The Influence Of Education In John Peter's 28 Up

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

Invisible Backpack: Reflective essay Growing up we often fail to recognize the ways in which we are privileged and the opportunities we are given due to our privileges. In the essay “White Privilege: Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh discusses the privileges of being White and the ways she experienced advantages because of her race. Throughout the essay McIntosh allows readers to explore how she has been given opportunities, due to specific traits she has in her “invisible knapsack”, privileges she once had taken for granted. Her personal experiences take up most of the essay and with it she invites the reader to particepate in discovering which items their knapsacks carry.

Writer Gregory Mantsios in his article “Class in America”, talks about these things, and how wide the gap is between the rich and the poor and also discusses how the rich continue to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. Mantsios gives his readers the profiles and backgrounds of three hard-working Americans, two of them are white males, whose family background as well as education played a role in their success, while the other person is a black woman who is just above the poverty line despite her work as a nurse’s aide. Through these profiles, Mantsios article shows exactly how sex, race and shows how your parental and educational background of a person can play a role in the things that you achieve. Mantsios also talks about one’s performance in school and the level of school completed can suggest whether or not class that person may belong in.

Lubrano explains how middle-class children understand the importance of receiving higher education, while working-class children fail to see the purpose of preparing for a higher level in the short term. According to Lubrano, “Middle-class kids are groomed for another life” (534). Author Patrick Finn states, “Working-class kids see no such connection, understand no future life for which digesting Shakespeare might be of value” (534). In answering this question, Lubrano must look at the various circumstances that account for the poor performances among working-class individuals, the supportive relationships middle-class students have with their parents and teachers, and how children of working-class parents struggle when preparing for later life. In the address, Alfred Lubrano must address the difference in treatment between working-class and middle-class children attending

Lareau, in Unequal Childhoods, focuses on socioeconomic status and how that affects outcomes in the education system and the workplace. While examining middle-class, working-class and poor families, Lareau witnessed differing logics of parenting, which could greatly determine a child’s future success. Working-class and poor families allow their children an accomplishment of natural growth, whereas middle-class parents prepare their children through concerted cultivation. The latter provides children with a sense of entitlement, as parents encourage them to negotiate and challenge those in authority. Parents almost overwhelm their children with organized activities, as we witnessed in the life of Garrett Tallinger. Due to his parents and their economic and cultural capital, Garrett was not only able to learn in an educational setting, but through differing activities, equipping him with several skills to be successful in the world. Lareau suggests these extra skills allow children to “think of themselves as special and as entitled to receive certain kinds of services from adults” (39). Adults in the school system are in favor of these skills through concerted cultivation, and Bourdieu seems to suggest that schools can often misrecognize these skills as natural talent/abilities when it’s merely cultivated through capital. This then leads to inequalities in the education system and academic attainments.

In most if not all cases, the class you are born into will determine how you will be raised, and who you will grow up to become. Whether you can speak up for yourself, if you are humble with what you have or you have a more hectic schedule or not, it all plays into what class you are from. No two childhoods are equal and Annette Lareau in her book, Unequal Childhoods explains why this is the case. I will be examining chapters four, five, and seven. These chapters examine poor and working children and teenagers and how their childhoods differ and relate to each other based on the class they were born in whether that be lower class to the poor. What can be learned from examining these three kids, Harold McAllister, Katie Brindle, and Tyrec Taylor is the advantages and disadvantages of having a childhood in the class of the poor or working class.

According to Bynner and Joshi (1999) class differences have persisted since the late 1950’s. It can be seen that all studies carried out by various theorist came to the same conclusion that middle class pupils tend to do a lot better than working class in terms of educational achievement. Pupils from middle class backgrounds tend to pass more exams, stay on at school for longer and are five times more likely to go to university. This gap in achievement widens with age as right from nursery school to university, processes like labelling or the self fulfilling prophecy take

