Talking points # 8

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work
-Jean Anyon

Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take another route.
-Jeannie oakes

Oakes and Anyon argues that by having advanced classes and by dividing children it doesn't allow all children to get a great education. The kids in the advanced classes will get that full expierience, and kids in the " less able" classes don't get a full educational expierience. Another argument that was in the articles is that the richer you are the better education there is and are able to expand your mind, and as you make your way down the financial ladder the education gets watered down, and kids minds don't expand as much.

"They also know that when teachers adn students trust one another class time and energy are freed up for teaching and learning. on the other without a positive classroom climate, students spend considerable energy interfering with the taecher's agenda, and the teachers spend more of their time and energy just trying to maintain control"

This quote is a prime example of the breakdown in classes and how in the classes where the students are deemed bad they tend to act out more so half the class is spent trying to get the class under control. These kids might act like this because when they get this label they figure what the hell since they want to label me as a troublemaker i should act the part. Instead of trying to figure out what is wrong with some of the students they are just labeled bad and learning doesn't take place. In the honors classes or advanced placement classes learning can take place and teachers can get to know the students on a personal level. Pretty much all of the kids in the honors or advanced placement have always been in a positive environment so they are engaged in learning and the teacher is able to help them expand their minds. While in the lower classes kids are labeled problem childs or not able to learn so the battle is these classes is controlling the class, and trying to teach them at a slow place. By having tracking in school it is creating two types of students in school the students who will succeed and keep learning, and those who will either drop out or graduate,but have little to show for it.

#2"In low-ability classes, for example, teachers seem to be less encouraging and more punitive, placing more emphasis on discipline and behavior and less on academic learning'
In the academic classes or low ability classes teachers just discipline the kids and everything is very mechanical. They have to do everything the same, and a routine is set for them. This sounds like a dog school training kids to act a certain away and not really helping them become better and learn. When i was in middle school i remember i was in clusters and it broke down into groups group 0 was the highest and 3 was the lowest. I was in group 0. I remember my math teacher always telling us we are the cream of the crop and how we represent the school and how good we are. It made us feel better and learning did take place, and i liked my teacher. What about the other kids in the lower groups did this positive reinforcement take place? I had friends in the lower groups did they get positive words or did they get barked at all day. By having schools like this it makes kids who are in the "low ability classes feel like they aren't good enough so that makes them resort to acting out and class and dismissing learning.

#3
"In the affluent professional school,work is creative activity carried out independently. The students are continually asked to express and apply ideas and concepts. Work involves individual thought and expressiveness, expansion and illustration of ideas, and choice of appropriate method and material"

This is how education should be for everybody but this is at a highly professional school where it is rich and there are few minorities. What this shows is that students who attend lower class schools or urban schools learning isn't what is focused on it is about discipline and when learning does take place it is bare bones and it doesn't allow the students to work independently and grow as a learner. In the schools that are more advanced and where wealth is abundant the students are able to grow at a faster rate and learn and get taught new concepts. In the article by Anyon when she showed what teaching was like in the middle class schools or lower class schools it shows how the student doesn't get much hands on expierience and that everything is regurgitated to them. The teacher says everything and the students aren't allowed to build off the concepts and discuss. Most of the work is just note taking and parroting back what the teacher says. By having schools like this once again it allows schools that have more resources to have students who will grow, and expand there minds and in other schools learning will go at a slower rate. money isn't the issue to even at the urban schools where there are advanced classes it still created two types of students because all the teachers put all there energy into the honors and advanced kids, and all the other kids are left in the cold.

I thought this was very interesting and very true. I have seen this all through my education i never questioned it but it does bring up good points. Through my whole education i was in honors classes and in high school a few AP classes. I was always able to learn more and branch out. I wonder if i was in academic classes if i would be where i am today. who knows i might not have wanted to go to college. In the honors classes my teachers pushed me and wanted me to learn and grow. Both the articles were very good the second one was a little bit long and got repetitive.