Anyon

1. "In the two working-class schools, work is following the steps of a procedure. The procedure is usually mechanical, involving rote behavior and very little decision making or choice."

I can see this in Windmill, maybe not as drastic as in Anyon's piece but still present. The teacher follows the handouts closely and there doesn't seem to be any room for discussion. I am not sure if it is because teachers, in the public system, have to follow the curriculum closely or if it is personal choice. I sat in on a class where my friend teaches and it was a completely different experience, just like the contrast in Anyon's observation. My friend taught fourth grade at The Gordon School, which is a very pricey private school in E.P. First off, he only had twelve students in his class which is a lot easier to handle than the 25+ at Windmill. I know you can't really compare Private with Public but I was amazed at the huge advantage the Gordon kids have over Windmill. It doesn't seem fair at all. The kids at Gordon were able to move about the room and work on different creative projects and were able to manage their own time for the most part. My friend's class can chose to work outside if the weather is nice and everything they do seems totally interactive. The kids encourage each-other and I remember it felt very strange to see the kids getting along so well. It was almost as if they I was in a fantasy class. I thought how could any kid not succeed in such a nurturing and positive environment. Comparing the two just makes me want to graduate and work in a public school so I could maybe help give these less privileged kids some of that same positivity.

2. "In the affluent professional school, work is creative activity carried out independently."

I kind of talked about this in the first quote and how it pretty much described my experience with Gordon. I also observed a class play that day and I was very surprised at how comfortable the boys were with singing in front of their peers. I thought it was great that the boys especially could be so artistically expressive, because I don't think that is the case at Windmill and I am positive it wasn't the case at Nathaniel Green when I was young. I am not saying these things to beat up on Windmill, I just think that they should be able to have an equal school experience. You only get one chance to get it right and it is sad to think that the kids at Windmill are being short-changed.

3. "These differences may not only contribute to the development in the children in each social class of certain types of economically significant relationships and not others but would thereby help to reproduce this system of relations in society."

I think this is Anyon directly naming the problem. She explains here how allowing these differences to negatively affect some kids, while positively affecting others only serves to reproduce this cycle of unequal distribution of opportunity. The kids will grow up and take the place in line that was saved for them and in turn pass it on from generation to generation. I am sure things have improved some since this study, but I know there is still a long way to go to balance the education of poor vs. wealthy students.