English 12- EO3
Fall 2015
Prof. Andrew
Essay two
SS: 1341
Prompt: Discuss the impact of Curricula on their intended beneficiaries as described in the readings of Jean Anyon and John Taylor Gatto.
American Citizens success is directly correlated to the quality of education they receive. The quality of education changes with location, and location is determined by income. Even if by chance an individual is able to locate a viable institution. The curriculum may harm a child intellectual growth more than it would stimulate it. John Taylor Gatto argues that standardized curriculum is boring our students, and crushing originality. While Jean Anyon states that a person social class is a reflection of their schooling. Both pedagogues have experience in this field, and have looked closely at course work and student teacher relationships. Ostensibly Gatto’s and Aynon’s publications intends to convey the flaws ingrained in the education system. It’s feasible to first examine each social class’s academic curriculum in order to understand if schooling is thwarting success.
The working class makes up about 39 percent of the population. Families are placed in this category when their yearly earnings falls under fifteen thousand dollars. Their jobs consist of labor that requires a minimal amount of analytical thinking. In working class schools students are trained to obey instructions just as they would in working class jobs. The middle-class annually earns at least
The relationship between authority, power and the individual is one of the most important subjects when living in society. Martin Espada wrote two poems exploring the relationship between these different components in society: “Why I went to College” and “The Community College Revises its Curriculum in Response to Changing Demographics”. In terms of form, one poem is an epigram, while the other is free verse. The speaker in one poem is a person speaking about his or her relationship with his or her father, while the other poem presents an objective, dry school curriculum. However, both poems address the subject of aggression and abuse of power.
Despite the debates about social class, the United States is usually described as having four major social classes, the elite or upperclass, the middle class, the working class, and the lower class (Goldscmidt). Classes are generally differentiated by income, education, and occupation although other factors do have an effect. The upperclass consists of about 1% of the population making 750,000 dollars or more a year as investors, top executives, or heirs to large fortunes (Hughes and Jenkins). There tends to be no question about who is in the upperclass as they are pretty clearly isolated in their power and wealth. The middle class makes up about 40% of the population making anywhere from 40,000 to 749,999 dollars a year (Hughes and Jenkins). The large disparity in income and wealth have led to a further division of this class into upper-middle class and middle class in some circles. The middle class usually work white collar jobs as professionals and managers, however some highly skilled blue collar workers are included. Those in the middle class have usually obtained higher education degrees and place a high value on individual responsibility for one’s class (Goldschmidt). The working class is composed of about 50% of the population earning 13,000 to 39,000 dollars a year (Hughes and Jenkins). Some also divide this class into a working class and a
In Jean Anyon’s essay, “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”, she discusses how she observed various classrooms across New Jersey in an attempt to find proof that schools taught comprehension and provided altered education opportunities based on the level of social class.
A study conducted in 2003 by Ofsted that involved England, Denmark and Finland, showed England’s national curriculum compared to the other two countries was:
Jean Anyon’s essay and study of “The Hidden Curriculum of Schools” argues that the quality of education you receive is solely based on your standing in the different levels of social classes in which you were born into. Mike Rose’s essay “I Just Wanna Be Average” confirms this hidden curriculum as he recalls his misplacement into vocational school in which the parents of the students that attended worked blue-collar jobs. Mike Rose’s essay confirms Jean Anyon’s study in showing that your education is heavily based upon the social class you are in. The lower you rank in social class the less of an education you receive whereas students that rank higher receive a more quality education. Both authors argue, correctly, that education should work
Jean Anyon in her article “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” argues that students receive a different education based on their community and the setting in which that community is located. Jean Anyon’s article was published in the Journal of Education, Volume 162, no. 1, in Fall 1980. Between September, 1978 and June 1979, Jean studied fifth grade classrooms in five various elementary schools. During these months, she collected substantial information from examining each classroom, discussing with teachers, students and administrators, and evaluating course materials. Anyon divided the five schools into four categories: the executive elite schools, affluent professional schools, middle-class schools, and the working class schools.
The greatest country in the world still has problems evenly distributing education to its youth. The articles I have read for this unit have a common theme regarding our education system. The authors illustrate to the reader about the struggles in America concerning how we obtain and education. Oppression, politics, racism, and socioeconomic status are a few examples of what is wrong with our country and its means of delivering a fair education to all Americans.
Education has been the subject of some of the most heated discussions in American history. It is a key point in political platforms. It has been subject to countless attempts at reform, most recently No Child Left Behind and Common Core. Ardent supporters of institutional schools say that schools provide access to quality education that will allow the youth of our country to gain necessary skills to succeed in life. Critics take a far more cynical view. The book Rereading America poses the question, “Does education empower us? Or does it stifle personal growth by squeezing us into prefabricated cultural molds?” The authors of this question miss a key distinction between education and schooling that leaves the answer far from clear-cut. While education empowers, the one-size-fits-all compulsory delivery system is stifling personal growth by squeezing us into prefabricated cultural molds.
