Dialogic Journals

“I Need Help!” Social Class and Children’s Help-Seeking in Elementary School      Jessica McCrory Calarco

“Using data from a longitudinal, ethnographic study of one suburban, public elementary school, I compare middle-class and working-class (white) students’ classroom behaviors and teachers’ responses to them.” (pg.1)	The featured quote is beneficial to me because it helps me establish the main argument of the article. By establishing the main argument of the article, I can get a better understanding of how to specify the main argument of my paper.
“This study explores children’s role in educational stratification. It examines how students’ class backgrounds equip them with different micro-interactional resources (e.g., propensities and strategies) for meeting teachers’ expectations, and considers the profits children derive from using these resources in the classroom (Lareau 2000; Lareau and Weininger 2003).” (pg.1)	The featured quote is beneficial to me because it will guide me in conducting my study on the advantages in the classroom of one social class over another social class.
“Because teachers expected students to seek help, and because they were more responsive to proactive requests, middle-class students received more help from teachers, spent less time waiting, and were better able to complete assignments.” (pg. 2)	The featured quote will help me better understand the different social class’s desire to seek help from their teachers, counselors, and mentors.
“These theories imply that children are differentially equipped to interact with institutions and these interactions will contribute to inequalities.” (pg. 2)	The featured quote will help when I am writing my paper, because it will allow me to gather information on why one social class is more or less equipped than the other.
“Some scholars suggest that middle- and working-class children interact differently with adults.” (pg. 3)	The featured quote will benefit me when I am gathering information on how different social classes interact differently with teachers, counselors and mentors.
“Nelson and Schutz (2007) explore class differences in classroom behavior in two preschools, finding that children in the middle-class preschool have more interactions with teachers and make more requests from them.” (pg. 3)	The featured quote will be a valuable reference in my paper for when I discuss the teacher-student interaction of the different social classes.
“because teachers expected students to seek help, and because they were more responsive to proactive efforts, middle-class children’s help-seeking propensities and strategies became a form of cultural capital that, when used in the classroom, yielded meaningful situational advantages.” (pg. 4)	The featured quote will benefit me when I am writing my paper, because it will enable me to gather further information on how and why one social class has an advantage over another social class due to the effort of that social class in the classroom.
“The majority of Maplewood’s students are middle class, but a substantial minority (approximately 25 percent) are from working-class families. This allows me to compare how middle- and working-class students respond to and influence the same teachers, peers, and activities in a setting where middle-class norms guide expectations.” (pg. 4)	The featured quote will be a valuable reference in my paper for when I discuss the different social class’s response to teachers, peers and activities.

Social Class and Parental Intervention in Elementary Education                                  Annette Laredu

“Status attainment studies have concluded that the impact of socio-economic status is on the values and educational aspirations which children bring to the educational process.” (pg. 2)	The featured quote will benefit me when I am writing my paper in that I will be able to discuss the values of which children bring to education based on their socio-economic status.
“Social class shapes the resources which parents have at their disposal to comply with teachers’ request for assistance. “(pg.2)	Through this quote I will be able to discuss how social class affects a child’s request for his/her teachers assistance is affected by the resources provided to them by their families.
“Social class has a power influence on parent involvement patterns.” (pg. 3)	Since I see consistency in parent involvement through this quote I will be forced to research what types of parent involvement and to what extent of that parent involvement affects different social classes.
“the policy implications of parent involvement in schooling have now come to dominate the research agenda.” (pg. 3)	The featured quote will move me to research parent involvement in schooling since it is currently dominating the research agenda.
“There is also very good evidence that the curriculum, classroom goals and organization and structure of schooling have also changed radically.” (pg. 4)	Based on the context of this quote, I will be able to research the curriculum, classroom goals and organization and structure of schooling of different social class and describe how they have evolved over time.
“Social class has a powerful influence on life changes because it influences the values that parents hold and pass on to their children.” (pg. 4)	The featured quote will assist me in researching how life experiences of different social class effects how they perform differently in the classroom.
“social class alters the cultural resources – including language and knowledge of art, music, and other cultural experiences.” (pg. 5)	With social classes effecting cultural experiences I will be able to discuss how the community and extracurricular activities can affect social class.
“Family life provides resources (“capital”) which yields important social profits (Bourdieu 1977a; 1984).” (pg. 5)	With the help of the featured quote I will be able to argue how family value can profit social class differently.