Missing in Interaction

• Classroom interactions support male dominance

– Unequal enforcement of classroom rules

– Male dominance commands teacher attention

• Focusing on difficult-to-manage boys

• Restlessness and raising hands

Teacher Responses to Student Work

• Four Types of Responses– Praises: “Good Job”– Remediates: “Check your addition”– Criticizes: “No, you’ve missed number 4”– Accepts: “Okay.”

• Gender gap in valuable feedback– Boys are more likely to receive all 4 types of feedback– Girls are more likely to receive the last form of

feedback• Intelligence vs. Neatness and Presentation• The Bombing Rate

Gender Inequalities on the Playground

• Gender segregation on the playground– Children tend to self segregate by gender

during play• This self-segregation is largely controlled by the

boys

– Boys control ten times the playground area in comparison to girls

• Actors vs. Spectators• “Girls are not good enough to play with boys”

– Pollution Rituals (Cooties)

Jay MacLeod and Social Reproduction

Conflict Constructivist draws from Bourdieu

• Focuses on social inequalities as products of complex interactions

• Purpose of education: social reproduction

– Students from backgrounds rich in the three forms of capital have the preferred cultural capital that enables them to function in school

– Students that possess the appropriate cultural capital will be recognized as “advanced” leaving those that do not possess the same cultural capital left to reproduce their habitus

• Masked through the ideology of meritocracy: individuals who do not have the desired cultural capital are labeled as lacking in intelligence and the drive to succeed

• Lack of agency: conflict constructivists leave very little room for social mobility, leading to a somewhat bleak and determinist view of schooling and the reproduction of inequalities

Ain’t No Makin’ It

• Offers tangible evidence of social reproduction within school

• Jay MacLeod researches the intersection of structure, agency, and culture within social reproduction in a lower class neighborhood termed “Claredon Heights”

– Claredon Heights: classified as what we know as “the projects”- government funded, lower class, urban residential areas.

Teenagers in Claredon Heights

• The Hallway Hangers: a group of predominantly white high school boys that reject notions of meritocracy and engage in self destructive acts such as drinking, consuming drugs, dealing drugs, and ditching school.

• The Brothers: a group of black high school boys who embrace notions of meritocracy, envision bright futures for themselves, and generally stay away from activities characteristic of the hallway hangers.

Ambitions and Desires

– Family members, friends, and school officials such as teachers all influence these students’ ambitions and desires.

– Hallway Hangers: Like their families, they reject meritocracy and the notion that education provides a vehicle toward success

– The Brothers: Like their families, embrace the ideology of meritocracy and base their self–worth on its accomplishment whereby education is a crucial component.

Conclusions

• Though it appears that the brothers’ ambitions will lead them to a path out of Claredon Heights, McLeod reveals that both the hallway hangers and the brothers remain in the lower class from which they came thus reproducing inequalities

Annette LareauFamily-School Relationships

• Argument: Class related cultural factors shape parents’ compliance with teachers’ requests for parental participation in schooling– What do schools ask of parents in the

educational experience of young children? (Variations in teacher expectations?)

– How do parents respond to schools’ requests?

Studied first grade classrooms in 2 different schools

Colton School – Located in a working

class community

– Parents employed in semiskilled and unskilled occupations

– Most parents are high school graduates but many are dropouts

– Students: 1/2 white, 1/3 Latino, rest are African American or Asian

– 1/2 students qualify for free lunch (measure of SES)

Prescott School– Located in a upper-middle

class suburban community

– Parents employed as professionals, executives, and managers

– Most parents are college educated with fathers holding advanced degrees

– Students: Predominantly white

– No free lunch program (measure of SES)

Parental Involvement

• Defined: A partnership between parents and schools that include – attending school events– reading to their children– communicating concerns about their children to the

schools– reviewing and reinforcing material learned in class– volunteering in the classroom– partnerships with deference to teachers and principals

as the experts

Conclusions

• Parents who agreed with the teachers’ and administrators’ definition of partnership offered an educational advantage to their children

• Parents who turned over responsibility of education to the professional could negatively affect their child’s schooling

• Responses to involvement were much higher at Prescott in comparison to Colton indicating class differences in parental involvement.

Differences in Parental Involvement

Colton• Parent-teacher

conferences: 60%• Open House: 35%• Volunteering in

Classroom: 3% • Rarely initiated contact

with teachers– Raised nonacademic

issues– Awkward interactions

• Little reinforcement of schoolwork

Prescott• Parent-teacher

conferences: 100%• Open House: 96%• Volunteering in

Classroom 43%• Frequently initiated

contact with teachers– Raised academic issues

and concerns– Comfortable interactions

• Consistent reinforcement of schoolwork

Factors Structuring Parental Participation

• Educational Capabilities– Colton Parents: struggled in school, doubts about their capabilities to

help their children, viewed teachers as professionals responsible for the education of their children

– Prescott Parents: college graduates and advanced degrees, confident about their abilities to help their children, viewed teachers as partners in educating their children

• Income and Work Schedules– Colton Parents: Less disposable income and inflexible work schedules

– Prescott Parents: More disposable income and flexible work schedules

• Information About Schooling– Colton Parents socialize more with extended family networks

– Prescott Parents socialize more with other parents from the school