there are often disparities in job opportunities and income based on ethnicity and gender. It is important to recognize and address these social divisions in order to create a more equitable society. classes. In the article "Social class and educational achievement: Beyond ideology" published in the New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies (2010), it is argued that a family's socioeconomic status can predict a child's academic success, but it does not determine their results. Despite this, there are still those who do not believe that children raised in poverty are more likely to underachieve in school. A more equal distribution of income in society can lead to fewer social problems. The Ministry of Education in New Zealand believes that with the right skills, teachers can help all students succeed regardless of their social grouping. However, this is not always possible as some families living in poverty lack the necessary resources for their children's education. Parents with higher socioeconomic status have more opportunities to spend time with their children and can afford pre-school education. Many schools have a mix of social classes, and it is often argued that educational inequality is just one aspect of wider social inequality. Teachers must be able to adapt to each social class in their classroom, but they should not be held responsible for the achievements of different social classes. 2010). One of the ways people evaluate someone is by their characteristics, such as age, ethnicity, or gender, when they first meet (McLennan et al., 2010). As McLeod and Nonnemaker (1999) stated, "social stratification implies social inequality" (p. 321). Social stratification has four structures (poverty, segregation and isolation, prejudice and stigma, constrained opportunity structures) that can lead to mental health impairment for those labeled as lower-class, but it can also affect those in higher classes (McLeod & Nonnemaker, 1999). Therefore, teachers need to be sensitive to the backgrounds of their students and should never assume that everyone comes from the same place, as each student's socioeconomic background brings different abilities to school (Snook & O'Neill, 2010).
Children who are deemed poor, do not receive nearly as many educational opportunities as children who are deemed rich. Kozol acknowledges that poor children barely have any social skills, which will help them in Kindergarten. In contrast, children who have been in preschool like programs since their toddler years, are more likely to develop social skills and have early-learning skills, like knowing how to hold a crayon. Children in all social classes, in the United States have to take the same standardized tests and are measured on the same grading scale. Kozol questions, “Which of these children will receive the highest scores?”(Kozol 413) Sadly, poor children will not be the ones with the highest score, and they will be held accountable for their test scores, as Kozol points out “There is something deeply hypocritical about a society that holds an eight year old inner city child “accountable” for robbing her of what they gave their own kids six or seven years earlier” (Kozol 413). It is unfair to expect a child to perform on a test equally with other children who started their education earlier. Kozol mentions that some people, who are well-educated, feel that money is not a problem with education inequality, and that other factors such as, “The values of the parents and the kids themselves must have a role in this as well-you know, housing, health conditions,
Schools in all regions differ from one another, from lack of resources to the level of education being received as Arvanitakis writes “You swim like a public school boy”. Education opportunities are provided to schools from certain areas and status in society, and those who are privileged and wealthy tend to go the finest schooling and receive the best education due to their parents or families wealth. This determines where the child would receive schooling and what type. The wealthier Australians use their fortune to their advantage, being entirely aware that they have the power to choose whichever school they desire. Arvanitakis points out that “If your parents could afford to send you to a private school – which are much better funded than poorer public schools – chances are that you would have access to better resources than at a public school”. Status and schooling can determine your outcome and status in society and without wealth, you can be deprived of proper
"Events in the nineteenth century made it abundantly and irrefutably clear that race as a concept sui generis superseded social class as the dominant mechanism of social division and stratification in North America." (Smedley 219) For many decades people have been using race as a way to classify humans into different social categories. Lower, Middle, and Upper classes were created to divide humans into appropriate categories using their individual lifestyles, financial income, residence, and occupation. People decided to ignore this classifying system and classify one another, simply by the color of their skin. People's skin color says nothing as to what a person does, their beliefs, attitudes, or any of the ideas for creating a fair social classification system. Racial barriers were created that divided people into different groups at work and at home. Race differences in identity and social position were, and are, more important than class differences in American society.
