Key Quotes in Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

Kelly O’Neill

English 1100 3J

September 16, 2015

Professor Young

“Key Quotes in Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”

1. “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.”

*I think that this is important because it is a good example of what the teachers are like in the Working Class Schools. Saying this to students is not acceptable no matter what social class they are in. All students attend school to learn and if a teacher is going to be negative and put them down they will believe they will never succeed. 

2. “Even if you don’t know (the answers), if you think logically about it, you can figure it out. And I’m asking you (these) questions to help you think this through.”

*This is key because Executive Elite Schools are encouraging students to think on their own. It is important for students to think on their own because when they get older there will be no body to depend on and they will need to learn how to solve things on their own.

3. “Work tasks do not usually request creativity. Serious attention is rarely given in school work on how the children develop or express their own feelings and ideas, either linguistically or in graphic form.”

*It is imperative that students express their own identity. The Middle Class Schools are developing lessons strictly so students can express themselves and their personal opinions. Some of the best work comes from saying/writing about what you are familiar with.