Social Class Links 04/27/2012
April 27, 2012
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Social Class and Unethical Behavior | Psychology Today
“My interpretation of the findings would not use the label “unethical” (although it may fit) but rather “entitled,” which seems more precise (Lessard, Greenberger, Chen, & Farruggia, 2011).”
tags: social class
Social Class Links 04/05/2012
April 5, 2012
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Should Working-Class People Get B.A.’s and Ph.D.’s? – Advice – The Chronicle of Higher Education
These sisters are asking the very questions that so many of my students are asking of themselves in these uncertain times.
tags: social class
Beyond the Bowling
April 3, 2012
In the past week, I’ve had the rare experience of hearing the geographic markers of my childhood mentioned over and over on the national news as Republican candidates campaign for today’s Wisconsin primary, circling, but never quite dropping in to my hometown.
I’m weary of all the bowling photo-ops.
Sure, some people bowl in Wisconsin. There were two bowling alleys in my town when I was growing up. One has closed now. My sisters sometimes meet their friends at the other one when they’re home for holidays or family celebrations, but they never bowl.
My parents never bowled, but my mother spent every Saturday morning taking her daughters to the public library. People in Wisconsin read, too.
Or the campaign could stand in front of one of the shuttered elementary schools that have been closed because of budget cuts or the remaining open school where class sizes are much larger and the school nurse has been pink slipped.
Or they could pose in front of one of the empty small factories where my niece and sister-in-law used to work before their jobs got outsourced.
Or there’s the local hospital, where I was born and my father died, one floor apart. It’s still open against the odds, though as my mother aged, her health care became more and more random as doctor after doctor came and went, finding little to keep them in rural Wisconsin.
It’s been great to hear newscasters speaking of the landmarks of my childhood.
I just wish that the campaigns were talking more about my people.
Social Class Links 03/28/2012
March 28, 2012
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Ever in Need of Money, Private Schools Intensify Fund-Raising Efforts – NYTimes.com
“School heads say that raising money is an increasingly important part of the job. Tuition, more than $40,000 at some schools, typically covers only 80 percent of the cost of educating a student.”
tags: social class
First Generation Students
March 23, 2012
Inside Higher Education just published this interesting essay on how colleges might better service First Generation Students.
I deeply appreciate the attention on the complex journey of being “First”. I appreciate the acknowledgement that first generation students are survivors.
Yet I struggle with the sense that “survivor” implies victimhood. Or perhaps, I struggle with how we can generate conversation about the challenges (clearly, often created by policies and practices that work against the interests of these students ) as well as the many strengths that First Generation students bring to our classrooms.
And I’d welcome more attention on the positive work ethic, the straightforwardness, the resiliency and the many other positive attributes of many First-Generation students, as these are things that all students (and their faculty) would do well to emulate.
I’ll be ordering the book today. Does anyone want to read it together (virtually)?
