Monday, November 9, 2009

Talking Point #8

Jean Anyon, Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

1. "One teacher said in some exasperation to a boy who was fooling around in class, 'If you don't know the answers to the questions I ask, then you can't stay in this class! [pause] You never know the answers to the questions I ask, and it's not fair to me-and certainly not to you!'" (Anyon)

This piece of the article touches on a few important topics. This teacher is from the Middle-class School and, like in many other instances, pushes the idea of obtaining the correct answers. Anyon seemed to make a distinction between the Executive Elite School and the Middle-class School in terms of importance of work that the students complete. The Middle-class School teacher focuses primarily on teaching her students to get the right answer. Therefore, the actual outcome is more important than the learning process and conceptualization. The other part to this comment that caught my eye was the fact that this Middle-class School teacher resorted so quickly to making her students leave the room. This reminded me a lot about a discussion that we had in class about our learning service projects. Asking misbehaving students to leave the classroom only sets them further behind. It is a simple solution to the problem. However, it is much more damaging than other forms of discipline.

2. "The teachers rarely explain why the work is being assigned, how it might connect to other assignments, or what the idea is that lies behind the procedure or gives it coherence and perhaps meaning or significance." (Anyon)

I feel like this piece of the article relates very closely to the first quote that I mentioned. This is Anyon's description of the Working-class School Teachers. From this depiction, it seems like the teachers do not spend enough time making connections with the students about the importance of the activities that they do in class. Without providing the students with a background and some kind of connection to the importance of the activity, they are going to view it as pointless. It is important for teachers to show how important the entire learning process is rather than simply trying to pull the correct answers from students in order to move on. It is not about getting through the material, it is about actually teaching the students strategies that they can use in different situations in the future.

3. "'I'm more--just as interested in how you set up the problem as in what answer you find. If you set up a problem in a good way, the answer is easy to find.'" (Anyon)

This quote is from one of the Executive Elite teachers. This quote shows just how different the views are of the Middle-class School teacher from the Executive Elite School teacher. Unlike the Middle-class School teacher who was most concerned about teaching her students to get the right answers, the Executive Elite School teacher places a greater concentration on the learning process. This is a much more difficult process for the teachers. However, it is extremely helpful for the students because it teaches them to think for themselves and truly investigate the process of something before accepting the final answer. This kind of teaching approach is much more engaging than pushing the message that the reason for classwork, homework, and school (which will someday be a career) is to finish the assignment and to solve for the answer. It also provides them with an opportunity to view themselves as the teacher rather than the student and allows them to be creative and independent.

This study was helpful for me to read because it truly separated each situation and showed how different they are simply by explaining them individually. After reading this article I feel even more assured that students in lower-class schools do not receive the same education as students in middle to upper-class schools. Anyon's article was easy to follow. I like the way that the article is set up; with an introduction, a description to each school, and a conclusion. One thing that I noticed about this piece which was impressive is that the author made it clear that they were not going to make a generalized statement about all lower-class and all upper-class schools based off of this study. I personally feel like this is one of the many pieces of evidence which prove the inequality of education among classes.

This article reminded me a lot of Delpit who focused a lot of time explaining the differences among teachers of different classes and races. I saw many of her claims in this article. Specifically her claim about the assertiveness of teachers in lower-class situations vs. a lack there of in middle to upper-class classrooms. The few comments from teachers that were placed in Anyon's article showed the differences in tone that each teacher used. The middle and upper-class school teachers were much less clear and assertive than the lower-class school teachers. This article also reminded me of Kozol's speech. He spoke a lot about the need for teachers in the lower-class schools. He mentioned that many of these schools hire teachers with little credentials and expect them to teach to receive answers, like a few of the teachers mentioned in this article. He also pushed that it is important to provide students with incentive to learn; to hold high expectations of them and treat them as if they are going to be successful members in society. This statement means a lot to me because I understand how the standards set by the teacher impacts the standards that students hold for themselves. It is the responsibility of educators to push their students to achieve and believe that they can succeed; if their teacher does not even believe in their future, why would they believe in themselves?

For those who did not make it to his speech, here is a video that is similar to Kozol's speech given at RIC.

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