Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

Jean Anyon

The author argues that wealthy schools offer a better education and also prepare students so they can get better jobs than those who attend middle and working class schools. Anyon considers this to be a hidden curriculum. The author used examples of different schools to illustrate the influence of economic status in a child’s education.

• Working-Class Schools.
“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. The teachers rarely explain 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.”

• Middle-Class Schools.
“In middle-class school, work is getting the right answer. If one accumulates enough right answers, one gets a good grade. One must follow the directions in order to get the right answers, but the directions often call for some figuring, some choice, some decision making.”

• Affluent Professional School.
“In the affluent professional school, work is creative activity carried out independently. The students are continually asked to express and apply ideas and concepts. Work involves individual thought and expressiveness, expansion and illustration of ideas, and choice of appropriate method and material.”


The three quotes above show the difference between the education children acquire this depending on their economical status. For instance, there is a big gap between the education a working-class student and an upper-class student receive. All this is because of money. It doesn’t matter if the poor kid is intelligent and have the desires to succeed in life, the opportunity is denied to him. Expectation is another big problem affecting our schools. Most people expect a rich kid to do better in school than a middle-class or lower-class kid. I wonder how they can think that way. I know a rich kid has more input and more tools around him to use and become a very intelligent person. But can intelligence only be acquire with money? What if the same tools are offered to a poor kid in school? Wouldn’t he be as intelligent as the rich kid?