Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Classism is held in place by a system of beliefs and cultural attitudes that ranks people according to economic status, family lineage, job status, level of education, and other divisions. Middle-class and owning- or ruling-class people (dominant group members) are seen as smarter and more articulate than working-class and poor people (subordinated groups). In this way, dominant group members (middle-class and wealthy people) define for everyone else what is “normal” or “acceptable”. People who are poor/working class sometimes internalize the dominant society’s beliefs and attitudes toward them, and play them out against themselves and others of their class. However, schools play a central role in maintaining classism. All (from every socio-economic class) children’s learning is diminished by the effects of institutionalized and personal class bias. For example, a child living in poverty cannot afford a persona; computer to complete homework assignments because their family being of the poor working class.  When I was in middle school, I witness an incident, where a girl at my school wore the same clothes at least twice a week, because her parents could not afford to buy and wash her clothes. She was a very bright student, but could never complete online assignments because she did not have a personal computer. One of the teacher, at times allowed her to go to the library to complete her assignments. I felt that this was noble of the teacher however, regardless of what class a family is in, they deserve a chance.