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Why Is Math Better Than Working-Class Schools

584 Words3 Pages

The way that math is taught differs in each of the four different types of schools, which correspond with social class and economic status. In the working-class schools, math is about following the correct steps and procedures. Students are penalized if they solve a problem in a different format than is instructed by the teacher. There is no explanation or conceptualization at this school; students simply copy vocabulary words and steps from the board and are told to replicate these processes. The student-teacher relationship at working-class schools is extremely poor. The teacher at the school examined does not further assist students when they do not understand; she goes over the same steps she taught without delving deeper into other methods. …show more content…

If students attempted to take shortcuts, the teacher insisted that they were wrong and must do it the way she directed. In middle-class schools, math is about getting the right answer. It no longer matters what method is followed; students are free to solve the problem however they want. This means there is recognition that cognitive process is involved, and that math is not solely based on one step. There is certainly more discussion at middle-class schools than working-class schools, but all teachers really ask of their students is how they did the problem and what answer they got. The student-teacher relationship is somewhat better than that of working-class schools, but teachers do not get their students excited about the work they are going to be

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"From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of work" by Jean Anyon, explains in her essay how she looks at the courses and the student's teacher to see if they interact with the elementary schools in their community. She puts an effort in to find evidence between the student's that work in the school in a poor community and those students that are in a wealthy community. To support her arguments, she goes to a variety of five different elementary schools to provide different knowledge and educational experience in the different social class of the child's life. Anyon went to five elementary schools to observe what the working class schools focused on, how the homework related to other assignments or real life and how the ideas were laid out.

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Often enough teachers come into the education field not knowing that what they teach will affect the students in the future. This article is about how these thirteen rules are taught as ‘tricks’ to make math easier for the students in elementary school. What teachers do not remember is these the ‘tricks’ will soon confuse the students as they expand their knowledge. These ‘tricks’ confuse the students because they expire without the students knowing. Not only does the article informs about the rules that expire, but also the mathematical language that soon expire.

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This prevents classes to change example a working class person basically cannot be a doctor due to the curriculum being taught. Working class students copy and memorize work. They were grades on if they followed the steps not on accuracy. Also, teachers do not believe in the students and compellation of assignments was a race to students. Middle class students are to follow directions to get the right answer too, so it wasn’t copying it was more to understand.

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Nielsen Fotis Mr Winson Period 10 April 14, 2023 In 1955, the US involved itself in the conflict to help South Vietnam, a democratic country, fight against North Vietnam, a communist country. However, as citizens found out about corruption and undemocratic actions in South Vietnam, many of them became against the war, these people were doves. While citizens still focused on preventing communists from taking South Vietnam, they were called hawks. The Vietnam War heightened political, economic, racial, and social tensions in the United States because many hawks were for the war, but weren’t the people going to war, while many people going to war were poor or racial minorities.

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“Social science research show that teachers are often surprise and even distressed when poor students excel”. (203) Social class determines one’s future. Those who are higher on the social ladder may excel through life with no understanding of how they got

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In the article "Social Class and Hidden Curriculum", Anyon studies the relationship between the course work and student-teacher interaction in different communities. She looks for evidence to show the difference between schools in poor areas vs areas were people are rich. During the 1978-1979 school year she studied five classes by classroom observation along with interviewing students and facility. After studying each class Anyon classified each class from "work class" to "executive elite schools" depending on what socioeconomic class the community was from. Anyon observed that in the "working class" school teachers tend to focus more on the procedure and on how each assignment relates to real life.

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Teachers normally know what is best for their students.. Students know a lot more than you think they do. Kids probably know more than what their parents think they know, kids are exposed to a lot of different language in high school than normal. Teenagers have internet, cell phones, ipads, and a lot more than their parents did when they were young. Young people don’t realize how good their life is now days that they have.

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In my analysis of the 5th grade Math lesson plan, I was able to identify that the teacher had high expectations for the students. According to Amanda Ripley’s, The Smartest Kids in the World, “Studies had shown that American third graders were being asked easier math questions that required simpler responses than children the same age in places like Hong Kong” (71). Unlike what this study found, it is clear this teacher holds their students to high standards due to the amount of problems and skills they are expected to complete within a single class period, listed as “Multiply by 10, Choral response, and Decimal Place Value”, all of which will be completed within the first 12 minutes of class. The lesson plan goes on to include Concept Development for 30 minutes where the students are expected to learn a concept

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Inheritance is important to oop because it allows a new class to be created from an existing class. The base class, which is the existing class, is able to share some of its basic features with the new class that is known as subclass. This enables the subclass to use the base class as, for example, a blueprint for what it would like to do which means the subclass does not need to 're-write its own method each time it wants to expand and add its own features. For example, the base class is the blueprint of a building, the subclasses use this blueprint and expand into different types of buildings from the basic features they have inherited (ie bungalow or hotel). This also means that the base class can choose what the subclasses inherit by hiding

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The American drama film, “Stand and Deliver” begins with Jaime Escalante who is a math teacher at James A. Garfield High School in Eastern Los Angeles. The school is full of Hispanic students from working-class families who are beneath their grade level in terms of academic skills and have a lot of social problems. Escalante is determined to change the school system and challenge students to reach academic excellence. Of course, the students will not be fond of a teacher who pushes them in things they don’t like. But as days passed by, Escalante was able to get the students attention by adopting unorthodox teaching methods and conveying the necessity of math in everyday living.

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In the working class schools, the student’s attitudes reflected what the teachers felt about their job. The teachers lacked passion for their job and did not want to be there anymore than the students. The principal not knowing the history of the school plays a role on why the school was poorly maintained. The middle class school had more parents involved than working class school. This can be the result of the parents socioeconomic status since middle class parents have better paying jobs allowing them more participation in their child’s school.

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Scout always tried to explain to her teacher problems of other students or herself and always got into trouble. Other people should help explain things better if what they hear is not making sense. I have seen Scout’s situation in a real life event. Students in my class try to explain things but can not always get their main ideas across. The things they say do not make sense.

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When taking a look into Jean Anyon’s “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”, readers are apprised of the hidden agendas many schools have. In this article, Anyon focuses on the curriculum and student-teacher interaction from five New Jersey elementary schools located in different communities with different levels of socioeconomic status. Anyon attempts to find evidence of the differences in student work in schools in wealthy communities versus those in poor communities, in an effort to bolster the argument that public schools in society provide different forms of knowledge. Through her researcher, she was able to determine that working class schools limited students; the students were given steps to follow and they were graded based on how well they followed directions—this level of education was preparing students for the labor force as blue collar workers. In addition, the affluent professional school and the middle-class school focused on attaining the correct answer, but allowed individuals to have a choice of appropriate method and material.

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678 Words | 3 Pages

I read, Social Class and School Knowledge, by Jean Anyon, and it is safe to say I was amazed by the differences between schools in similar school districts because of the social class settings. I was the most shocked while reading the working-class section because of how the teachers viewed their roles in the schools. Many teachers in these schools don’t try too hard because it isn’t expected of them to get high achieving results anyways. This made my jaw drop because these teachers took this as an easy way out, even though they clearly have a four year degree from a university which most likely emphasized the importance of education and being a helping hand. It is just so sad because the students are asking for more, but their teachers are not providing it for them.

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809 Words | 4 Pages

Even the teachers don’t know the true meaning of math. There are

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