Of this group, about 1/3rd belongs to the upper-middle class. The annual income of person belonging to this group is $70-$75,000. The jobs that the typical upper-middle class person holds would have a prestige rating of 65 or higher. 2/3rd?s of the middle-class population is the lower-middle class. White-collared individuals make up the majority of this class, earning anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000 a year. Lower-middle class Americans have a set standard of priorities. They take pride in the fact that they are financially stable, and promote hard work, and press on education. Without education, the members feel that they would not be where they are economically, and preach the importance to their children so that they, too, can live a lifestyle very similar to that of theirs (Norton).
In “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” Jean Anyon theorizes about the role education plays in society. Anyon’s central thesis is that public schools in complex societies like our own make available different types of education experience and curriculum knowledge to students in different social classes. Jean Anyon performs a study on different elementary schools’ where the children come from different backgrounds, the parents had different incomes, occupations, and other relevant social characteristics. The method’s Anyon used to prove her point was gathering data in classroom observations, interviewing students, teachers, principals, and district administrative staff; and assessment of curriculum and other materials in each classroom and school. After careful analysis of Anyon’s model and my personal experiences in Windham High School I can confirm that I attend a school Anyon would identify as the working class. Anyon’s model about the working class is valid. For example on the demographics, Windham High School classifys’ as working class society and most families make less than $12,000 and face financial struggles. Anyon characterizes the working class as 85% white however the majority of the working class in my community are composed of Puerto Rican, Asian or African American groups.
The purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence of the existence of what the author calls a “hidden curriculum” in schools by observing the types and differences in school work across a spectrum of social classes (Anyon, 1980, p. 67). The rationale for this study is lies in a body of research suggesting that the type of curriculum offered to students is dependent upon their social class (Anyon, 1980). The curriculum variants observed include: behavior expectations and types of knowledge and skills offered. Consequently, the curriculum differences work to prevent movement across social class and prepare students only for the types of employment typical of their social class (Anyon, 1980). Anyon attempts to draw attention to this topic in the United States, as it had been largely ignored at the time (1980).
Social class is a large faction of people who have similar positions in an economic system. In an exemplary world, all students would have an equal shot at success, excellent schools, and educators that dedicate themselves and their time to achieving this goal. However, social class can significantly affect a student's success, highlighting the correlation between low socioeconomic statuses and academic problems. In all social groups, class plays a significant role in the attainment of children in education. Unfortunately, this has always been the case and the effects are just more evident today. Families from high social classes are more likely to obtain a greater level of education than those in low social classes. Members of upper social classes tend to be better educated and have higher incomes; therefore, they are better able to supply educational advantages to their children as well. Being in a financially disadvantaged can also affect a child’s performance during school. It is important, therefore, to examine the way in which education is distributed through social class. Between societal pressures, expectations and parental negligence, children can be negatively impacted in their pursuit for future success through their education as exemplified through “College Pressures” and “The Sanctuary of School”.
In addition to the historical foundation of my concentration, I will also use EDUC 215 - 01 Understanding and Improving Schools, to learn how these systemic inequalities are reproduced in the American education system. This course will focus on the nuances of American education; This course considers how education can
Most inner city schools are not challenging their students and not allowing them to be creative. Yet, challenging students is their normal practice in the better school. On the other hand, all inner city schools should give their students with the same amount of education as private schools in order to better their education. There are different methods of teaching between these schools, especially when it comes to economics and geography. “Scholars in political economy and the sociology of knowledge have recently argued that public schools in complex industrial societies like our own make available different types of educational experience and curriculum knowledge to students in different social classes” (Anyon, 1980). Even though years after Brown versus Board of Education, where the Supreme Court declared segregation to be unconstitutional, Caucasian, African and Hispanic Americans continue to learn in different worlds. As long as each race has low incomes, there will always be unequal education.
These days using and transferring of knowledge in social, political and economic areas have changed rapidly. A theory of learning that describes the central role that learners’ ever-transforming mental schemes play in their cognitive growth, constructivism powerfully informs educational practice (Brooks and Brooks, 1999). With the new curriculums in Turkey, Ministry of National Education (MONE) tries to encounter these changes in Turkish education system based on this theory but it faced with low implementation rate issue. In this paper, the main factors of these challenges will be analyzed. Based on these matters, possible solutions will be discussed; consequently, a strategy for raising the implementation of new curriculum will be tried to attend to these matters in this paper.