Social classes and education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social classes and education - Essay Example Racial theorist Shelby Steele felt that racial discrimination determined their lack of effort to achieve what others do.(Ogbu) The other issue that needs attention in determining African-American children’s education is the methodology used for teaching. In a multicultural urban elementary school, black teachers in an attempt to explore the best instruction to serve the black students felt the necessity of the attitude of â€Å"I want the same thing for everyone else’s children as I want for mine,† in teachers.(Delpit, 1998) Rectifying the cultural hegemony in teaching and empowering children the freedom of expression and culture in learning and inculcating child-centered approaches were found to be some of the steps. One way of achieving this end is by reminding children about their power to shape meaning and rationale. J Anyon found out that pedagogical care and practice differed in schools of different social classes.(Anyon, 1980) He studied a total of five schools and found out that the first two which were working class’ schools emphasized on rote behavior, gave less explanation and used less textbooks. The third school which mostly belonged to middle class parents had the system of getting only the right answer and no serious attention was given. The fourth one, which he called as the affluent professional school encouraged in individual thought and expression. The fifth one called executive elite schools which comprised children of the capitalist class, was the only school that worked on the development of analytical and intellectual powers through logical reasoning. Jonathan Kozol, a teacher who was being fired by a school for having his students read a poem that wasn’t prescribed in the list, does not disagree with the trend of this segregated school system (Kozol, 1991). He cites an example of a public school in New York which conducted classes in abandoned