Evidence shows that children who come from high-income background tend to obtain the highest level of education and achievements whereas children who come from low-income background tend to fall behind or remain in the lower class. According to Jean Anyon’s “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” schools are separated based on social classes and the curriculum taught in those schools reflects the expected careers of the children. Anyon goes to 4 different types of schools and each school represents a social and economic class in society. People who have blue collar jobs and low income go to a working-class school, where the students are taught that obedience and following directions is more predominant than getting the correct answer.
The fact that students from lower income families fail to perform as well in school holds no dispute. Growing up with less money has been proven to create a significant disadvantage. Those struggling to pay their bills often are forced to cut back the money spent on food, leaving kids with only the option of cheaper food with poor nutritional value, or sometimes skipping meals. This inhibits the brain from functioning at its best and can leave students more worried about their growling stomachs than their schoolwork (Ladd, Fiske). Low income students face other distractions from their schoolwork including home struggles like in the movie Freedom Writers. A teacher starts a job...
The work children are given in school is mostly based on the social class that the
In her article “When Class Became More Important to a Child’s Education Than Race,” Sarah Garland (2013) argues that money income is more important to a child's education than race. In this article Sarah states that children who have parents with low incomes do not get the same opportunity as children with parents who have higher income.
Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s problems. Most importantly, money cannot influence student, parent, teacher, and administrator perceptions of class and race. Nor can money improve test scores and make education relevant and practical in the lives of minority students. School funding is systemically unequal, partially because the majority of school funding comes from the school district’s local property taxes, positioning the poorest communities at the bottom rung of the education playing field. A student’s socioeconomic status often defines her success in a classroom for a number of reasons.
from the same class, and the same goes for middle and high socioeconomic status. This period in a child’s life is cr...
SOCIAL CLASS .VS. EDUCATION 2 I want to say that my single parent family’s socioeconomic standings didn’t have a huge impact on my education and what I have achieved but, that would be a lie. Looking back on my life, I’ve realized there were other paths that I could have chosen that would have affected who I am today if, my mother was in a higher social class.
“The four main forms of stratification that sociologists have identified are slavery, caste, estate, and social class systems” (Newman 2014:316). The first form of stratification is a caste system, which is prominent in India and African countries. In this system, an individual’s social status and abilities are determined and fixed by birth (Newman 2014). The second form of stratification is an estate system, which is often found in European countries. In this system, an individual’s social status is determined either by birth or ownership of land (Newman 2014).
Socioeconomic status can be defined in terms of family wealth and assets as well as educational background. For this reason, many comparisons can be made between socioeconomic status and education. Furthermore, academic achievement and the level of education reached by an individual, is determined by socioeconomic status. Research has shown that environmental circumstances and family issues greatly influence a child's future because the impact of the socioeconomic status depends on the level to which an individual becomes successful in life. Research also shows that family conditions can impact a child’s education and their quality of life. For example, being raised in a high-economic culture increases the chances that a child will attend
There are many different factors that affect education. One such factor is, socioeconomic status. Children who attend school in a wealthier community receive a better education than those students in poor communities. In poor communities, student’s education is not only affected by a lack of resources, but also from teaching methods and philosophies. Urban and poor schools’ students do not receive as equal of an education as their more affluent and suburban counterparts do.
The Relationship Between Social Class and Educational Achievement Many sociologists have tried to explore the link between social class and educational achievement, measuring the effects of one element upon the other. In order to maintain a definite correlation between the two, there are a number of views, explanations, social statistics and perspectives which must be taken into account. The initial idea would be to define the key terms which are associated with how "social class" affects "educational achievement." "Social class" is the identity of people, according to the work they do and the community in which they live in. "Educational achievement" is the tendency for some groups to do better or worse in terms of educational success.
Kerbo, H. R. (2012). Social stratification and inequality: class conflict in historical, comparative, and global perspective (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.