The way we view each other in terms of finance, education, and family aspects depends on a person’s social class. Students from lower backgrounds usually experience difficulty in the educational system. The educational standards of their family’s life differ from those in the higher classes because teachers teach according to the student. Meaning, not only does having a particular social class already separate you in terms of the educational system, but it also determines how and what you learn. From personal experience I’ve learned how to see from the perspective of a student who is of a lower social class than majority of his peers and teachers. Over the course of grammar and middle school, I’ve notice that there are things that students and teachers find relatable and have in common. I faintly but truly remember math word problems involving things like video games, devices, and other toys that I couldn’t afford most of the time. That separated me from the connection shared from teacher to student on a mental level. Many people perceive that people in higher social classes are more educated than those in lower social classes just because of their social status. That perception is usually made by people of a higher social class. Which of course is illogical …show more content…
Graff argues that there are other forms of intellectualism other than those associated with academics. The author provides the readers with his own story about his personal experience as a child and the difficulties he had trying to balance strength and brains to support his claim. With Graff providing the stories of his own personal experience growing up as an adolescent and realizing that street smarts is also a form of intellectualism, he enriches his central claim and proves that academic learning not only comes from being in school but can come in many different
In Gerald Graff's Hidden Intellectualism, he begins with a long lasting discussion about the the difference between “book smarts” and “streets smart”. Street smarts are frequently called “hoods” as they are the tough types and book smarts as the name suggests are typically referred to as “nerds or geeks”. Graff gives us insight on many cases of how these books smarts can take various forms, and hide in what people call street smarts, hence the “hidden Intellectualism”. He does this by sharing his story with us, growing up in his community where being “street smart” was more acceptable than being “book smart”. He would be bullied if he tried to pronounce words better than the others or spoke too intelligently around them, and as a result he
“Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, argues that being street smart can bring more intellectualism to a person then being book smart can, and how schools and communities contribute to them.
In Gerald Graff’s Hidden Intellectualism, the former professor of English and Education discusses the many fallacies associated with the ideas of intellectualism amongst today’s society. Graff argues that there is an alternative form of intellectualism aside from the traditional academic definition. This form of intellectualism remains hidden under the usual discussions that concern fashion, sports, dating, and many other typical aspects of everyday life. Although it is not usually recognized, there is great value in intellectualism of all sorts; unfortunately, society only deems the “great minds” textbooks and classroom materials as valuable lessons for students to learn. Graff hopes to incorporate hidden intellectualism topics into the classroom through “progressivism educational methods” that in return will help students think and debate argumentatively.
Knowledge does not reach its fullest power without the necessary skillset to effectively communicate it. In “Hidden Intellectualism,” Gerald Graff reflects on his unconventional journey of acquiring intellect to provide a new perspective on education. Upon later reflection of his conflicting adolescence, he realizes that with proper guidance and motivating topics in school, more individuals would not only be recognized for their intellect but would become familiar with it within themselves. Similar to Graff’s view, when I think about people I have identified as intellectuals, it was not in a school setting that I formed these opinions. In my experience, the true test of intellectualism is not found within education systems but rather the application
What doesn’t occur to us, though, is that schools and colleges might be at fault for missing the opportunity to tap into such street smarts and channel them into good academic work”(Graff 694). Graff is pulling into the emotions of people who did not do well academically or people who knew somebody like how he described in that quote. Throughout the essay, Graff pulls at the emotions of the audience and that is why his pathos is
Hidden Intellectualism, by Graff is about the English professor who discusses the ideas of intellectualism which is sometimes misunderstood to society. He focuses his main concern on the way teens view having intelligence in a negative way. He continues with his own life as an example of hidden intelligence. Graff noticed he was gifted while engaging into a conversation with one of his teammates. Mr.Graff, explains that it is important to teach the reader intellectualism, and by doing that you could possibly bringing the youth into the general studies.
In Gerald Graff 's essay “Hidden Intellectualism” starts of by talking about the stereotype of being so called “street smart” and and being “book smart” and how in school when you see someone who is street smart but doesn’t do go in school get a bad wrap. People look at them as a waste because they can’t apply there intelligences that they have and use it towards school, so people view them as not the right kind of smart because they are not a A student in school. Graff then goes on to say that maybe it is not the students that are the problem with how they do in school but maybe it is the school that have missed or overlooked the intellectual potential that kids with street smarts have. Graff also says that we only view the educated minds through schooling as the right way and schools and colleges look at kids who do not like school and don’t do well as anti-intellectual people.
“Hidden Intellectualism,” by Gerald Graff starts off with an older argument between being book smart and street smart. Throughout the reading, Graff uses his own life experiences to critique the education system today. Points made focus on the idea of overlooking the intellectual potential of those who come across as being, “street smart”. Different authors cited in the reading to show how to accept another’s different intellectual. However, we realize that people who come across as being intellectual weren’t always labeled as that.
The reading "Hidden Intellectualism" by Gerald Graff reflects views on being "street smart" and "book smart." He explains that society tends to associate people who are intelligent on solely being "book smart" and performing well in academics, rather than being street smart. He goes on to further explain that students perhaps can be intelligent on topics that interest them. Graff opens up the reading by giving his own personal experience on feeling torn between trying to prove that he was smart yet fearing that he was overdoing it. He was trying to prove that he learned just as much about the real world by reading his sports books and magazines as he would have if he had read the classic works of literature like most students in school.
When students are unaware of the history of social class, they begin to believe false information, such as, poor people deserve to be poor. Loewen does a great job of pointing out student’s misunderstanding of social status and strongly believes that it is the high school text books to
Graff explains how kids with street smarts aren’t interested in traditional education and consequently don’t do well in subjects of school studies. In his essay Graff states, “I was your typical teenage anti-intellectual-or so I believed for a long time. I have recently come to think, however, that my preference for sports over schoolwork was not anti-intellectualism so much as intellectualism by other means.” (Graff 245) Graff thinks the education system is not benefiting from students’ street smart because students cannot use the cleverness they have for what interest them and apply it into their school work. I agree that by using what a student already knows will not only help benefit their learning experience, but it will also keep the
Intellectualism is the factor of being intellect or intelligent. The idea of what it means to be educated can be interpreted many different ways by different people. Some think it’s having a 4.0 and going to Harvard, while others believe in the idea of having common sense. In the essay, “Hidden Intellectualism,” Gerald Graff reflects how lack of education is viewed negatively in society. On top of that, a question also lies what it means to educated.
I was amazed to read that in the affluent school, some of the children mention they will rather not be rich. Rich meant that they could not work and they will rather work since they liked working. In the executive school, I was bothered by the comment that a teacher stated. A teacher associated low-income children with discipline problems. I think that teacher generalized an observation he
Stephen Jay Gould demonstrates through scientific exploration that intelligence is an abstraction. Intelligence cannot be linear and is not quantitatively measured. The writer is exceptionally dogmatic and self-congratulatory, but I respect him for addressing tthe role “science” has had the lies of genetic superiority and intelligence.
Class affinity tends to a not negligible extent to be inherited from parents to their children due to culture and social pressures which children are exposed. This also tends to influence their future ambitions. The same factors, personal or for immediate family also play an important part in which class category an individual adult person can be perceived to belong to. In the middle class, the level of education tends to play a more important part than income and power compared to the upper class. - Fowler, B.