EQUAL EDUCATION

PLEASE READ- ANSWER QUESTIONS-
Class is broadly defined by sociologists as people s social status based on factors such as educational attainment, income, occupation, and total wealth. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a person s class status in the United States could be roughly categorized into four distinct categories: lower-class (including persons who are homeless or living in poverty); working-class; middle-class; and upper-class. Sociologists who study class have argued that unequal distribution of resources have existed throughout human history as a means for one group to control the power and wealth of a society. In education, there have been recent concerns that disparities in academic achievement are based on class differences because students from upper-class and middle-class backgrounds are more likely to have access to resources that structure opportunities for them to succeed in schools. In the United States, however, there is a tendency for Americans to believe that all people are born with the same opportunities to succeed in school and society. While the above aspiration is admirable, it is nearly impossible for all people to attain success when access to resources and wealth distribution is unequal.

Like racism and sexism, classism is the marginalization and oppression, whether intentional or not, of people from lower-class and working-class backgrounds by individuals from middle- and upper-class backgrounds. Since most teachers are Whites from middle- or upper-class backgrounds, issues of educational inequities based on class are rarely noticed or tracked in the school settings. For example, classism could include the assumption made by teachers from middle-class backgrounds that all of their students guardians and parents can afford to drive and own motor vehicles such as cars. In reality, not all families have the money to afford motor vehicles.

Teachers who challenge classism and socioeconomic disparities in the classroom possess the following philosophies:

They Are Conscious of Unequal Educational Opportunities and Actively Seek Out Solutions to Combat Inequities: Contrary to the popular belief, all Americans are not born with equal opportunities. Some American students come from circumstances where financial resources are limited, which may restrict their opportunities to participate in nonessential activities at school. Such students families may have little or no discretionary income to participate in extracurricular activities and out-of-class outings such as fieldtrips. Teachers must be sensitive to the fact that many students families cannot afford to purchase opportunities such as memberships to school clubs or tutors to help students with homework that are available to most students from middle-class and upper-class backgrounds. Since many families from lower-income families cannot afford nonessential school supplies and because teachers might otherwise be inclined to inflate grades, teachers should discourage the use of nonessential items such as extra decorations when turning in assignments to promote equal educational opportunities. Teachers should also actively seek out solutions in the community and at school for students whose families cannot afford basic supplies or extracurricular activities. For instance, if a teacher finds out that a student comes to school without eating breakfast, she or he should ask the school principal if there is a free breakfast program at the school or in a nearby community center. Finally, teachers should make all attempts to engage in critical awareness so as to not restrict future opportunities to students due to lack of resources. For instance, rather than discouraging their students from lower-income families from going to college because of the belief that they or their families cannot afford it, teachers should actively help students find affordable options and to help brainstorm ideas that would help them meet their goals.
They Do Not Privilege the Middle-Class/Upper-Class Assumptions and Experiences: The majority of American teachers come from middle-class backgrounds, and consequently, may hold certain expectations of students and their families based on their own experiences and norms. Teachers should first recognize that not all students share common experiences and knowledge and avoid making assumptions about students. For instance, a teacher who assumes that all of her students know what zoos are may be engaging in a form of classism that privileges the middle-class experience as normative. Zoo memberships and passes tend to be costly, and many children from lower-class or working-class families may have never visited one, and thus have no idea what a zoo is. The caring teacher tries as much as possible to activate and respect each student s prior knowledge base.

The caring teacher also carefully regulates the assumptions and words that she or he says in front of students. For instance, some students in a teacher s class may be homeless, and it would be an insensitive (yet unintentional) comment if a teacher were to say When you go home, be sure to look for newspaper articles for your project. A student who is homeless does not have a home and may not have access to newspapers.
They Tackle the Deficit Viewpoint When Working with Students from Lower-Class or Working-Class Backgrounds: The deficit viewpoint as related to class is the general notion that there is something lacking or wrong with people from lower-class backgrounds. For instance, many middle- and upper-class people make the assumption that people who live in poverty made poor choices, or that being poor is a choice in itself that is relatively easy to break free of. People who hold the deficit viewpoint may also assume that students from disadvantaged backgrounds do not come from stable homes or that their parents are lacking values such as self-motivation and work ethic. All teachers must actively challenge such dehumanizing views, by correcting the assumptions of others and/or engaging in critical self-reflection when working with students from lower-class and working-class backgrounds. For instance, teachers might hear other colleagues complain that parents from lower-class and working-class situations are not actively participating in their children s education because they do not value education but instead prioritize work. Teachers who hear statements such as the example above would step in to educate their colleagues on the challenges that families from these backgrounds confront, and invite them to rethink their assumptions. Teachers should also teach their students to dismantle the deficit viewpoint by eliminating bullying in the classroom, and make extra efforts to building a classroom community where everyone is made to feel accepted and welcome in the classroom, regardless of how they look, what they wear, and where their families come from.

