Jean Anyon - "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work"

1. “It will be suggested that there is a ‘hidden curriculum’ in schoolwork that has profound implications for the theory – and consequence – of everyday activity in education….”

Anyon’s idea of a hidden curriculum is the central theme of this article. By hidden curriculum, Anyon means to say that the way in which lessons are conducted, and the assignments that students are given, affect how the students are educated. For example, it is clear after reading the article that the students in affluent professional schools and executive elite schools receive the most meaningful education. The reason for this is because the students in these schools have more control over their learning and must think critically, rather than copy what a textbook or teacher tells them. The ideas of individual creativity, discovery, and analysis are not present in the working-class or middle-class schools.

2. “The project is chosen and assigned by the teacher from a box of 3-by-5-inch cards. On the card the teacher has written he question to be answered, the books to use, and how much to write. Explaining the cards to the observer, the teacher said, ‘It tells them exactly what to do, or they couldn’t do it.’”

This quote highlights the contrast between teacher attitudes at the different types of schools. Here, this teacher from a working-class school underestimates the abilities of her students by giving them a step-wise procedure to follow without room for students to add their own individuality to the project. After reading quotes from teachers at the other schools, it is obvious that the other three types of schools, most especially the affluent professional and executive elite, value much more than student memorization and ability to follow procedures. At working-class schools, as demonstrated by this quote, teachers exist predominately to give students information.  At the other schools, teachers empower rather than simply give; they serve as a gateway for student creativity and development of personal opinions.

3. “Differing curricular, pedagogical, and pupil evaluation practices emphasize different cognitive and behavioral skills in each social setting and thus contribute to the development in the children of certain potential relationships to physical and symbolic capital, to authority and to the process of work.”

What Anyon is saying here is that the way in which children are educated will affect more than their success in school. This quote is a little confusing to me, but I think I’ve grasped the general idea of what Anyon has concluded about the research presented in this article. Different methods by which children are educated and evaluated will affect several factors including how they process information, how they behave, and how they respond to authority.

Throughout this course, we have emphasized how race, gender, and sexual orientation affect education. However, this is the first time we have analyzed how economic status relates to curriculum and pedagogical methods. This article was interesting to me, and fairly easy to understand except for some of the statements made at the end after the research findings were described. There were a few obvious patterns: creativity, individual expression, and analysis of information increased with each step up the economic ladder. The schools I attended appeared to fit into the affluent professional category. In general, writing, creative projects, analysis, and development of opinions were valued over rote memorization and incessant copying. The description of the working-class school in Anyon’s article was saddening because the students are being treated as if their only capability is copying notes. They are taught by memorizing facts and experience “creative projects” by following precise instructions.