Poverty, Class, and Wealth

How Our Socioeconomic Status Shapes Our Education

Lisa Dowdall, J.P. Brichta, Alexander Rüthlein, and Meredith

Clarey

What is the same? What is different?

Agenda• The Rules of Society

– The Class-Consciousness Raiser – Paul Tough– Case Study: Who is to Assess? – Hare & Portelli

• The Limits of Schooling– What No School Can Do – James Traub

• The Hidden Curriculum– Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work –

Jean Anyon

• The Hidden Barriers: Language– Some Parents Just Don’t Care – Dory Lightfoot

The Rules of Society

Poverty Middle Class Wealth

Possessions People Things One-of-a-kind objects

Money To be used, spent To be managed Connections

Social Emphasis Inclusion of people who are liked

Self-governance and self-sufficiency

On exclusion

Food Did you have enough?

Did you like it? Was it presented well?

Time Focus on present Focus on future Traditions and history

Education Valued but abstract Crucial for success Making connections

World View Local National International

Love Conditional based on whether they are

liked

Based on achievement

Financial, political, social connections

The Limits of Schooling

• How to help poor students succeed?

• Government programs (Title I, Head Start, desegregation, No Child Left Behind)

• A lot of money; few positive results

• Focus is on changing school

• Little effort on changing what happens “on the outside”

• How can we take ownership?

The Hidden Curriculum

• It is suggested that there is a ‘hidden curriculum’ in school work that has a profound implication for theory – and practice – in education

• Acknowledgement of varying social statuses and using parental income or occupation to define them

• Schoolwork helps one to achieve, to excel, to prepare for life

The Hidden Barriers: LanguageParent Involvement”al“

can contribute to the classroomMiddle Class:

Lower Class: require help to raise their children

Problems: Generalizations Categorizations

Language shapes our perception of reality

We have to be aware of the hidden implications of the language we use!

Where do we go from here?

be aware of social class and its implications individualization instead of categorization provide opportunity and choice (empowerment) don't give up on students from low-class background

Schools alone will not be able to shoulder the burden, but they are an important pillar in

the efforts to lift lower classes through education

What can we (micro level) do to break the connection between low class and

inadequate education?