Reader Response to Jean Anyon's Essay, "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work"

Jean Anyon asserts that education is tailored towards social class. Her research on different schools is used to support the theory that education and teaching methods differ based on students’ socioeconomic backgrounds. Her study focuses on five schools: two she terms “working class,” one she terms “middle class,” one she terms “affluent professional,” and one she terms “executive elite.”

Anyon suggests the way in which students are taught directly corresponds to the jobs they will take on as adults. Instruction at the working class schools she studied had students participating basically by rote. Students were told what to do and how to do it. They were not expected to be creative in their approaches to solving problems. Nor were they rewarded for being innovative. Conversely, students in the affluent professional and executive elite schools included in her study were expected and encouraged to be active participants ...