Social Class In The Classroom Essay

Improved Essays
While race does have a numerous issues associated with it, there is also the issue of social class, which is related closely with racial boundaries. Student performance can differ greatly depending on what social class a student belongs to, with students from higher classes being more successful in their education and professional endeavors. While social class does not appear to play a large role in Giblin’s classroom, it was quite a large factor in Winchester’s classroom.
Looking at the demographics of Winchester’s students, social class and race are tied directly together. As stated earlier, most if not all of her white students come from middle class neighborhoods closest to Jay M. Robinson High School, while her African American and Hispanic
…show more content…
Based on observations of their classes as well as trends in education, minority students, especially African American and Hispanic individuals, have issues in dealing with academic success, class cooperation and discipline. However, it is also important to remember the impact social class has on student performance, especially because it is often tied directly to race. Each teacher has to face unique challenges; Giblin has to spend part of his time addressing ELS students are have to balance learning the material as well as a new language, while Winchester deals with more prominent issues relating to social class. Yet both have incorporated methods for dealing with it. In Giblin’s case, it is relying on a volunteer to assist him with assignments and other course work, while Winchester personally motivates students to challenge themselves with difficult courses. But despite their efforts, white students tend to outperform their fellow peers, with many of those students in Winchester’s case growing up in middle class neighborhoods while their

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Wednesday, September 16th, 2015 I did my observation of Paul Dunbar Middle School. Some of the first things I noticed when I entered the school was how enormous the school’s population is and how the school was mostly Hispanic and African American students. I arrived at the front desk and was asked by the assistant principal what was my preference of classroom. She then proceeded to take me the section of the school where the ESE classes are held. ESE stands for exceptional student education classes.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many white families at Rolling Acres felt the classrooms were diverse. Just because there are minorities in a classroom doesn’t mean they have the same access to resources as other…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Mike Rose’s, “I Just Wanna Be Average,” he expresses his opinion toward school that many students can relate with, “School can be a tremendously disorienting place” (Rose 3). Two former-students, Mike Rose and Maya Angleou, have shared this feeling of school being befuddling. Angelou experiences this when on her eighth grade graduation day a white man speaks very fondly of the white high school, which leaves Angelou and her black community feeling thwarted. Just as well, Rose understands the baffling feeling towards school because he grew up with teachers who would not engage with the students in vocational courses but would be over involved with honors students. Both Angelou and Rose have experienced inequality throughout their education,…

    • 1046 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    One example of second-generation segregation is in one study that found that black students are overrepresented in lower level courses and underrepresented in higher-level courses (O’Connor 1234). This is because black students are discouraged to take higher-level courses. This makes the classes look even more homogenous than the school population, which is already overwhelmingly white. When trying to find out how true integration happens Yip reported that, “School-level diversity did not appear to have a main effect on the probability of change or stability in racial identify status. Instead, school diversity was observed to have a joint influence with close friendships and contact in classes and clubs” (Yip et. al 1440).…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Along the lines of Critical Race Theory Lewis-McCoy also offers us a race-based explanation for the inequality found in the results of minority students. He observed that black children grow up seeing the race-related barriers that black adults have faced. these barriers then signal to the children that the traditional opportunity system is not open to blacks. Black youths then increase their sense of racial allegiance and solidarity. They often become disengaged from school, because they recognize school as a vehicle of mobility, but one that is exclusive to whites and not for blacks (Lewis-McCoy, 2014).…

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Critical Race Theory

    • 1496 Words
    • 6 Pages

    “Cultural Capital and Critical Race Theory” was an article written by Tara J. Yosso and found in JSTOR’s database. The introduction begins with an appealing epigraph citing Gloria Anzaldúa’s work on including people of color in academic theory. Anzaldúa asserts people of color have been excluded from certain areas of academia and it is important to “not allow white men and women solely to occupy it” (qtd. in Yosso 69). Inclusion in these spaces are vital, Anzaldúa notes, because by “bringing in [people of color’s] own approaches and methodologies, we transform that theorizing space”…

