Diversity

Economics makes a difference

Economics. Economics was a huge reason why these children seemed different and more difficult than the first grade children I taught during my first two years at St. Anthony Catholic, a Parochial school in Atlanta, with all African American students. Thomas was partially correct. None of the African American children in our classroom had the financial means to go on a vacation in the middle-class sense of vacation. In contrast, the students from St. Anthony had been to places like Disney World, California, or had even taken an airplane to visit an out of-state relative. Since not one of my current African American students was middle-class, they only had their own experiences, or lack of experiences to draw upon.

Unfortunately, economic differences play a distinct part in the children's daily lives, and the African American children are acutely aware of it. Each morning, fourteen of my children ride a bus from the housing development to a neighborhood with $150,000-$400,000 houses. Once at school, they make up 95% of the children eating breakfast. The few white children who do eat pay for their breakfast. Once in the classroom, only the white children give me money for milk or lunch. Even in First Grade, the children all know why.

Economics often affects academics. Children from middle to upper class homes seem to be more frequently read to, are more likely to visit the library, and have books at home. They usually see reading and writing used in a greater variety of ways than a child in a poor home. Speech and language more closely resembles the language of school, where teachers more readily identify with these children (Heath, 1983, p.276-284). Middle and upper class children may live in a more language rich environment where parents provide direct instruction in a natural way all day long. Teachers who expect that all children will come to school with the same kinds of parental interactions and design instruction with these expectations do a disservice to some of their children. (Delpit, as cited in Rethinking Schools ).

There seemed to be a huge discrepancy between children bussed from the housing authority and children from the immediate neighborhood. Neighborhood children were more receptive to my direction, did their homework, more easily flowed into a school structure. A disproportionate number of children from the housing authority argued more, were more aggressive, failed to return homework or permission slips, and failed to acknowledge classroom and school routine. Parents and other teachers offered these explanations: "What do you expect?" "Look at their homelife," "It's amazing that they are doing as well as they are." It became tempting to accept some of theses comments and relieve myself of responsibility.

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