Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

Kelly O’Neill

English 1100 3J

September 24, 2015

Position on Social Class

 The purpose of Jean Anyon’s essay about Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work is to give insight about the learning environment on every social class of education. It is stereotypical to believe that the lower the social class you are in the less intelligent you are. Anyon observed five elementary schools over the course of a full school year and concluded that our futures are already planned out for us solely based off of our family’s income. However, I don’t believe this is true. I went to what is considered a middle class school from kindergarten to my senior year of high school. I attended a public school in NJ. There were students from all social classes, but we were all taught the same information and the same way. ANYONE who had questions would have them answered. ANYONE who needed extra help we would get it. There was no separation of social class; we were all united and had the same opportunities before us. Jean Anyon wrote this article dating back to 1980 and I believe that our society has changed immensely and for the better, since that study. It bothers me so much that those that were in working class schools had no say in the classroom. If they did not understand something, a teacher would rarely go over it again and if they did they would explain it the same exact way as they did the first time. Teachers taught as if there was only one way to explain something and if a student didn’t understand, it would be their loss. The only thing I know for sure is that being enrolled in a middle class public school taught me as much as any other student and that success in the classroom can have a lot to do with the teacher. I was fortunate enough to have amazing teachers that not only taught me in the classroom, but supported me outside of the classroom, too. Therefore, I believe that Jean Anyon’s essay “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”, does not apply in today’s society. In my experiences with attending a public school and being in middle class, I do not feel that my education is demonstrated correctly in this reading.