Talking Points #8

Jean Anyon
"Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Schooling"

1. "In math, when two-digit division was introduced, the teacher in one school gave a four-minute lecture on what the terms are called (which number is the divisor, dividend, quotient, and remainder). The children were told to copy these names in their notebooks. Then the teacher told them the steps to follow to do the problems, saying, "This is how you do them." The teacher listed the steps on the board, and they appeared several days later as a chart hung in the middle of the front wall: "Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring Down." The children often did examples of two-digit division."

- I don't quite see how this is different from any other school. When I was just learning how to do division I remember learning the vocabulary and the little lecture about what each part of the equation was. We were repeatedly taught the steps and we often practiced. This is basically my exact lesson on division so I don't understand the point that Anyon was trying to make.

2. "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.... "

- This barking of orders really really reminds me of some of the teachers at my service learning project school. It's just like when she said "That's it! Everyone sit your bottoms on the rug. Sit still! I'm setting the timer for five minutes. You will sit there completely still for five whole minutes. I'm watching you, if you so much as squirm, I'll set it for longer! If your parents can't teach you self control at home you WILL learn it here in MY classroom." I didn't think that a little squirming on the rug called for this sort of punishment and lecture. Teaching through fear isn't going to get you any where. There is no way that the students will respect a teacher if they aren't being respected back.

3. "There is little excitement in schoolwork for the children, and the assignments are perceived as having little to do with their interests and feelings. As one child said, what you do is "store facts up in your head like cold storage - until you need it later for a test or your job." Thus, doing well is important because there are thought to be other likely rewards: a good job or college."

- I agree with this statement. However, I think that Anyon is being critical of only working class/middle class schools. I have always had this sort of attitude about school. A lot of people I know felt this way. But not necessarily in a bad way. Like, I loved school, but I never felt like I would need a lot of the stuff I learned about later in my life. Why am I going to need to know the chemical number of Fluoride on the Periodic Table of Elements? Some people might need to know this because it will relate to their interests and probably their career choice if its something they like but not everything you learn about in school will be useful in every one's future. Ever since college I have changed my mind. This is because now we are at the point in our lives where we are learning about things that will be directly associated to our futures and what we want to do with our lives.

I couldn't get into this article. I found it disagreeable. I feel like a lot of the stereotypes that Anyon had for working/middle class schools are common in all sorts of schools. Also, of course work is going to be a hidden curriculum if you think about it. You learn what you learn in grade school to prepare you for middle and high school and you learn in high school what you need to prepare you for college and you learn in college what you need in order to prepare you for your career choice. It is all connected but not in a bad way that should be criticized. It is just a common fact.