Urban Education with an Attitude

13. Structural Barriers and School Reform: The Perceptions of a Group of Working-Class Parents

13 Structural Barriers and School Reform: The Perceptions of a Group of Working-Class Parents Gillian S. Richardson Gillian Richardson,Assistant Professor in the Education Department at Canisius College in Buffalo, NewYork, reports the results of her study of working-class parents’ perspectives on the politics of literacy education. Richardson shared progressive education research with a focus group of seven working-class parents on such topics as the difference in teaching methods in working-class and affluent schools; the close fit between middle-class discourse and school discourse ; the impact of working-class students’ “resistance” to schooling; the benefits of critical pedagogy/literacy; and educational reformers who use public engagement methods to achieve a more just and equitable education for working-class students. ❦ IN COMPARISON TO THEIR UPPER-CLASS COUNTERPARTS, working-class parents have historically been less involved with their children’s education, a problem that often is attributed to lack of cultural capital (Lareau, 1987), and thus the interests of their children are commonly ignored.1 Unless working-class parents bring pressure upon the educational system to better meet the needs of their children, we can expect that class disparities in educational outcomes will continue to persist. While the sociopolitical nature of literacy and education attainment is well known within sociology of education circles, it is basically unknown to those most affected, members of the working class themselves. This study sought to overcome the power differentials in access to information by bringing literature regarding the education of working-class children to the attention of a focus group of working-class parents. By exposing working-class parents to the hidden curriculum in school that advantages certain social groups over others and by uncovering issues critical for engaging them in positive change in the education of their children , this study encouraged parents to critique the social, cultural, political, and economic structures that limit the literacy and academic achievement of their children and to develop greater insights into how such structures can be 173 174 URBAN EDUCATION WITH AN ATTITUDE altered. Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions: 1) What values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors do working-class parents bring to the issue of literacy and education in general, including those related to power, conformity, and authority? 2) How does the exposure of the social, political, cultural, and economic contexts of literacy and education affect these values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors? 3) In light of such exposure, how do workingclass parents feel that schools can better meet the needs of their children and how do they perceive their role in the process of change? 4) What effect did the focus group discussions have on parents’ attitudes towards power, conformity , and authority? METHODOLOGY In a small urban school district in the northeast United States, which here will be called Montrose, the working classes are the predominant economic strata Quotes from Parents “I felt that participating would give teachers better insights and awaken them about the need to start stepping up more.” [Ray, factory worker] “I came in with the attitude ‘you can’t fight city hall.’ And then after these discussions, I found that there are ways to change it, you just have to work at it.” [Vicki, stay-at-home-mother] “After talking and listening and reading, I feel there are many different forms of literacy. If you don’t engage in all forms, you tend to stay in a life style that could be damaging to your knowledge. People will only see you for what you are and not what you can be.” [Bill, road maintenance worker] —Quotes from parent interviews in Making Literacy Political: Incorporating a Critical Pedagogy in the Facilitation of a Focus Group of Working-Class Parents (Richardson, 2001) 175 STRUCTURAL BARRIERS AND SCHOOL REFORM of the city, with a large factory as the main employer.There are eight elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school in Montrose; the elementary schools and middle schools are divided along class lines. A series of five focus group sessions was used to collect data for this study. Connaway (1996) describes this kind of group interview as an in-depth, face-to-face interview of a purposive sampling of a target population. It is similar to the case study and structured interview as a research technique.The discussion is carefully planned and focused on a particular topic to explore the perception of the...