Essential Workers: Thinking about Social Class Inequity and Education
I came across an article recently by Andy Hargreaves on “Class Matters: Socio-economic inequality and education.” His article resonated as I continue to think about diversity. Here is my response as the daughter of working-class immigrants.
Andy Hargreaves suggests in Canada we have an unspoken culture of social class in which diversity issues are not addressed. When rethinking schools, he says,
“We must teach working-class identity as history and culture of pride involving the dignity of labour, solidarity with one’s fellows, the value of hard work, and the importance of self-improvement. [We must] rethink everything [we] do on social class lines, as much as [we] have in relation to all other aspects of diversity.”
Like Andy Hargreaves, I grew up in a working-class family. Dad and Mom both had a very strong work ethic. When I was young, Dad worked two and sometimes three jobs just to make ends meet. They were labour jobs.
After Holland was ravaged by World War 2, my parents, like many new couples, wanted to start over and looked forward to a better future. They emigrated eight years after the war with hardly a penny in their pockets. Mom had learned English in school. Dad only knew two words, “yes” and “no.”
After landing at Pier 21 in Halifax, life was hard. Dad had 13 jobs his first year in Canada and proudly said, “Only two weeks without work that year.” He worked on a farm, had a two-week contract in a lumber yard and unloaded ships in Halifax Harbour, among other jobs. He hitch-hiked from Halifax to Truro, Nova Scotia on weekends to see Mom. Meanwhile, he stayed at the YMCA sharing a double bed with three roommates, two sharing the bed during the day and two at night.
I was the firstborn into this family where hard work and education were highly valued. My sisters and I were expected to do our best at all times. English is my second language, but you wouldn’t know that if you didn’t know my story. You also couldn’t tell we didn’t have money for band instruments when the music program expanded, sports equipment, or money for lessons outside of school. I remember Mom couldn’t afford to replace her nylons.
Like many students today, I did not always identify with other classmates or with what I was learning in the curriculum. We moved often. Our family was the only immigrant family in the mono-cultural schools I attended. I was teased for what I ate for lunch, for low grades and for values upheld by my family that were different from the culture around me.
I longed to visit aunts and uncles on weekends like my friends did, but they were overseas, and it was far too expensive to visit. Not having access to extended family made it challenging to gain perspective growing up.
The current pandemic is making plain what was unspoken and suppressed in conversation before. Working-class people are essential and we all need what they provide by their hard work. Equitable living conditions and respect for front-line workers such as personal service workers, grocery store workers, migrant farm labourers, immigrant home care workers, hospital cleaners, and private drivers are critical.
As a society, due to the effects of a long-lasting pandemic, people are experiencing stress and anxiety on an unprecedented scale. As a result, people can be very “prickly.” For instance, we must remember that not everyone who appears to be “white privileged” has avoided deep trauma in their lives.
Although most of us have not gone through a pandemic, there are people who have experienced ongoing trauma and have overcome it. They are the very people who can help.
Trauma comes in many forms. As Andy Hargreaves says,
Working-class inequality was a silent and invisible feature of the educational and social change agenda.
Just as a disability is not always visible, neither is trauma. We must be careful not to jump to conclusions about anyone. Let’s make our automatic response a sense of curiosity, love, compassion, and kindness. Seek first to understand.
Once someone feels understood, there will be a space to say our perspective and be heard. Consider, if we grew up with the same situations, cultural background, and life experiences, we may respond in a similar way.
There is always more to learn about the people who cross our paths and about ourselves. What are you becoming aware of?
Reference
Hargreaves, A. (2021). Class Matters: Socio-economic inequality and education. Education. Canada, 60 (4), 12-14
AUTHOR
Margaret Boersma, OCT is an instructional coach, speaker, educational consultant, teaching artist, and trainer. Her varied career in 35 years of teaching, combined with her expertise in social/emotional learning (SEL), allows her to assimilate the affective domain (people skills) with academic curriculum goals. Having trained extensively in the arts, and with Dr. Eric Jensen in brain-compatible pedagogy, Margaret’s heart is to transform classroom practice to enable students and teachers to thrive. Her innovative training programs result in students acquiring leadership and communication skills while becoming compassionate citizens. Her experience in teacher training extends to Canada, the U.S, the Netherlands, India, and New Zealand/Australia.