Jacob Gallagher
Prof. Young
Eng 1100
September 25, 2015

Is there a hidden curriculum?

      Jean Anyon did a great job of describing the different educational experiences of the various social classes.  However, I feel that her research is no longer valid. Coming from my experience I have never seen teachers teaching kids differently because of their social class. I feel that the information Anyon researched is no longer valid because people of many different social classes are now being integrated into the same education system. Take this for example, a kid from a poor social class is amazing at a sport and that kid gets recruited to an Executive Elite School. That athlete, who came from a poor background, will now be learning the same way all the rich kids at the school are learning. In today's society this type of situation happens a lot. 

      I also do not believe that Anyon's research is no longer valid because during high school I went to a Middle class public school and a private elite school. At the private elite school the teachers all had different teaching methods, some let the students ask questions and helped every student understand the lesson,  and others just expected us to understand the directions and not ask questions. While in the middle class public school most of the teachers allowed for the students to ask questions but others still didn't. Every teacher has a different style of teaching. I think it depends more on how much the teacher is getting paid. If a teacher is not getting paid well they probably won't teach to the best of their ability. Also it depends on the teachers personality, some teachers just aren't good at teaching. 

So back to if I think teachers treat kids of different social classes differently, I don't think so. At the middle class public school I went to there were kids from many different social classes there. This is because my school had sending districts. We had kids from working class that lived in the city, middle class kids from a nearby town, and rich upperclass kids from rural areas. While in the class room I had kids from all different types of social class backgrounds. How does the teacher know what social classes the students are if were all mixed together? Can you tell what social class these kids from from my school are from? Exactly, you can't.

Every student should be treated and taught the same way. If teachers are truly still treating kids of different social classes different then our education system is corrupt. Social class does not define how smart a student will be. Every student excels at different subjects and has their own learning speed.

Jacob Gallagher
Prof. Young
Engw 1001
9/18/15

Key Quotes

"The Identification of different emphases in classrooms in a sample of contrasting social class contexts implies that further research should be conducted...."

"These differences ma not only contribute to the development in the children in each social class of certain types of economically significant relationships and not others but would thereby help to reproduce this system of relations in society. "

"Scholars in  political economy and the sociology of knowledge have recently argued that public schools in complex industrial societies like our own make available different types of educational experience and curriculum knowledge to students in different social classes. "

Jacob Gallagher

English 1100_3J

September 11, 2015

Opinion: 

 Do Students have the Rights to their own Language?

      Students should defiantly be able to use their own language  in an academic setting. As Anzudula said, language is a part of identity. By writing their own language students are able to express themselves clearly. Not everyone likes to use intellectual word sin their writing, and honestly no many people I know use intellectual words in their everyday conversation. Those big words could make the writer seem fake. Everyone's writing should be different in style because if we all used the same intellectual style it would be pretty boring to read things. Sometimes in an academic setting, it is good for a student to write in an intellectual way. Some people need to understand the rules of writing. So in academic environment, a writer should learn to write clearly but still using their own unique style. There is a certain extent to where a student should not be able to use their own language in an academic setting. A student should not be able to just use a bunch of slang and bad words in their academic writing. Academic writing should show the best version of language that the student knows. By using slang, the writer could make the reader feel like he or she is reading trash. Not everyone appreciates that a person’s identity can be shown through the way they write. Most people like to read writing that shows intellectual words and no slang. I feel that a student should be able to write in any way that he or she feels comfortable. 

How to Tame a Wild Tongue Quotes by Gloria Anzaldua

1) "My tongue keeps pushing out the wads of cotton, pushing back the drills, the long thin needles."

2) "If you want to be American, speak 'American.' If you don't like it, go back to Mexico where you belong."

3)"If a person, Chicana or Latina, has a low estimation of my native tongue, she also has a low estimation of me."

Jacob Gallagher
Engw 1100 3J
Prof. Young

Identity

      Identity can be defined many ways including origin, ethnicity, culture, gender and many more. To me, my identity means a lot. It means a lot to me because I am unique and I know that there is no one else in the world who has the same exact identity as me. My identity comes from my family and without them I don't know where I would be today. My family have helped me develop my identity into who I am today. My identity also helps others understand who I am and where I come from.
      Identity is also special to me because, no matter how much the world tries to change you, deep down you will always know your true identity. "My tongue keeps pushing out the wads of cotton, pushing back the drills, the long thin needles"(Anzaldua 256). In this quote, Anzaldua is saying that no matter how hard the American culture tries to change her, she will always know her true identity in her heart, that she is a Chicano Mexican.  Identity is a gift that is given to everyone but everyone's is different.  Discovering other people's true identities is an amazing thing. Since everyone is different in their own ways, we get to learn about other cultures and backgrounds just by meeting new people. It is crazy to realize that every person has a different way of saying words and expressing their thoughts. Identity is an amazing thing that helps us understand the perspectives of others.
      So with all of this being said, how could identity not be meaningful in a person's life. Identity brings the world together be helping people of different origins, cultures, and ethnicities understand each other. Identity is a gift that we as individuals all possess. It is whether or not we are willing to accept others that we will truly understand the meaning of identity.