The value of education : differing perceptions in a class-divided society

• Main Author: Pfeiffer, Elizabeth J.
• Other Authors: Merten, Don E.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Education > Public opinion.; Middle class > Middle West > Attitudes.; Working class > Middle West > Attitudes.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/187928; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1318936

Despite education reform efforts to improve the quality of education in urban lower-income areas, a continued correlation between social status and academic achievement that disproportionately disadvantages those from a lower class background remains. This thesis explores the connection between social class and the meanings placed upon education and presents a number of distinguishing elements that middle class and working-class individual's value about education in a predominantly white working-class urban neighborhood in the Midwest. More specifically, while both middle-class and working-class individuals espoused a value for parent involvement, "caring" or quality teachers, and relevant curriculums, unique schemas and meanings were evoked by each of these elements. For example, the meaning of a "caring" teacher was different for each group as each looked for different attributes as signs or markers of quality. === Department of Anthropology