Social Prejudice in Schools

In my report, I am going to talk about the social prejudice that occurs in the schools between students and also teachers. Children from middle-class families generally are more successful in public schools than children from low-income families. Is the school system responsible for this problem, or is lower performance among low-income children a result of their home environment? The home environment has a big role in a child's education and if it is not supportive of the school environment, the student will not be as successful in school as the child whose home environment is supportive of the school's learning environment will.

The typical public school teacher is a middle-class white female. The typical curricula, tests, and learning tools used in public schools were created by middle-class educators and are geared toward the needs of middle-class children. The middle-class teacher may not be able to communicate as well with the lower-class student as she could with a middle class student. A poor minority student may have trouble understanding English if English is not his/her first language or if English is not spoken in his/her home, and the teacher may have trouble understanding his/her broken English. Different social classes also use different slang and voice inflections, and have ways of speaking that contain "hidden meanings". So the "language" a lower-class student uses at home may cause him to have trouble communicating with his middle-class teacher and classmates. In his book, Ain't No Makin' It, Jay MacLeod tells how a group of poor students in a particular school were able to relate to a teacher (Jimmy Sullivan) who spoke their "language." " Ð''It was cool, cuz like you walk in thereÐ'...you talk to Jimmy, and you know Jimmy's real cool,' " said one of his students. Related to this "language barrier" that exists between low and middle social classes are behavior differences which affect teachers' perceptions and expectations of students. Poor and minority students are more likely to be placed in low tracks (Oakes, 64) than middle-class children, probably because teachers misinterpret certain students' abilities. J. Oakes suggests that one of the reasons this happens is because of the existence of a "hidden curriculum", one in which teachers' expectations and judgments are based on subtle behavior traits that are a part of each student's home life and are brought to the classroom. Many students in lower tracks are placed there because of, according to Oakes, "misbehavior and nonconformity" which teachers associate with slowness (91).

So do teachers assume that poor and minority students are misbehaved and non-conforming? In Ain't No Makin' It, MacLeod told us that the "Hallway Hangers" (low-income "problem" students who would not behave or conform in school) responded better to the teacher (Jimmy Sullivan) that they identified as being a part of their same social class. The Hallway Hangers respected their teacher because he was raised in the projects where the students now live, he talked the way they did; he was tough and stubborn just like they were. The other (middle-class) teachers were found by the Hallway Hangers to be "condescending" and "pussies" that " Ð''don't know how to deal with us kids' " (MacLeod, 108-109). Clearly, a teacher who understood their "language" and behavior and identified with their social background was able to communicate with them and help them at least to stay in school. Teachers who couldn't relate to lower-class students weren't respected by those students. In their book, Social Foundations of Educational Decisions, Fischer and Thomas state that distinctive things about a subculture (including language and behavior) have a definite influence on a child's learning style (26-27) and that "informal education"Ð'--which occurs outside of a formal school setting (mostly in the home) and is different in every family and subcultureÐ'--causes differences in the way children learn (34). In their essay "Social Class and Education," Brookover and Gottlieb refer to studies done by sociologists and educators that indicate that "eventual expression of talent" (Chilcott, 264) is affected by the ways parents rear their children, and that the expectations and attitudes of parents affect their children's achievements in school.

Researchers found that more middle-class parents have higher expectations and goals for their kids than parents of lower-class children, and that children from higher class families typically have higher IQs, GPAs, and test scores than kids from lower-class families (Chilcott, 264-65). Higher-class kids also are more often found in high academic tracks than lower-class kids are (Oakes, 64-65; Spring, 83). MacLeod pointed out that the reason many parents of lower-class kids don't set high educational goals for their children is because they don't want their kids to be disappointed if they don't achieve those goals (it is assumed by the parents that the kids probably can't reach high goals). In other low-class families, success in school is a priority and parents encourage their kids to work hard, but lack the knowledge, experience, finances, and "connections" necessary to actually help their children move up in the world. For instance, a middle-class father who is an environmental engineer with a college degree in environmental science can help his daughter with her science classes and science projects. He probably can afford to buy her books, magazines, and other resources (in addition to the ones her school supplies) that will help her learn more about that area of study. If she decides she would like to pursue a college education in this field, her father can help her get there because he's done it already and can guide her through applying to colleges and other steps toward the attainment of her goal. He also has professional connections and can help her get a job once she graduates.

A low-income, working class father who is a janitor probably cannot help his son succeed in science to the same extent that the middle-class girl succeeded. This father does not have or have access to the same resources