JEAN ANYON

1. It's no surprise that schools in wealthy communities are better than those in poor communities, or that they better prepare their students for desirable jobs. It may be shocking, however, to learn how vast the differences in schools are - not so much in resources as in teaching methods and philosophies of education.

Growing up i thought that schools were all pretty much the same. I now know that schools are different. I have also seen a school that is at or below Poverty.I do notice that the supplies are bare and and money is tight, but teachers need to use what they have and make the absolute best out of it. I don's hear much talk about higher education with the students. Some of the children in the class that i am in ask me "your in school, but your an adult"? I tell them "yes i am in college". The children in lower class schools are not getting the same opportunities as children that live in another town.


2.There were no clocks in the rooms in either school, and the children often asked, "What period is this?" "When do we go to gym?" The children had no access to materials. These were handed out by teachers and closely guarded. Things in the room "belonged" to the teacher: "Bob, bring me my garbage can." The teachers continually gave the children orders. Only three times did the investigator hear a teacher in either working-class school preface a directive with an unsarcastic "please," or "let's" or "would you." Instead, the teachers said, "Shut up," "Shut your mouth," "Open your books," "Throw your gum away-if you want to rot your teeth, do it on your own time." Teachers made every effort to control the movement of the children, and often shouted, "'Why are you out of your seat??!!" If the children got permission to leave the room, they had to take a written pass with the date and time....

I would have never thought a teacher would talk to a student like that. I have witnessed this kind of behavior at the school that i am volunteering at. There are some teachers that make the best of it. The supplies are minimal but my classroom teacher does use all the supplies that are available to her with the students. I don't see "books" in their desks everything is done as a group on the rug or with worksheets and manipulatives in their small group. When i was in school you needed permission to leave the room but you did not have to sign out and take a pass. In the classroom their is both a sign in/ out sheet and a hallway pass.

3. "The children had no access to materials. These were handed out by teachers and closely guarded. Things in the room "belonged" to the teacher: "Bob, bring me my garbage can."

I even hear this kind of talk at the school that i work at. I don't understand why teachers in general, call the classroom materials "theirs". One of the girls i work with does this all the time. "those crayons are miss XXX, you can use those over there". Even if the teacher buys something with her own $$, she still bought it with the class in mind. Why would you not share it

I liked the reading because i could relate to it. I sometimes dont think that the location of the school has anything to do with it. I think that its the teachers. They need to not think they are better than the children and remember what is was like to be a kid.