In this study of the school system of an Indiana town, Ellen Brantlinger studies educational expectations within segments of the middle class that have fairly high levels of attainment. Building on her findings, she examines the relationship between class structure and educational success. This book asserts the need to look beyond poor peoples' values and aspirations--and rather to consider the values of dominant groups--to explain class stratification and educational outcomes.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Dividing Classes forces us to confront perhaps the most troubling and least studied challenge to equitable schooling: Middle-class Americans' presumption that their own superiority accounts for their school success and the life chances that successful schooling brings. In her penetrating account of affluent, mostly liberal, mothers and education professionals, Brantlinger shows how powerfully the ideology of meritocracy undercuts the educational opportunities of low-income young people. Most important she illuminates how this undercutting works through the seemingly innocent, day-to-day talk and actions of middle-class Americans that consistently advantage society's already-advantaged young people.
–Jeannie Oakes, Presidential Professor of Educational Equity, UCLA
Describes how members of the educated middle class act to secure the best of what schools have to offer for their own children and how they rationalize their actions.
–Journal of Economic Literature --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
–Jeannie Oakes, Presidential Professor of Educational Equity, UCLA
Describes how members of the educated middle class act to secure the best of what schools have to offer for their own children and how they rationalize their actions.
–Journal of Economic Literature --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Ellen Brantlinger is Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Indiana University, Bloomington.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thought provoking book,
By "liggo" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dividing Classes: How the Middle Class Negotiates and Rationalizes School Advantage (Hardcover)
This book is interesting because of the author's choice to focus on the middle class. Despite the fact that you may disagree with this approach (as i did in the beginning) it pushes one to think about the class positionality of the middle class and one's self as well. I would especially read this book if you are in the middle class and have children who will be or are in school now.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Thought-Provoking but Frustrating,
By
This review is from: Dividing Classes: How the Middle Class Negotiates and Rationalizes School Advantage (Paperback)
Dr. Ellen Brantlinger has done a fascinating case study on the impact of social class on mothers' and teachers' perceptions of government-run education in an economically diverse small Midwestern city (presumably the author's hometown of Bloomington, IN). The book really made me examine how social class has influenced my own beliefs about education.However, I was extremely frustrated by Dr. Brantlinger's assumptions about the underlying reasons behind her subjects' responses. She kept attributing very negative motivations to the upper-middle-class moms without providing any convincing evidence to back up her accusations. Dr. Brantlinger reads classism and a desire to continue social inequality into everything the wealthier moms say, in a way very reminiscent of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson when it comes to racism.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Brantlinger Brings a different view,
By Book Junkie (Provo, UT) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dividing Classes: How the Middle Class Negotiates and Rationalizes School Advantage (Paperback)
I really like the book. Her research is done with a select population of women, most of whom went to private schools as children. Thus there is an inherent bias but I think it brings a tangible light to the real divide that continues to grow between classes in America. This was a required reading for a Masters in Education class.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
"Several facts are known about American social classes, schools, and students." Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
social class desegregation, social class balance, academic push, affluent mothers, conservative pedagogy, progressive schooling, upward strivers, pedagogical preferences, catchment zones, school equity, affluent schools, school circumstances, social class bias, social class relations, school patrons, social class issues, income schools, influential parents, redistricting plan, affluent children, high tracks, social class status, class disparities, low tracks, school advantage Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Department of Education, African American, Eastside Elementary, Pete Rockenweil, Winter Intensive New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
"Several facts are known about American social classes, schools, and students." Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
social class desegregation, social class balance, academic push, affluent mothers, conservative pedagogy, progressive schooling, upward strivers, pedagogical preferences, catchment zones, school equity, affluent schools, school circumstances, social class bias, social class relations, school patrons, social class issues, income schools, influential parents, redistricting plan, affluent children, high tracks, social class status, class disparities, low tracks, school advantage Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Department of Education, African American, Eastside Elementary, Pete Rockenweil, Winter Intensive New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 13
books:
See all 13 books this book cites
7
books
cite this book:
See all 7 books citing this book
- San Antonio (A Downtown America Book) by Sally Lee in Back Matter
- The Competitive Ethos and Democratic Education by John G. Nicholls on page 20
- The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen in Back Matter
- The Sublime Object of Ideology (Phronesis) by Slavoj Zizek on page 38
- Human Universals by Donald Brown on page 4
See all 13 books this book cites
- A Level Playing Field: School Finance in the Northeast by Jane Fowler Morse in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Making Modern Lives: Subjectivity, Schooling, And Social Change (Suny Series, Power, Social Identity, and Education) by Julie McLeod in Back Matter
- The Edison Schools: Corporate Schooling and the Assault on Public Education (Positions: Education, Politics, and Culture) by Kenneth J. Saltman in Back Matter
- The Edison Schools: Corporate Schooling and the Assault on Public Education (Positions: Education, Politics, and Culture) by Kenneth J. Saltman in Back Matter
- Keeping Track: How Schools Structure Inequality, Second Edition by Jeannie Oakes in Back Matter
See all 7 books citing this book
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