Anyon (1980) discusses the concept of social class in five New Jersey elementary schools and argues that each of the schools prepares students to fit into the social class that the school is primarily composed of. In each of the five elementary schools Anyon (1980) examined, social class most certainly had pivotal component in the curriculum, but the geographical community also played a key role in the hidden curriculum as well.
One of the first items mentioned by Anyon (1980) prior to establishing the social class makeup of each school, was the geographical area. According to Anyon (1980), the two working-class schools as well as the middle class school all had the commonality of being located in an urban area. Presumably many of the parents …show more content…
Anyon (1980) provides support for this idea when discussing the demographics for the working-class schools by stating “appropriately fifteen percent of the families in each school are at or below the federal poverty level” (p. 71). Collectively in the urban area, the teachers’ attitude towards the children were rude and impolite (Anyon, 1980). These attitudes may have been largely in response to the urban environment. Teachers may have been behaving in a manner that was socially accepted or not socially questionable among many other participants in an urban geographical area. These attitudes may have been to condition students in developing the survival skills that may have been needed to cope in the urban environment as well as to aid students in becoming resilient to issues such as violence. Another issue that was impacted by the urban locale was the teacher expectations. In the urban schools studied by Anyon (1980), student tasks involved rote memory tasks, following the right steps or obtaining the right answer, but there was little expectation of students to utilize and develop higher-order thinking skills such as analyzing or synthesizing information. The concept of low expectations is further supported by one of the working-class school teachers who explained that students need
One of the first items mentioned by Anyon (1980) prior to establishing the social class makeup of each school, was the geographical area. According to Anyon (1980), the two working-class schools as well as the middle class school all had the commonality of being located in an urban area. Presumably many of the parents …show more content…
Anyon (1980) provides support for this idea when discussing the demographics for the working-class schools by stating “appropriately fifteen percent of the families in each school are at or below the federal poverty level” (p. 71). Collectively in the urban area, the teachers’ attitude towards the children were rude and impolite (Anyon, 1980). These attitudes may have been largely in response to the urban environment. Teachers may have been behaving in a manner that was socially accepted or not socially questionable among many other participants in an urban geographical area. These attitudes may have been to condition students in developing the survival skills that may have been needed to cope in the urban environment as well as to aid students in becoming resilient to issues such as violence. Another issue that was impacted by the urban locale was the teacher expectations. In the urban schools studied by Anyon (1980), student tasks involved rote memory tasks, following the right steps or obtaining the right answer, but there was little expectation of students to utilize and develop higher-order thinking skills such as analyzing or synthesizing information. The concept of low expectations is further supported by one of the working-class school teachers who explained that students need