Hidden Curriculum?

Maranda Brown

Professor Young 

English 1100

25 September 2015

                  Hidden Curriculum

"Why every rich black nigga gotta be famous

Why every broke black nigga gotta be brainless

That's a stereotype" -J Cole

In Jean Anyon's work she studies and discovers the difference of social class and the type of schooling they receiving. I do believe that teachers provide different instructions because of social class. These children are stereotyped right from birth. It seems to be that the lower and middle classes are expected to do less and not be able to follow instructions well while the affluent and executive classes are supposed to be extremely smart right from birth. Every single person is born and start off the same way, dependent on others. They cannot walk or talk so how do schools know how well they will succeed without trying to providing them with the best and same education. 

When I was in kindergarten I started off in Elizabeth Public Schools, a lower class city,  until the middle of first grade and that is when I moved to Cranford, and upper middle class town, schooling. Thinking about it now there was a difference in education in the schools. Transitioning was hard because I was behind in some of the work and because of that I had to go to in school tutoring classes in order to catch me up. It is a bit harder to tell how teachers taught when I was younger, but I can compare myself to my cousin who is just a year older and went to school in Elizabeth. While I was having more projects and independent work, my cousin was pretty much only doing simple worksheets every night. (Below a photo of us)

Jean Anyon's research is still relevant I believe. I believe this because when applying for college, colleges look at where their possible student has come from. I am not saying they use that as a big factor but in the case of choosing someone from a lower class school compared to a private upper class school, we know exactly who they will evidently choose. The teachers perception on how a child will participate and learn is unfair because right from birth they are not given the chance to prove themselves and how much they can retain. It seems that students are not helped into achieving and striving for more than what they have in lower classes. Lower class students seemed to be prepped for jobs in jobs in their town and working for someone instead of making goals to be better than where they started. Executive class is expected to be the leaders because they are taught that way but why can’t everyone be taught that way in order to succeed further?

 

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

• "However, the examples of schoolwork which follow will suggest characteristics of education in social setting that appear to have theoretical and social significance and to be worth investigation in a larger number of schools." The differences in social class has lead to an investigation because it seems people are educated for their current social class and not to strive for other and high classes.
• "The teacher rarely explains why the work is being assigned, how it might connect to other assignments, or what the idea is that lies behind the procedure or gives it coherence and perhaps meaning or significance." This is an example from the two working-class schools, lower class school, that do not help student make connections now which can affect them later on in life. Teachers are not explaining to their students what the purpose of lessons and why it will be needed.
• "Work is often evaluated not according to whether it is right or wrong but according to whether the children followed the right steps." The students should be graded on whether right or wrong and steps are followed because in order to learn they need to understand their mistakes.
• "She made no attempt to explain..." this shows laziness in the teacher and no positive enforcement because it shows that the school does not truly care about the future of their students education and jobs.
• "Teachers made every effort to control the movement of the children..." not giving them the freedom to express themselves because the teachers were conditions that they could not trust the kids moving around or using school possessions. They were treated more as animals than people in lower class settings.
• "The products of work should not be like anybody else's and should show individuality." Related to the topic of identity because each person is unique and everyone's writing style is different. This quote comes from the professional schools idea and upper class idea.
• "The identification of different emphases in classrooms in a sample of contrasting social class contexts implies that further research should be conducted in a large number of schools to investigate the types of work tasks and interactions in each to see if they differ in the ways discussed here and to see if similar potential relationships are uncovered."

Language in an Academic Setting

I do agree that students should have the right to use their own language in an academic setting, but only under some circumstances. There are many courses of writing ranging from literature to poetry to creative freestyle writing. In some of those classes a student should be able to express themselves in anyway they feel is necessary to get to their main point or give the writing piece a sense of the emotion of the writer and who they are. Each person is a unique individual. Some professors want students to conform to the specific writing style of that professor and it is difficult to understand and write how that professor wants it to be done. "We affirm strongly that teachers must have the experiences and training that will enable them to respect diversity and uphold the right of students to their own language," there has to be mutual understanding of differences and resect. How a person speaks and writes is part of their identity so why should they conform to what society thinks is formally correct? 

In order to let people express themselves, their language is a must. How they speak in class compared to the formal writing they must use when writing the sense of who they are can be confused because the teacher will never get to know who they really are and their viewpoints. As I said before, in some cases language does matter. For example, research papers that follow a strict format to get all the details and facts and that is when language should be set aside. 

My biggest worry is that students are going to conform and never be able to express themselves in the way needed. I know I am not the greatest writer, but when I put in my own opinion and words the writing means so much more to mean. It makes me want to write more because I have the freedom to say what I need in the way that best fits me. I use a bit of slang but usually only to get my point across. When that freedom and right is given students tend to enjoy the prompt more and it will actually be easier in the sense that they can let their words flow. I believe that is very important because than the reader gets a better sense of who the author is as a person. 

