When thinking about the effect of social class, environment, and family on education, we enter into a hazy territory. In a very spirited article on his blog, Chris Evans declares:
I have also noticed through my readings and experiences that many lower-class kids are not taught to think critically about various subjects. Many kids in these areas are taught only to remember factual events or ideas but not think why these events occurred. If a child cannot think for themselves, then how do we expect them to be able to sustain themselves in our society? Many upper-class kids are taught to reason so why can’t the lower-class kids do that? Just because they are poorer does not mean they don’t have the ability to think as critical as upper-class kids.
I resonate heavily with Evans here. Sometimes I think that the reason inner city kids do so poorly is that teachers expect them to do poorly. There isn’t any sort of push from within for change. A state or federal government can pull from without all they want, but the real pushing has to come “in house.” No one outside the house has any direct control over the way classes are run (they only have oversight and accountability). We can pay more money for more oversight, but it won’t necessarily make any difference in the schools themselves. Increasing the standards won’t change apathetic teachers who never wanted to teach them in the first place.
