BLOG 8

 Hope McCarthy 

“Literacy with An Attitude” by Patrick J. Finn

Patrick J. Finn did a great job demonstrating the differences between different level income schools. He visited five different schools: Two schools classified as schools where the students' parents were “working class”, two middle-class, and one affluent professional school. Each of these schools varied astronomically in the way they functioned, taught, and utilized materials. 

In the lower-class schools, Finn described the learning in a way that came across to me as what you would call lazy. Teachers would not teach specific units to students because they did not think they could do it correctly. The teachers here, I would call almost militant because it seems they only cared about scores. They did not seem to recognize it is mostly about the work the students put in. It was mentioned students were sometimes held after school to complete unfinished work, which I think is very wrong. This will not make a student eager to learn OR complete their work, it will drive them away. 

As for the middle-class schools, it came across as students being very disinterested in what they were learning, there was no excitement involved in their work and that discounts the students' own interest. We touched upon ethnic studies a few weeks ago and it was proven that students will both enjoy and perform better if they are learning something that is related to themselves. Neither of these schools seemed to focus on enjoyment, again, most of the focus was on test scores creating test anxiety. 

Lastly, we have our upper-class school, which made me think about where I went to elementary school. The students at this high income family school were highly encouraged to think for themselves. Neither of the other schools presented themselves in that way. The teachers here focused on the students learning, not themselves and the way they taught. Of course, every teacher should evaluate the way they are teaching, but it should not be based on them. 

This brings me to my elementary school experience. In my town there were two elementary schools. It was never said but it was clear that one of them had students with better family income situations. Once we were all combined into middle school, we talked about our experiences. I had always heard  “I wish I went to your school, it was so much better”. At the time I did not completely understand why, but over time I had realized why. The other elementary school had less materials, worn books, it even came down to field day: one elementary school had field day at Wrights Chicken Farm, and the other had it across from their school. Mind you, PTA is mostly in charge of field day!

Overall, there is a vast difference in high versus low income schools. This involves materials, teaching styles, school routines, asset versus deficit based learning, eagerness, and funding. Again, we run into the problem that the system is broken, and so are the communities who are able to contribute to schools. At this point, we are running around in circles. 

Here is a link to a graph and article I found on low versus high income schools, and races I found VERY helpful in  further understanding the differences of learning based on economy!