    • 1496 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Social class is a major determining factor of accomplishment in most educational, employment and social arenas. Social class is currently still one of the best predictors of who will achieve success, prosperity and social status, yet class is difficult to define and discern/distinguish. We examine it empirically only through its consequences our outcome. Education closely influences personal and social development in the technical, economic spheres, and wider political arenas of emancipation and democracy.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Coming from my position in life, I often find challenge in analyzing, interpreting, and discussing social class. It weighs on me that I likely bring unfair biases and predispositions to this topic. I am a white, American, educated, athletic male from a family with both parents still together and without many financial troubles. Aside from perhaps a degree from a prestigious University or boat loads of cash, I do not think that I could be more privileged. Although my privilege might sway my ideas on the matter of social class, I am working to remove these biases in order to truly recognize the ways in which the social construct of social class influences the individuals, communities, and institutions that I come in contact with in everyday life.…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sbaidy De La O Ms.Fletcher ERWC 12, B#2 23 April, 2015 Social-class in the future vs society today At times we tend to think we have a freedom, but is this really true? If we actually analyze this, we don 't have as much freedom, as we think we do. I mean, think about it, there are so many laws that prevent us from doing so much.…

    • 1517 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    This paper will be discussing a recent fifteen hour field experience I participated in which I observed students of diverse socioeconomic groups. I will be discussing how I have a better understanding of how a student’s socioeconomic status influence their behavior and actions in the classroom. I will discuss any prejudices/discriminations I observed in the classroom based on socioeconomic diversity. I will also describe how this experience has made me determined to try to create a positive learning environment for students with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in the classroom.…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    African American students often faced several different obstacles that alter or sometimes deter their goals of continuing their college career and leading them to graduate. Between both readings, they explain how African Americans are portrayed as less than, which is one reason they do poorly in school settings. Steele calls this; stereotype threat. “Stereotype threat---- the threat of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype, or the fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that stereotype” (Steele, 46). This is a major obstacle when it pertains to the African American students education.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Equal opportunity in education is as realistic in America as it is to lick your own elbow or fitting your whole fist in your mouth. Equal opportunity in education is the prevention of any discriminatory acts against students, staff and faculty; however, in Mike Rose’s, “I Just Wanna Be Average”, he argues that the educational system is completely unjust for those in a lower program and that those that are in those lower education programs are not being challenged to their full potential. Rose brings up many important points in his study about the educational system, but fails to mention other factors that could cause a student to not reach their true potential. These factors, such as race and social class, nowadays, contribute greatly in the…

    • 1311 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “According to Census Bureau data, blacks are almost twice as likely as whites to drop out of high school and are half as likely to get a post-baccalaureate degree. “At every level of education, race impacts a person’s chance of getting a job,” Tom Allison, a research manager and one of the study’s authors, told Think Progress.” (Bessler, 2014) Black American students often face stereotypes that reinforce racial and gender biases in the classroom. “Research confirms that stereotypes of Black American girls are pervasive among educators who assume that they require greater social correction than other girls.”…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While researching various web pages and articles regarding my place and prominence in society, I uncovered words and phrases such as “poverty stricken,” “desperate,” and “struggling.” The most compelling discovery I made, was that these words were also paired with other degrading, heinous remarks in relation to the lower middle class society. As far as low class is concerned, I never considered the actuality of my status or social construction. Upon further analysis and class discussions, I came into recognition of my own social placement. Due to my humble upbringing and simplistic lifestyle, the appropriate category for my social class would be in the lower middle area.…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    I completed my ten-hour class observation at the private school Georgia Military Prep. The Georgia Military Prep School is located on Georgia Military College’s main campus in Milledgeville. At GMC prep I observed Ms. Jennifer Spencer's advanced eighth grade math class. Ms. Spencer has a decidedly pleasant air about her, a quick smile, and a brisk step that belies her ‘let us get the job done’ type attitude. On my first day observing her class, I soon gathered that Ms. Spencer always has a goal in mind when she sets foot in the classroom.…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays