Research Paper RD1

Samuel Koshy                                                                                                                                                                 Exposition and Argument: HM                                                                                                                    Erin Kelly                                                                                                                                         Research Paper RD1                                                                                                                           11/17/16

Education and Economy: Breaking the Cycle

            One need only turn on the television, surf the internet, or check any form of social media to see what the biggest problem plaguing American society today is: inequality. From the days of institutional slavery to the civil rights movement to the protests and demonstrations happening outside our own windows, inequality and unfair treatment seem to be problems we just cannot solve. These kind of social inequalities, while partly driven by personal bias and prejudice, can also be attributed to economic, or income inequality. Every group which finds itself on the fringes of society categorically receives fewer economic opportunities, on average earns lower income, and has less buying power and financial stability. These monetary factors drive social ones and cause inequality in other various aspects of life. Solving income inequality is therefore the first step in curing rampant racism, sexism, etc. The causes of income inequality can be traced back to the classroom, as it is there where children are prepared for future careers that will provide the income they receive as adults. The income inequality reflects an educational imbalance between different groups of people. Somewhat ironically, the determining factor of one’s quality of education appears to be income itself. Poorer neighborhoods send kids to poorer schools, while those from well-off households have access to not only better school districts, but also infinitely more educational opportunities. Various, current studies and research indicate a correlation between level of income and quality of education, however my research seeks to show both causality and a cyclical pattern between how much a person makes and the education he or she receives. High paying jobs do not seek out qualified candidates from the general population of neighborhoods and schools. Instead, they seem to pull the vast majority of their employees from the same few colleges and universities, which only take students from well-performing school districts. Essays such as Cathy Davidson’s “Project Classroom Makeover,” Karen Ho’s “Biographies of Hegemony,” and Andrew Solomon’s “Son” together support the existence of this rich-get-richer-while-poor-get-poorer cycle while also providing a potential solution. If education plays such a substantial part in the level of societal inequality, can we then alter the education systems to repair the damage and promote equality instead. My research will attempt to support this claim as well.

            Stemming from the controversy involving how kids living in the same country, even the same state or city, receive very different educations, research indicates a correlation between poverty and slower learning rate and capability (Morgan, Farkas, Hillemeier, & Maczuga, 2009). In their article they cite other research suggesting the low-income communities lose out to their affluent counterparts when it comes to educational resources such as books, supplies, technology, grants, etc. Offering an explanation for this phenomenon, Davidson shares how the education system is currently designed in a way that solidifies disproportionate opportunities.  Davidson discusses how education in America has been structured to build worker drones to fill the needs of the labor force. This idea can be extrapolated to say that school systems breed adults who fill the roles society has for them. Poor communities filled with unemployed adults and minimum wage workers produce more manual laborers or simply discourage kids from learning and encourage them to drop out and find odd jobs, while affluent communities made up of white-collar workers tend to produce doctors, lawyers, and other highly technical and highly paid individuals.  Ho makes a similar argument in “Biographies of Hegemony” that higher education merely keeps the power and wealth dynamic where it is by offering those who already have economic privilege even greater economic mobility and does nothing to provide those opportunities to those near the bottom so they too can climb the ladder of success. This continual cycle creates a feedback loop that merely makes income inequality an institution in this country. It is wired into the way the world works. In order to fix it, we must tear out the wires.

Andrew Solomon, in his essay, “Son,” describes how social norms and cultural acceptance are bred in classrooms. Changing the attitude and atmospheres in schools can create cultures of tolerance in society at large. This idea can be expanded to show that changing the way schools and the education process works in this country can reverse the deleterious impact it has had thus far. Davidson’s essay also provided evidence to suggest that changing the way education operates in this country, even in tiny ways, can having lasting impacts on society. The iPod experiment she employed not only helped produce numerous educational applications and uses for the device, but also fostered a greater interest in open-ended learning in the students. This process repeated could be used to create workers who think creatively and collaboratively. So, by creating a system that does not favor the wealthy, and in fact does not take economic status into consideration at all, we can actually build an American society in which income, education, health, and social inequalities are things of the past.

Works Cited

Davidson, Cathy. “Project Classroom Makeover.” Miller, Richard E. and Kurt Spellinger. The New Humanities Reader. 5^th ed. United States of America: Cenage Learning, 2015. 48-68.

Ho, Karen. “Biographies of Hegemony.” Miller, Richard E. and Kurt Spellinger. The New Humanities Reader. 5^th ed. United States of America: Cenage Learning, 2015. 165-191.

Solomon, Andrew. “Son.” Miller, Richard E. and Kurt Spellinger. The New Humanities Reader. 5^th ed. United States of America: Cenage Learning, 2015. 368-391.

Morgan, P. L., Farkas, G., Hillemeier, M. M., & Maczuga, S. (2009). Risk factors for learning-related behavior problems at 24 months of age: Population-based estimates. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37, 401-413.