In the following section, you will look at a classroom scenario that deal with issues of class and educational equity. After reading the scenario, you will analyze and evaluate how the teacher addressed the situation.
Case Study Discussion Post 4
Discussion Topic
Task: Reply to this topic
Due September 29 at 11:30 PM

Mr. Jiménez is a primary grade math teacher at a local elementary school where there is a near-even split of students from upper-class and working-class backgrounds. He has been teaching for over 10 years. Last year, he noticed that many students from upper-class backgrounds went to extra lengths to impress him with non math-related skills such as adding glitter and stickers to their homework projects. Mr. Jiménez overheard a group of students from upper-class families state that they win extra points from many of their teachers for adding these frilly add-ons. Although Mr. Jiménez never gave students extra attention or points for irrelevant add-ons, he is aware that many of his colleagues have done so in other classes. Further, many students from working-class backgrounds had approached Mr. Jiménez toward the end of last year to request that he put an official stop to these practices. They disclosed that their families could not afford to spend money on nonessential school supplies.

Lisa Kwon, one of the most vocal students who approached Mr. Jiménez, had frankly said: \”You know, it bothers me that the rich kids get more attention than we do. It;s like they are special because their parents have money. Ms. Paulson gave me a C for my project but Jenny Mitchell got an A because her mom took her to Office Depot to get $100.00 worth of stuff for her poster. When I asked Ms. Paulson for an explanation, she told me that I didn\’t put enough effort into the project, which was completely untrue. In front of everyone, Jenny bragged about dressing up her poster without spending a lot of time on the essay. I spent over a week working on my essay, and I hand-drew my poster because my mom can\’t afford to buy special stuff like the 3D poster-board and special markers. It\’s like you have to be rich to get good grades around here\”.

Lisa then went on to share that the students from upper-class families made fun of her and her friends for not wearing the expensive school logo shirts with their names embroidered on them. Mr. Jiménez carefully listened to Lisa s concerns. Without going into details about Jenny, Ms. Paulson, or the other teachers due to confidentiality issues as well as his personal responsibility to model professionalism, he thanks Lisa for sharing her concerns, and states that he will address the general issues she raised in the coming year.

Out of response to last year\’s issues, Mr. Jiménez has decided to intervene early on before the school year starts. He will send a letter home to parents and students a few weeks before class that reads as follows:

Dear Parents and Students:

I hope you enjoyed your summer. I very much look forward to meeting and working with you in the coming year. In order to best run my classroom, I need some help from all of you.

As you know, I believe in equity and respect for all students. I have the following requests of all parents and students in order for me to most effectively do my job as your teacher:

Students who cannot afford school supplies: please contact me or see me privately before the first day of school. I am able to give extra school supplies based on last year s surplus. Parents are also welcome to contact me if you have special requests for your child\’s educational needs. I will do my best to fulfill all requests.

We will go on a few field trips this year to local colleges where college professors and students will be leading day-long workshops on Everyday Math. Parents: let me know if you need help paying for the $5.00 fee, which covers the cost for lunch. As you know, our new principal, Mrs. Takahashi, has set aside some funds for families who need help paying for field trips.

If you have computers or school supplies to donate that are in gently used or new condition, be sure to contact me. Mr. Ramos and I are collecting items for students who need extra supplies. We would appreciate any help.

I am asking students not to use frilly add-ons when submitting assignments, such as decorating their homework or enclosing reports in plastic sheet covers. The above distract from everyone\’s learning and is irrelevant to math. Please consider donating such items to a charity. I will ask other teachers to consider adopting this requirement for their students. Remember: quality of work is what counts.

Finally, students, as many of you are aware of, there were several instances of bullying at our school geared toward students clothing. Ridiculing others is childish, irresponsible, and simply unacceptable. Thus, I ask that all of you help make each student feel comfortable at school, and look beyond superficial things like clothing, hairstyles, and what people look like. If you notice someone being bullied, be sure to let one of us adults know right away. Being a bystander of bullying is nearly as bad as directly participating. Remember: we are a community, and we all care about each other and ourselves.

Let us make this year the best one ever. See you next month.

Yours Truly,

Mr. Carlos Jiménez
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Respond to the following questions in your discussion post:

Was the teacher (Mr. Jiménez) conscious of unequal educational opportunities in this scenario? Did the teacher actively seek out solutions to equalize all students opportunities? If not, what could he have done better?

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Awareness of Unequal Educational Opportunities
Inequalities in educational opportunities arise when there are disparities in factors such as occupation, income, and wealth. To deal with such inequality, teachers should be able to recognize these differences and act accordingly to minimize or eliminate them (El-Amin et al., 2017). In this scenario, Mr. Jimenez, a primary math teacher, noticed that many of the upper-class background students were adding extra items like stickers, not related to math. He also overheard the students saying that teachers gave them extra points…