S.E.E.D. 1
Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity
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December’s Theme: Class
Essential Question: How do class issues impact
our students & schools?
Essential Vocabulary: social class
Phase Theory overview
Phase I:
We neither study women, people of color, people with disabilities, etc.,
nor do we notice that we don’t
Phase II:
We study “exceptional” women, POC etc. who overcome all barriers and
meet the standards of the dominant culture
Phase III:
We study “issues” related to women, POC etc. looking at what is/has
been unfair treatment – often referred to as “Deficit Identity” phase
Phase IV:
A more lateral view – wherein the life experiences of all people are
valued and studied (the life of an auto factory worker gets a paragraph
alongside Henry Ford’s paragraph)
Phase V:
100-500 years in the future – Reconstruction/Education redefined to
include more of our ways of being, knowing, teaching, and learning.
Phase Theory continued…
Phase I:
Wars & Presidents … (women/P.O.C. etc. don’t exist?)
Phase II:
Susan B. Anthony; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. etc…
Phase III:
racism, sexism, victims, absence
Phase IV:
Lives of women, people of color &“others” as history.
Phase V:
History redefined and reconstructed to include us all.
Small Group sharing:
Gary Howard…
How do you see the 3 Dynamics of
Dominance (Assumption of Rightness,
Luxury of Ignorance, Legacy of Privilege) at
play in your school/district setting?
 What questions do you still have after
reading/reflecting on this chapter?
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http://blog.chron.com/hottopics/2013/12/daily-shows-jon-stewartslams-fox-news-megyn-kelly-for-white-christmas/#18866101=0
Large Group sharing:
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“As white educators we can also do many things in our
classrooms to support healing on the river of diversity.
Much has been written about the theory and practice of
multicultural education as a strategy for reinforcing
democratic pluralism and social justice… (including) at least
five key areas of learning:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
To learn who we are racially and culturally.
To learn about and value cultures different from our
own.
To view social reality through the lens of multiple
perspectives.
To understand the history and dynamics of dominance.
To nurture in ourselves and our students a passion for
justice and the skills for social action.
(p.84-85)
Break!
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Enjoy the food – thanks to Kirenza, Emily, and
Heidi!
Class - Introduction
Please rank the following in order
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1 being the factor that most determines one’s class and 9
being the factor that has the least determination of one’s
class.
-Social position
-Education
-Race, religion, ethnicity
-Taste and lifestyle
-One’s self-image & attitudes
P
-Income
-Prestige
-Culture
-Power
Class in America: T/F
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The United States is fundamentally a
classless society.
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We are, essentially, a middle class nation.
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Everyone has an equal chance to succeed.
Class in America
1%
22%
14%
capitalist
class
uppermiddle class
lower-middle
3%
working class
under class
working poor
30%
30%
Census Data…2006 & 1967
Share of Aggregate Income
Number Lowest Second Third
(thous.) fifth
fifth
fifth
Fourth Highest
fifth
fifth
Top 5 percent
116,011
3.4
8.6
14.5
22.9
50.5
22.3
60,813
4.0
10.8
17.3
24.2
43.6
17.2
Part I - Bud or Bordeaux:
The Choices You Make Reveal Your Class
Discussion Questions:
 Is it true that our choices in life reveal our class?
 Are those choices only about things?
 Who decides what’s in good taste – or not?
 If you can afford to purchase an expensive item –
say, a pricey car or a boat – are you automatically
elevated in class?
Journal:
 Which of your possessions have you acquired,
consciously or unconsciously, to enhance your status?
 What items or physical characteristics do you think
label the wearer or owner as “low-class”?
Part I: The Trouble with Tofu
Burlington, Vermont Grocery Store Debate
“When you are invisible in a culture, and low-income people are invisible in
this culture, you can’t feel good about yourself [or] about the people
who are making you invisible…”
Councilman Tom Smith
Discussion Questions:
 What does bread symbolize in this story?
 How would you have voted on this issue?
 What does Councilman Smith mean about being
invisible in this country?
Journal:
 Have you ever felt invisible in a class context?
Part I: How to Marry the Rich –
Beverly Hills
Ginie Sayles – grew up poor but married a millionaire
Vessa Rinehart – museum staffer, yearns for higher status
Discussion Questions:
 What are the particular pressures and obstacles an individual
faces when s/he moves into a different social class?
 Compare the term “upwardly mobile” with “social climber” – is
there a difference? In what situation is the term usually
applied?
Journal:
 Consider and write about the following quote from Paul Fussell,
author of Class: A Guide Through the American Status System.
“You are for a lifetime in the class in which you grew up.”
Part II: High and Low: A Tour
Through the Landscape of Class
WASP Lessons
Discussion Questions:
 What does it mean to belong to WASP culture?
 How does the upper middle class woman judge someone in a
bathing suit as “belonging” or not?
 Are White Anglo-Saxon Protestants indeed our country’s ruling
class?
 Have other groups – American-born or immigrant groups –
changed or challenged wealthy whites’ social preeminence and
control in recent years?
Journal:
 Do you make the same judgments about people who “belong” to
your social group? If so, what attributes do you look for?
Part II: High and Low: A Tour
Through the Landscape of Class
Bourgeois Blues – Class and Race
Discussion Questions:
 What are the relationships between race or ethnicity and class
in America?
 What is the conflict within the black community regarding class
identity and racial identity? Is it related to color?
 Does this conflict exist in any other group in the US or locally?
Journal:
 Do you agree with the investment banker’s statement – “We
should be encouraging our community to strive. Every group in
America has come … with the goal of becoming middle class, so
why should we suddenly be the only group that identifies
becoming middle class as this nasty word of calling bourgieness?”
Part II: High and Low: A Tour
Through the Landscape of Class
Tammy’s Story – Southern Ohio, Tammy and Matt live in dilapidated
trailer…
Discussion Questions:
 What does it mean to be at the bottom – culturally, socially,
politically, and economically?
 In what ways is Tammy Crabtree invisible, and to whom?
 How realistic is Matt’s belief that he is “classier” than his
mother and brother?
 Realistically, what do you think are Matt’s chances of achieving
his life goals? What are the obstacles in his path to
achievement?
Journal:
 If you don’t think that either mother or son will “make it,” how
do you reconcile that opinion with the American belief that hard
work is always rewarded with success?
Homework for January
January Meeting – 1/21/14
 Choose 2 journal prompts from People Like Us and
respond in your journal.
 Read: Bread Givers
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Choose & Bring: 2 quotes from the text that illustrate class
distinctions
Choose & Bring: 2 quotes from the text that illustrate gender
inequality
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Collect these on post-it notes… this will make the activity much easier!
Journal about the connections between Bread Givers
and Phase Theory
Mark your calendar - Friday, February 7 - 7:30 PM
-THE BALLAD OF EMMETT TILL - Penumbra Theater
Have a wonderful break! Enjoy the time and family!