[lbo-talk] Joanne Barkin: Poverty and US International

[brad]

Alan wrote:
At the same time, my sense is that the class status, cultural commitments
and intergenerational aspirations of parents likely trumps state funding of
instruction and local education infrastructure funding when it comes to
student "achievement" in schools.  However, from my experience working in
the realm of second and third tier public universities, it certainly feels
like fewer students than 15 years ago approach college courses in
non-instrumental fashion independent of the income strata of the community
from which they come.  This is not a totalizing statement - there were lots
of just-get-me-through-this students before - it just feels like there are a
lot more now.
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Could you clarify what you mean here.  I don't understand how student
cultural commitment and aspiration isn't tied to how this developed as
they progressed through poor schools.  As Paul Willis showed in
Learning to Labor, students are very adept from early on in picking up
signals from teachers, parents and peers as to what they should expect
to achieve at school and beyond (hell my high school advisor told me I
probably had a very good future in the military.  To which my parents
told him to go F*ck himself).

Also, the point about the instrumental approach to college courses
could be connected to the increased instrumental forms of evaluation
of progress at all educational levels too.  I am continually shocked
by the number of times students ask me if there will be a review sheet
for the exam and the shock they show when I inform there that there
will not be.  Clearly they have grown accustom to being told exactly
what to study.

Brad