Talking Points # 8

(chapter taken from Learning Power)

From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

JEAN ANYON

1. "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. "

This is without a doubt true in my mind. All I can think about is "Freedom Writers". In the school shown in that movie those kids in the beginning were not even given a chance. Nobody wanted to waste the good books/textbooks on them. They wouldn't appreciate them enough, apparently. I think a lot of working class schools feel this way which is why higher learning isn't being done there because the people of power feel as though they wouldn't get it or couldn't get it. In upper class schools it is believed that these kids appreciate it more and understand more intellectually. It is wrong, but the truth. I only hope that when I become a teacher I don't treat students like they are dumb, but give them enough credit that they could understand the material if given the chance and if they had a little more encouragement.

2. "Work tasks do not usually request creativity. Serious attention is rarely given in school work on how the children develop or express their own feelings and ideas..."

I do not like this way of teaching at all. I understand things better when I am creative and think about things in a creative way. I am much more of a visual learner. I learn with taking ideas and recreating them in different ways. For example, I learned how to say the states in alphabetical order due to a song and to this day I still now them. Putting learning in the form of a song really helped me, which in itself is creative. Now if someone sat me down, gave me a worksheet of all the states, and said learn this I would not know how to. It is not how I learn or how I express what I know. I love presentations. To me I learn a lot more out of preparing for a presentation than taking a test and that is all because I am more of a creative/ reflective person. I would hate to be in a school where creativity didn't matter. In fact if I ever were in a school like that, I don't think I would have gained half of the knowledge that I have throughout the years.

3. "...the children may be brought into line by reminding them that "It is up to you." "You must control yourself," "you are responsible for your work," you must "set your own priorities." One teacher told a child, "You are the only driver of your car-and only you can regulate your speed."

I have been to a lot of different schools throughout my life because i have moved a lot. One school that I went to was the Executive Elite School in many ways. That high school treated us like semi-college level students. Attendance was only sometimes taken, but rarely. We were given outlines where is was up to us to learn the material and keep up with the reading. If a person feel behind it was up to them to seek help. Homework was checked periodically, but basically it was up to you to learn the material ad pass the final exam. If you didn't keep up you would be lost for future classes. We had a lot of group discussion and group presentations. I like this school because I didn't feel pressured and I learned in my own way. This is why I liked this quote because I was responsible for my work, and it was up to me whether I succeeded or failed. I was in control of my future and what I was going to do with it. Help was always available so you were not completely alone, but we had choice.

This article is one of those articles that I believe will always stick with me. Whenever I enter a school I will always be conscious of these things and when I teach I hope to be in a school that believes in their students ability. I want to be in a school where the students are not "silenced". I'm glad this class exists because it makes me have some hope for those schools where the students are silenced that maybe us new teachers can make a change. We are aware of the problems, but are we going to act on them and strive for change. I hope so. I really do hope so.