Initially, when thinking about conducting a lesson around social class, I was worried that my students would leave the room feeling bad, and I worried about what they would go home and ask/ tell their parents. The material that we have to convey on meritocracy, social mobility, class, etc. is real; If they fully understand, even if they have a surface level of understanding, I felt like they would be discouraged. Especially after teaching them about meritocracy, I wondered how I was supposed to encourage them to work hard in order to achieve their goals?
I started off our discussion with the privilege walk. I asked them questions that were potentially social class realted (throwing in some random fun questions). I found it quite interesting that they thought the walk was a race, and that whoever got to me first won a prize. Nonetheless, the Caucasian girl in the group ended up in the front, the Mexican girl in the back, and the biracial students were in the middle. Before debriefing, I asked them to take a look at where everyone was positioned in the room. We discussed the importance of the activity, broke down the meaning of social class (because they had no idea), talked about dominant social identity markers and how that related to privilege, and we had a reflection where everyone had a chance to share things about their family and where they come from. My highlight from this activity was that each of the students were open and honest about what social class they believed to have belonged to. Afterward, Lauren and I discussed how you can fluctuate between classes. Being born into a specific class does not mean you have to stay there; you can work your way up and you can also move down! I think the breakdown of the classes really helped them get an idea of how our society is split.
A few challenges that I encountered during this discussion was explaining things so that they understood. Some the word usage when deriving social class is a bit advanced, and at times it was hard to find words to use that explained the terms just as well. Also, although I do think they understood, the lesson wasn't engaging so that was something I wanted to change for the next time we met.
This is when Socialopoly came into play! I found a game/ study online where a teacher taught and discussed social class with is students through playing monopoly. The students loved this! The game was set up where each student represented a class (upper, middle, working, and lower). The rules were biased based on society, and the privileges each class receives, or doesn't receive for that matter. Each class started out with a specific amount of money, had restrictions on buying property in certain neighborhoods, and had to follow other class specific rules. (If anyone would like me to upload the PDF, I can). The upper class held all the power and of course the working and lower class were at the highest disadvantage. We played for about thirty minutes, and I had the students write a reflection. I want to have them finish the game at the next meeting so they they can see the ending results, and so that we can facilitate discussion around the turnout. It was interesting to see that in their discussion they said things like "You will be judged based on your class in everyday life", "the wealthy and the rich will have more land and money", "the lower class went to jail more than anybody for some weird reason", "the upper class has the most advantages", "I felt sad because I kept going to jail and I didn't do anything". That was a great start to an in depth reflection for next week. The discussion will be key to them actually understanding. I think my challenge here will be getting them to fully realize why the rules are this way and what each rule means in regards to social class and the real world. At that time, I also want to show them the video clip with Tammy, and discuss meritocracy and the importance of networking.
While working with my students, I've learned that students are able to learn complex material. My mom always tells me that kids are smarter than what you think! It's true, they really are. Some of the things they say amazes me. It gives me a since of relief that they are actually understanding what I am teaching them.
The resources I find most helpful are key topics we identity as needed to be conveyed, and I think it is also very helpful when you provide us with activities or materials that we can use related to the topics. For example, the privilege walk and the video clips.
