Dan Williams

English 1100_3J

September 25, 2015

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

            I agree with Jean Anyon that there is a hidden curriculum in school about social class.  There are differences between the working class schools, middle class schools, affluent professional schools and executive elite schools. Teaching is different between these schools. The social working and middle class schools tend to follow the teacher’s directions. The affluent profession and executive elite schools use more independent critical thinking. The more expensive schools have more perks than other schools. Today, the more expensive schools can buy more technology than the social working class schools and middle class.

My educational experience has been above average. During my preschool years I went to a private catholic school in my town. We learned the basics. For my elementary school year I went to the same catholic school. I could have gone to one of the local public elementary schools in the town but my Mom decided not to attend those schools. There was only one class per grade, which was good to have a small learning environment. The class had about twenty kids in the classroom. We learned grammar, vocabulary, science, math, social studies and religion. We were taught the basics in each subject. The teachers explained the subjects visually, orally and had hands on activities. The teachers made us participate to see if we learned the information right away. I learned the basics and some more information about these subjects.

 During my middle school years, I went to my town’s middle school. I became intimidated with being with other kids who were bigger than me. The subjects went more in depth with learning new information. The teachers were very helpful with teaching new things to their students. The teachers made us use critical thinking to solve the problems. We also had to do more group work to solve problem. Sometimes we did our work independently so we could learn the information. Sometimes I would not pay attention in class and I would have to learn the information on my own. I had trouble learning new things on my own. I like when teachers show how you can do the problems.

I went to my town’s high school. During my freshman year, I did not have the best grades. The learning was a little more harder than I suspected. Grading was a little harder and so were the tests. During the years the teachers did help students learn but learning was more laid back. We did have group projects. We also did work individual work.

Dan Williams

English 1100_3J

18 September 2015

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

Working-Class Schools:

"Most of the rules regarding work are designation of what that children are to do; the rules are steps to follow. These step are told to the students by the teacher and are often written on the board. The children are told to copy the steps as notes. These notes are to be studied. Work is often evaluated not according to wether it is right or wrong but whether the children folioed the right steps." 

These working-class student should be taught step by step and they should do the work with the teacher correct them if the problem is wrong.

Middle-Class School:

"In the middle-class school, work is getting right answer. if one accumulates enough right answers, one gets good grades. One must follow the direction in order to get the right answers, but the directions often call for some figuring, some choice, some decision making." 

This is good for the students to learn from their mistakes and how to the problem correctly. 

Affluent Professional School:

"In the affluent professional school, work is creative activity carried out indecently. The students are continually asked to express and apply ideas and concepts. Work involves individual thought and expressiveness, expansion and illustration of ideas and choice of appropriate method and material." 

This is great for students to learn. These students can learn more in a shorter amount of time than working-class schools.

Opinion: Student’s Rights to Their Own Languages

Dan Williams

English 1100_3J

14 September 2015

Opinion: Student’s Rights to

Their Own Languages

Student’s Rights to Their Own Languages In Writing

            A student’s writing is very truly important to him or her. Students have their own style of writing. They express themselves very differently than others. Their language is very important to themselves. They use their own language in their style of writing. Their language can impact others to write in his or her own language. Students should have the right to their own language in an academic setting. Writing in their own language expresses the way they feel about things. You can see the student’s own style in writing. Students don’t like writing in special prompts, they are creative with their writing. My friend from high school took a course called The Art of Writing. He loved writing in his own language. He is also creative when he writes on his own. He writes about his background with superhero in it. He is passionate when it comes to writing and teachers understand the way he writes. He says that the class made him love writing and thinks other people should take it. No one should take your right of writing in your language, it’s your way of writing. Students should always write with his or her language. Every student has their own language and style to talk about. Fortunately, in 1972, a law was passed stating that students have their own right in writing in their own language.

Dan Williams

English 1100

3 September 2015 

Prof. Young

What does Identity means to You?

            Identity is who you are. Identity is your background and ethnicity. I am Italian, Germany, English, Scottish, and Irish. I am mostly Italian. I like to enjoy my culture. We like to have big Sunday dinners. My Mom is also Italian and cooks the meals. Italians have been known as the Mob but I am not one of them. I am a nice Italian who doesn’t want to take apart in that. Also, there was this T.V. show called the Jersey Shore. The show was about four young male and female adults partying and having fun on the Jersey Shore. They were also known as guidos and guidettes because of their Italian ethnicity. Many people think that if you are Italian that you are a guido or a guidette. I am not those can of people. Italians are people who have moved to America to live a better life.

My identity is important to me. Anzaldua believes that it’s very important to have an identity. "Chicnanos did not know we were a people until 1965 when Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers united and I Am Joaquin was published and la Raza Uninda party was formed in Texas. With that recognition, we became a distinct people. Something momentous happened to the Chicano soul- we became aware of our reality and acquire a name and a language (Chicano Spanish) that reflected that reality. Now that we had a name, some of the fragmented sentences pieces began to fall together- who we were, what we were, how we had evolved. We began to get glimpses of what we might eventually become"(Anzaldua P.264). My identity is what I have become. 

Works Citied

 Anzaldua, Gloria. “How to tame a Wild Tongue.” Teaching Developmental Writing. Ed. Susan Naomi Bernstein. Fourth ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. 245-255. Print.