Date of Award

6-2017

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Anthropology

First Advisor

Karen Brison

Language

English

Abstract

Students from working class families are not given equal attention treatment opportunities or guidance as those of middle class backgrounds. The 'gap' between family and school is the socioeconomic background being catered to in schools. I argue that schools run on a highly Western middle class ideology and thus do not reflect cultural values or systems of students from working class families who perceive authority differently and have been socialized in a community plagued by violence crime and lack of economic resources. Such resources that middle class families can attain to academically assist their children. As a result those students are not receiving a sufficient education that would allow them to bridge the achievement gap and end social reproduction in schools. Based on my experience in four different programs two that attracted low-income children and two that attracted upper middle class children as well as what I've read by other anthropologists I argue that children are already substantially different by the time they reach school due to their upbringing and social class. Therefore the ways in which they are taught and how they behave and learn in academic and enrichment programs reflect the context in which they grew up. Educators must learn to take into account the diverse range of students in the classroom and be sensitive to the many perspectives of each child in order to effectively teach and help bridge the achievement gap.

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