Questions and quotes
related to Poverty/Social Class
·
How
would you define poverty? What is
poverty? Are there different types
of poverty?
·
Are there
particular groups of people whom are most greatly affected by poverty?
·
How does
poverty affect children? And what do you think the effects of poverty are on
education?
·
In
what ways can schools respond to these effects of poverty?
Finally, Neufield (1990) notes the importance of seeing
school processes as holistic rather than technical. She emphasizes the emotional and affective links between
schools and students, and the importance of developing positive student-teacher
relationships. Poor children may
bring many additional burdens into school with them, so supportive and
understanding teachers can be particularly important to them. (Levin p. 90)
Testing and reporting policies of schools or districts can
powerfully affect what teachers can or cannot do (Levin p. 89)
Poverty’s consequences for educational outcomes are
enormous, and although I have argued that there are important measures schools
can and should take, educators also need to take every opportunity to remind
policy makers and the public that addressing poverty and improving educational
outcomes must involve a total social policy effect (Levin p. 91)
(Possible
questions for class discussion)
Do
you agree or disagree with these statements for today, why?)
·
“…education to the university level was “to a considerable extent
the privilege of a numerically small occupational class” (p.187)
·
The only option (towards providing equality of educational
opportunity) is to provide “multiple options based on different values that
are not ranked along only one dimension.”(p. 186)
·
There must be more than one avenue to the
“mainstream of dignity”. Societies
have to evolve along more pluralistic lines, with those aspects of culture which
are incorporated within school curricula becoming less one-dimensional”
(p.186)
·
Equal
educational opportunity may well be utopian or at odds with other basic societal
characteristics. (p. 195)
·
All those committed to the development and success of
equal opportunity should be wary of present socio-economic conditions and
governmental educational policies, which seem to enhance inequality instead of significantly
reducing or eliminating it
(Claude Lessard, 1987)
(Claude
Lessard, 1987
Equality
of Access
Equality
of access to all institutions
Equality
of treatment
Equality
of educational treatment or equality within education requires that schools
offer programs and use teaching procedures which respond to the expectations,
needs and culture of diverse groups and be sufficiently flexible in structure to
respond to facilitate the learning of all individuals regardless of their
intellectual, social or cultural heritage. Equality of educational treatment has
generally been equated with uniformity of treatment for at least the initial
stages in the curriculum after which students would be “streamed” or
“tracked” according to their educational performance.
(People are born different and will find their place according to talents)
Equality of results
Compensatory
programs may mean in some senses “unequal treatment”
(Critical perspective)
More global perspective that looks at the issues as more society based.
(Notes from Connell,
Curricular Justice)
Curricular Logics
1)
The logic of compensation
Inner
city school programs
·
hot lunches
·
Field trips
·
Extra assistants
·
Preschool enrichment
·
After school help
·
Test assistance
2)
The logic of Oppositional Curriculum
·
Separate programs with the perspective and goals of the disadvantaged
groups (i.e First Nations Studies, Women’s studies)
3)
Counter-hegemonic Curriculum logic
·
Programs that incorporate a broader perspective (consistent with the goals
of multiculturalism for social transformation).