Social prejudice in schools Essay -- essays papers

Social prejudice in rails Children from lower- warmheartedness-class families mostly be more successful in public shallows than children from low-income families. Is the school schema responsible for this problem, or is lower performance among low-income children a result of their headquarters environment? The home environment has a big role in a childs education and if it is not supportive of the school environment, the disciple will not be as successful in school as the child whose home environment is supportive of the schools learning environment will.The typical public school teacher is a nerve center-class white female. The typical curricula, tests, and learning tools used in public schools were created by middle class educators and be geared toward the needs of middle-class children. The middle-class teacher whitethorn not be competent to progress as well with the lower-class student as she could with a middle class student. A poor minority student may re ach trouble understanding English if English is not his/her first wording or if English is not spoken in his/her home, and the teacher may have trouble understanding his/her broken English. Different social classes besides use varied slang and voice inflections, and have shipway of discourse that contain secluded meanings. So the language a lower-class student uses at home may cause him to have trouble communication with his middle-class teacher and classmates. In his book, Aint 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. It was cool, cuz like you walk in thereyou talk to Jimmy, and you know Jimmys real cool, express 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 place d 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 penetrative behavior traits that are a part of each students home life and are brought to the classroom. Many students in lower tracks are plac... ...ols cannot change is the fact the every family has a unique set of values, beliefs, traditions, and ways of rearing children. Ultimately, the home environment has a greater impact on children than any other social institution, and if the culture being taught in schools is different than the culture that is being taught in the home, childrens education will suffer. BibliographyResourcesElvin. H.L. bringing up In Contemporary Society. London C.A. Watts and Co. 1968.Fischer, Louis and Donald R. Thomas. Social Foundations of Educational Decisi ons. Belmont, CA Wadsworth produce Co., 1965.Goldman, Shelley V. and Ray McDermott. The Culture of Competition in American Schools. Education and ethnical Progress. Prospect Heights, Ill. Waveland Press, 1987.Kottak, Conrad. Mirror for Humanity. New York McGraw-Hill Inc., 1996.MacLeod, Jay. Aint No Makin It. Boulder, CO Westview Press, 1995.Oakes, J. The Distribution of Knowledge. Keeping Track How Schools Structure Inequality. Yale University Press, 1985.Orenstein, Peggy. Schoolgirls. NY Doubleday, 1994.Spring, Joel. American Education. NY McGraw-Hill Co., 1994.