"social class and the hidden curriculum of work"

Joseph Palagonia
Professor Young
ENGW_1100_34
October 3 2015

     In Jane Anyon's essay, "Social class and the hidden curriculum of work," education is portrayed differently based on different social economical backgrounds. I feel Anyon's position is arguable in today's era. I feel different schools, such as the one's portrayed in Anyon's essay, often teach different curriculum to their students. I agree that the type of school a student attends can affect the future profession, because more specific schools have higher learning standards set for their students. But I also feel, that schools do not offer the same type of curriculum to their students as other schools of different social classes. For example, I have attended Catholic school for majority of my educational experience, and I have been given the privilege of a higher education. But during 

my first year of high school, I decided to attend a local public school, Susan Wagner High School  similar to the working class school described in Anyon's essay. What surprised me was the difference in curriculum that teachers gave to their classes. The teachers in Wagner rarely gave tests on the class material, and when they were reviewing material they quickly went through topic after topic without vague explanation on how to complete the assignment. To illustrate, during my first history class of 

Wagner the teacher assigned several DBQ reading assignments during class time had an expectation and had the expectation that students were aware how to complete these types of assignments. Moreover, when I stated that I was unaware what the task was, the professor gave me an attitude and told me to "read the assignment and simply follow the direction carefully." Similar to Anyon's description of the working class teacher,"A group of students 'still didn't get it,' and she made no attempt to explain the concept of dividing things into groups or to give them manipulables for their own investigation. Rather, she went over the steps with them again and told them that they 'needed more practice,'" I found new style of learning difficult, because I was basically teaching myself the material. While attending Catholic school I experienced a different approach to learning, the teachers were more involved with their students and were concerned if their students didn't not understand the topic that was being taught. Such as Anyon stated, " There is recognition that cognitive process is involved; 'I want to make sure you understand what you are doing-so you get it right'," the students ability is important to the teacher, and the approach of how the teacher presents the curriculum can truly affect the preparation of the student's future.