Supplemental Material

Supplemental Material

September 1998 Vol. 7 No. 5
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Class in the Classroom

by Lee Warren

Lee Warren offers three kinds of suggestions for confronting issues of social class in college and university settings--institutional, curricular, and pedagogical. The following is excerpted from her manuscript "Class in the Classrom."

INSTITUTIONAL SUGGESTIONS: Institutions might engage in college-wide discussions about what it means to be educated, about the purpose of the institution and the values it embodies and promotes, using class as one of the templates for reflection. They can develop better student support systems, safety nets, and specific strategies for welcoming students who come without the requisite academic background, to provide them with the learning and system skills they will need not just for survival but for success in higher learning.

CURRICULAR SUGGESTIONS: At most institutions, more attention can be paid to class experience and class differences both in courses offered and in the content of current syllabi. Is there a place for students to learn about class backgrounds other than their own, as well as about their own? Is material included from every class? Is the absence of material from some classes discussed?

PEDAGOGICAL SUGGESTIONS: Modes of classroom operation can be developed to enhance the learning of every student, no matter his or her background. A few thoughts:

Be very explicit about classroom norms and rules of operation. Let students know how to play the game, and help those who seem uncertain.
Include readings from a wide variety of class perspectives.
Use examples that come from every class.
Acknowledge class differences and make class a topic for discussion. Look for class-based perspectives. Note value-laden language.
Ask about student experience and about personal reactions to the material; include these in content discussions.
Get to know your students and their individual strengths and weaknesses. Teach to both.
Vary the kinds of assignments, to include a variety of learning styles.
Vary classroom activities, to include collaboration and small group work.
Provide the opportunity for rewriting papers, as a way to teach students still learning to work in that mode.
Protect the student who makes an unsophisticated comment.
Model the acceptance of various class backgrounds.

Class distinctions are difficult for everyone in this country. Our national belief is that we are a classless society and that class should not matter; but class is evident everywhere and matters immensely. The disjunction between our held belief and reality makes this a difficult area to understand and accept. We need to be sensitive to the embarrassment discussion of class differences almost inevitably involves. Lower class people are often embarrassed about their position, upper class people about their privileges; the middle class often isn't aware of class at all. When talking about class, both tensions and triumphs arise. This is difficult work, but critical to the creation of an academic environment open to all its members.

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© Copyright 1996-2001. Published by Oryx Press, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., in conjunction with James Rhem & Associates, Inc. (ISSN 1057-2880) All rights reserved worldwide.
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