we will later explore there are many that argue the hidden curriculum and processes within schools help to produce inequalities between children of different social classes. Whitty and Young (1976) view the

In my essay, I intend to discuss the differences between C. Wright Mills "The Sociological Imagination" and common sense explanations. I will begin my essay by describing both the Sociological Imagination and common sense and will them go on to show how each of these approaches would explain the topic of educational success and failure through use of examples. Charles Wright-Mills (1916-1962) was an American Sociologist. Best known for his works including "White Collar" (1951) and "The Causes of World War Three" (1958), Wright Mills believed that people need “The Sociological Imagination”, which is the name he gives to the book he wrote about connecting issues which affect us personally, to issues which affect the world/society. His goal in

The socioeconomic makeup of the student in my building is predominantly Caucasian. The next ethnicity most predominant is African American followed by a small population of Marshall Island students. Most of my students are poverty stricken. My school was 98% free and reduced lunch and next year we will be 100% free and reduced lunch and breakfast.

Social stratification, or dividing people into classes, was and is still prevalent in society in many ways. In every form division acts as an inhibitor for what certain citizens can do, but it helps form a stable class structure as there is little mobility. Namely, stratification is most evident in the various realms of education: elementary, secondary, and post-secondary. The opportunities of specific classes to achieve feats in education is often extremely disproportionate (Benson,1989, p. 159) leaving lower classes at the bottom of society.

The recently published research work by the Royal Economic Society showed that a large number of low achieving pupils in class had negative impact on the bright children’s performance. The data about mixed ability classroom was released by Ofsted, after question by conservative MP for Kingswood. The data shows that in English state schools, 55 per cent of all lessons, taught to children in mixed ability classroom. The Ofsted inspectors observed 22,834 lessons in 2010/11. Only 45 per cent of these lessons employed some kind of ability setting. The number of streaming or setting ability decreased from 47 in 2000/1 to 45 per cent in 2009/10 (Patron, G. 2012).