Blog 8- Literacy with an Attitude

 Blog 8

Literacy with an Attitude 
Patrick J Finn

Connections- Chapter 2 

 

    Patrick Finn’s discussion of Jean Anyon’s study shows how much social class shapes the way students experience school. The way a classroom is run sends a message to students about what their teachers think they are capable of. When I read Chapter 2 and connect it to other authors we’ve studied this semester, I keep noticing the same pattern: schools often reinforce inequality instead of challenging it. 

Anyon found that in working-class schools, teachers often assumed students couldn’t handle complex thinking. Instead of helping them understand the material, they focused on step-by-step instructions and repetitive tasks. Lisa Delpit would see this as a major problem. She talks about the difference between teaching students the “codes of power” and just training them to follow directions. In these classrooms, students aren’t being empowered, rather they’re being taught to comply. This goes against what Delpit believes students actually need.

Alfie Kohn’s classroom indicators give another way to look at what Anyon found. The checklist separates conditions that should be present from conditions that should raise concern. Anyon's working-class classrooms would land in the "worry" column. Teachers in working-class communities seem to follow the “path of least resistance”, teachers directed every aspect of the learning. Students did not really have a voice, they just followed the directions as given. The middle-class schools sat somewhere in the middle. Teachers taught the curriculum and answered questions, but knowledge came from the book. The affluent school reads closest to the positive side of Kohn's list where students were pushed to think creatively, and the classroom was more student-centered and directed. 

Christine Sleeter would also criticize what’s happening in the working-class classrooms. Teachers avoided difficult or controversial topics and didn’t connect lessons to students’ lives. Sleeter argues that teaching should be culturally responsive, meaning students should see themselves and their experiences reflected in the classroom. You can see what that looks like in Precious Knowledge, where students are encouraged to talk about real issues that matter to them. That kind of environment makes students feel heard and more engaged, which is completely different from what Anyon describes.

Allan Johnson’s ideas help explain why this keeps happening. He argues that systems either maintain or challenge inequality, and schools often end up maintaining it. Many teachers in working-class schools come from similar backgrounds and may end up teaching the same way they were taught. He would say that this is a system that keeps repeating itself.

   Finn distinguishes between two types of education: one that produces functional literacy and compliant workers, and one that produces powerful literacy and people capable of participating in civic life and advocating for themselves. Working-class students got mechanical, procedural work that prepared them to follow instructions. Middle-class students got the curriculum delivered straight from the book, preparing them to work within systems. Affluent students were asked to think creatively, challenge assumptions, and reach their own conclusions; the kind of thinking that prepares someone to lead rather than comply. It does raise the question about if zip code does matter in the quality of education, as seen in the latest U.S. News rankings for Rhode Island high schools. The top high school is a magnet school (Classical) that requires testing for admission and others in the top 10 are located in wealthier areas. This raises the question of whether these schools rank highly because they foster more independent and creative thinking, giving students greater opportunities to develop powerful literacy.