Class and Higher Education

First generation college students are also affected by class issues. They are not exposed to the same conversations, vocabulary, books, and social opportunities at home as their peers. In addition, they do not get the same support from their families. They may have challenges with FAFSA, homework, etc. and they cannot turn to their families to solve these problems. Their family is proud to have a child going to college, but there can be a disconnect with the alliance in the family, and first generation students might feel that they do not fit in with the family as much after their new experiences.

We discussed the support necessary for these students who are just expected to function in the same way as peers, but without the same social capital to make things happen. They may come from a background where they had to learn that they are strong and can do things on their own. Because of that they may have a hard time asking for help or making the appointments they need to get support. Some of our international students have similar issues with asking questions and getting help that is available. One of our challenges is the invisibility and silence in these groups so it’s hard to find these students and acknowledge that we aren’t addressing class issues.

One way to make students feel more comfortable is to share your own experiences. This can work with students on and off campus. One professor shares her story of going to the academic achievement center as a doctoral candidate to get help with her writing. Students feel more encouraged and less ashamed about seeking such help if they feel that it is acceptable and and helpful for anyone, even their professors.

Another related issue that we discussed was community colleges that say their goal is to send students on to four-year universities, but 70-80% of these students do not do that. There is an assumption that the community college to university transition is smooth, but many students expect more structure and are not able to make the transition. This can also apply to the working class students who come to graduate school and do not receive the support they need.

Hotel Kids and Millennials

In our February meeting about class we also discussed various places where class becomes an issue for teaching, such as teaching in different states, hotel kids, and Millennials.

Some of the states that our professors go to teach at have very different styles of how they process information and are at different places in their history. In order to teach in these communities it seems that we need to be much better prepared with information about the cultures in which we will be teaching. If we know what the teachers and community are dealing with we might be able to better prepare our teaching to match their needs and expectations.

Hotel kids are an example of the issues teachers are dealing with. In communities with severe poverty there are many families who live in hotels and move with the seasons to find the cheapest cost of living. The children in these families are transient and have no roots in a school. Teachers have to be prepared to address this issue and integrate transient children as much as possible.

Class also comes into play when we discuss the Millennials. There is an assumption that all of these kids are technologically savvy. However, the hotel kids we talked about are also Millennials and do not have the same access to technology. We cannot lump all students from this generation together and assume that growing up during this technology revolution has given them all the same privileges and access with regards to technology. To draw a parallel, during the industrial revolution some people had electricity and others did not. You could not assume that everyone could go home and do homework after dark. Assuming that everyone has the same opportunities can hurt some students.

We also discussed another possible activity to address class:
Activity on class: Draw a picture of your living room. Afterwards students can discuss this and consider the boundaries between the outside (school) and the inside (home). Students from working class backgrounds may discuss feelings of separation between these two and a reluctance to bring others into their homes.

Resources:
Vaidhyanathan, S. (2008). Youth and Technology: Generational Myth. Chronicle of Higher Education (available online here).

Activity on Class

In our February 12, 2009 meeting we discussed the often avoided topic of class. Discussing socioeconomic status and class is one of the hardest topics for students to talk about and relate to. The following is an activity to start the conversation. You can expand and change the questions to guide your discussion.

Have students jot down notes or just listen and reflect as you read them the following series of questions.
Part I: Your home(s)
In which towns or cities did you grow up?
In which part of those towns or cities did your family live? Which neighborhood? Where was your home?
What did your home or homes look like? How many rooms were there?
Which room did your family spend the most time in?
What did this room look like (e.g. furniture, decorations)?
What did the surroundings of your home and neighborhood look like? Who were your neighbors?
Remember your school or schools. Where were they located in the city? How did you get to school?
Remember the children at school. What did they look like? Who were they? What were their backgrounds? Where did they live?
Remember the teachers. What were they like?

Part II: Your grandparents’ home(s)
Did you go and visit your grandparents? Did they live far away or close?
In which town or city did they live? What did the neighborhood look like?
What did their home look like? How many rooms did they have?
Which room did you spend the most time in when you visited? What did it look like?

After they have considered these questions, have students share their responses and reflect on how it relates to class.