Week 4 Questions Group 2

Lareau and Social Mobility (or Lack of?)

1.)  Based on the Lareau article, we can see that there seems to be a desynchronization between the parents and teachers at the Swan school.  Taking into account what Coleman wants: "a vision of families and schools in a relatively open society where families can and should adopt certain norms to help advance their children's life chances," do we believe that these "norms" are based on social class, or do they suggest some objective lifestyle that any family can achieve?

2.)In the ways in which we talk about class, we often overlook the things we say that are based on our social class. 
For instance, "The idea that authorities would 'come and take my kids away' was never expressed in any observation or interview with middle-class parents in the way it repeatedly appeared among working-class and poor families" (Lareau 93).

I often think about what it means to be in social class.  I often wonder why lower class families--more often than upper-class families--tend to feel marginalized by the school system, while upper class families wonder why the school wasn't good enough for their child. 

3.)  How would you as a teacher synchronize schools and parents without offending parents who cannot afford to give their children tutoring lessons, and after school help?