Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

Blog Post #2

Marlene Lawston

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

In this activity, the students were split into two groups that were assigned heads or tails on a coin. The coin was tossed. This toss determined the treatment of each group - we had no input. My group was immediately scolded and told to straighten out our desks and face forward by one teacher, while the other group was given apple cider and donuts. Next, my group was handed out “common core” worksheets and told to memorize the definitions of all the words. Whenever we asked a question, we were treated disrespectfully by the teacher who just said “learn the words, you are going to be tested on them.” Meanwhile, the other group was being treated with respect by the teacher and asked how they would like to go about learning the definitions of the words that needed to be memorized. It was really hard to sit there and watch the other group be treated so well while we were being yelled at; we were especially jealous of the snacks. If school was actually like this, I would definitely not want to go and would be much less motivated. These differences between the environments of the two groups in the activity are similar to the differences between the environments in the working class schools versus the more affluent schools. The group I was in represented the “working class” schools. In the working class schools, the children were “told to copy the steps as notes. These notes are to be studied,” instead of discussing the material and understanding it. Similarly, my group was handed a packet of material and told to memorize it all for a test with no explanation. The other group represented the more affluent school type such as the “affluent professional” or “executive elite” schools. In the affluent schools, the teacher really wanted the students to have a thorough understanding of the material. For example, in the professional elite school the teacher said “It is not enough to get these right on tests; you must use what you learn [in grammar classes] in your written and oral work. I will grade you on that.” Correspondingly, the other group was being asked how they wanted to learn the words in a way that would help them really comprehend each word and be able to use them. The most frustrating part is that we (the students) had no control over which group we were put in as a coin was flipped to decide this factor. This represents how in real life, children do not get to choose whether they attend a working class or affluent school because they are born into an education system based on their parents’ job and location. This system is not fair for the students because it is a form of education that insidiously educates students in a way that makes it more difficult for them to change social classes. By not giving students equal education opportunities, the entire idea of the “American dream” is nearly impossible

This American Life: Harper High School, Part One

Blog Post #1

Marlene Lawston

This American Life: Harper High School, Part One

This podcast is set at Harper High School in Chicago and the surrounding neighborhood. In the past year, 29 students have been shot in this neighborhood. The podcast shows the struggle of the High School to keep its students safe amidst the dangerous neighborhood around the school. In addition, it reveals how different the educational environment is of the students who attend inner city schools compared to the educational environment experienced by the majority of American students. Almost all of the students at Harper High School are affiliated with gangs. Gang affiliation is dependent solely on what block the student lives on; there is no special “initiation.” As a police officer put it “gangs can’t be avoided.” These gangs are a major cause of the shootings that occur. Shootings occur for big and small reasons -  a majority of them occur as some type of retaliation. To “survive,” the students live by three rules: never walk alone, never walk with someone else, never walk on the sidewalk. Never walk alone because you become a target; never walk with other people because it will make you more affiliated with their gang, and walk in the streets not sidewalk so that no one sneaks up on you and attacks you. In October during the school’s pep rally for homecoming, rumors of another shooting in the neighborhood were confirmed. The faculty of the school worked on figuring out how this person’s death would affect the students by mapping out which gang he was affiliated with, who his relatives were in the school, and which gang shot him. Due to fear of retaliation, the students affiliated with the gangs in this situation were sent home and there were doubts about whether or not Harper High School would be able to have its homecoming game and dance.