The more education a person acquires throughout their life-time means they are more-likely to find high paying jobs. So, the amount of education a person receives correlates with if they live in poverty or not. “None of Crystal’s siblings finished high school. Instead, they became adults when they were teenagers” (Potts 598). Without a high school diploma the chances of any of the family members attaining a job that makes above minimum wage was almost impossible. The desperation of not being able to make an adequate amount of money for basic needs, lowers the life expectancy for poor women. “The more educated among us are better at forgoing pleasurable and possibly risky behavior because we’ve learned to look ahead to the future” (Potts 595). In the case of Crystal, she dropped out of high school because she married Possum. In today’s society a majority of women want to continue their education before marrying, because marriage is risky with possibilities of children, or their spouse may

According Social Inequality: Patterns and Processes by Martin Marger, life chances includes “education, physical and mental health, residence and justice;” which are opportunities that we must procure through social resources (18). Our position within society determines our life chances; for children their parent’s positions within society determines the child’s social status within society. “Life chances are acquired, then, as a result of factors that are only partially in the control of individuals…people’s initial class position and, therefore, the dimensions of their opportunities and future prospects are essentially an “accident of birth.” Certainly, people may subsequently enhance their life chances through individual effort, but those of lower social origins will need to overcome many socially imposed handicaps to do so” (Marger, 19-20). It is completely possible for someone to shape their life chances through their own efforts however; this occurrence is rare which is the reason sociologists tend to focus on the typical pattern society follow. Looking at life chance opportunities such as health, justice, and education; people’s social resources are not only shaped through individual choices but mainly by group membership.

In Jay McLeod’s influential book, Ain’t No Makin’ It (2009), he discovers new sociological theories and social reproduction through his research over many years. Through social reproduction McLeod shows us how education’s role gets passed down from one generation to the next from class inequality. He claims that aspirations/lack of aspirations is being reproduced. He deeply examines two resident groups of male youths that have opposing views on what their aspirations are in life. McLeod also deciphers what the American Dream is according to them. “The American Dream is held out as a genuine prospect for anyone with the drive to achieve it” (McLeod 2009: 3).

Nevertheless, education of the “elite” in isolation of the “masses” provides value for society, as those with inherent gifts are given tools to improve their quality of life, while also using their learned moral responsibilities to make a better society, thereby benefitting

At first glance, the length of Mark Rose’s “Blue Collar Brilliance”, made me contemplate “How could I possibly relate to this?” along with “In what way can I read all this and write an essay on it?” However, as I further read, Rose addresses something that made me further connect with him. With great ardor, Rose states in his essay his position on the matter that the amount of schooling a person receives dictates their knowledge and skill set. He counteracts this opinion by detailing the various skills his waitress mother, factory working uncle, and other family members their “blue-collar” jobs obtained. I enjoyed reading Rose’s essay because through vivid descriptions, he addresses issues that my family has gone through, and learned how to appreciate the working class with little to no education.

Furthermore, Ridley stresses the need for continual support of students while they are in college in order to ensure their mental well-being and ultimate success. When broken down into its basic components, Ridley’s argument seems to agree with some of the main themes presented in Plato’s Republic and Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. The current state of the poor and middle class in America, as detailed in the article, lines up with the Platonic ideal of a society in which everyone has a specialized role but does not allow for much individual expression or flexibility. In essence, the benefit of the whole may still be intact, but the triumph of the individual has been suppressed due to the relationship between money and success in today’s society. Additionally, ideas regarding equal access to education, as presented in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, seem to run parallel to Ridley’s argument that a college education should be an attainable option for

These children are defrauded not just of an education, but also of the ability to be socially mobile. Researchers of the American Psychological Association found that education level directly correlates with socioeconomic status. A lack of education undermines any individual’s true capability, preventing them from surpassing their academic limitations. Potential important figures and world leaders may never come to be if not given the tools to become what they can become. The next generation’s Einsteins and Gandhis will not exemplify their prowesses if never given the rudiments

While the children born into the lower class did not have a decent education, young ones of the middle class had a little more opportunities and ______ to get an insightful upbringing to maintain their overall aptitude and status. During the Romantic Era in Europe, there was an increase in literary and intellectual thought, causing advancement in education for both genders. Unlike the poor families in England, the middle-class families “enrolled their sons in exclusive private schools, paradoxically known as public schools due to the harsh conditions” (Napierkowski) Due to better resources in attending a better school, these middle class children were able to continue on to the university to obtain higher ranked and paid professions due to