In Professor Young's class she encourages her students to use their native tongues. Express ourselves in the language that we speak and put it into our writing. This makes assignments more enjoyable and relaxing because we have that freedom that I so desperately desired. And for these reasons I enjoy Professor Young's class and believe that students have the right to express themselves through their language. 

What Identity Means To Me

What does identity mean to me? Identity means everything to me. It is who I am and how people would perceive me from an external view. It is what makes me unique because I am different from everyone else. There is no one that is exactly like me and I like that a lot.

In Gloria Anzaldua essay she taught me a lot about identity and how important it really is. I come from a very diverse background. My mother is German, Irish and Puerto Rican while my father is African American. I do not know much about my family background and culture which actually upsets me because I would love to have those roots to live by. My grandfather came straight from Puerto Rico obviously spoke fluent Spanish, but he never taught my mother or her siblings. I always wished he did because I think it would actually be kind of cool.

My identity shows my gender and race but unfortunately to some I vary between looking older or younger so it does not even show my face. My social class can be determined through my identity but that is truly depending on if  I wake up early enough to get ready and dressed. Anzaldua said something very important to me and very relevant to something in the media today and that is “When other races have given up their tongue, we’ve kept ours.” This truly inspirational and important to me because all over social media there has been this saying “Black lives matter” regarding some police brutality cases. I am not saying that I am completely on the “black side” but this is part of my identity and race coming together and not giving up their tongues.

Another thing Anzaldua mentioned in her essay really stuck out to me. I may look very quiet and I am very shy, but when it comes to things I truly believe in I tend to talk back and when she said “Muchachitas bien cridadas, well-bred girls don’t talk back” I strongly disagree. Brainwashed girls do not talk back. As part of my identity I speak  for what I believe. I also believe the people you hang around with can be part of your identity and how people perceive you. I am lucky to have met people that are amazing and like me in many ways, but different enough to make me understand others point of view and respect them.

My identity makes me who I am and who I am is unique. In one of my previous post I talk about like being called Queen. I like because again makes me unique but also it makes my views and identity to myself strong. I cannot identity with a strong religion or culture, but I can with the little things that make me different from everyone else and I am still proud of that.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue Quotes

"Muchachitas bien cridadas, well-bred girls don't talk back."


"And like the ocean, neither animals respect borders"


"I felt a sense of homecoming as well as alienation. People who were to amount to something didn't go to Mexican movies..."

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

1. The opening scene in the dentist chair connects to the overall message of the essay and its title because it's a metaphor to her life. The wild tongue is her culture and how strong it is to her personally through her views, teaching and lifestyle. 

2. Anzalduas use of Spanish throughout her writing was absolutely perfect in getting her message across. Speaking Spanish may not be fully in her lifestyle now, but now and then it comes out without hesitation because it is her culture and was raised speaking both languages. It gets a message across in the sense that she is speaking for others that go through the struggle of having to hide their language. 

3. Yes Academic English can be defined as standard Spanish and Chicano Spanish can be described as nonstandard because there are many variations of how people speak. There's standard and slang words people use but the slang is just the easier way of saying things in standard and still gets the message across. References can be made to one's identity on how one speaks or writes or interact with others because it can shows education level, where someone comes from and other identity factors. 

4. There is a necessity of speaking and/or writing in Academic English as an identity because people base intelligence on how you present yourself and speak and write. There's a "proper" way to speak when speaking to someone with higher authority when, let's say, on a job interview. In order to make good impressions people tend to show off using very proper English. 

5. The different types of English identities I know and use include being very proper when speaking to an adult, teacher or my employer while if I was speaking to my friends I would use the slang they would know and what they use while speaking to me. When I speak to my parents I use both depending on the topic and how much they understand. 

6. I do not necessarily use a different language, identity or communication with my friends except the normal and occasional slang that can usually be translated by many people besides them. 

7. When speaking to my friends I speak nonstandard English, meaning slang, because they understand it and when outside a classroom or any important situation like job interview we use it. When speaking to my mother I use both because we have the connection to use slang around each other but also in serious topics its standard English. And when speaking to my professor I use standard formal English. 

8. The statement "I am my language" connects to a person's identity because your language is your culture it is what someone was raised with. Your language speaks for you and your people. 

9. The introduction and conclusion connect because it starts off saying her tongue cannot be controlled and ends with "When other races have given up their tongue, we've kept ours." The connect at the fact that there was really no way to tame her tongue because her people are strong and stand and speak for what they believe. 

10. Yes the language you speak can be part of your identity because as said before your language is part of your culture and how you speak it in unique to your culture and you. 

11. Identity is extremely important to me because my identity is who I am and who I want to become. Everyone's identity is being judged with just one glance and it is important to have a strong understanding of yourself. Although Anzaldua is a bit hesitant about her language at some points in her life she understands that it is apart of her and that's her identity physically and mentally.