Could Economic Background Contribute to Classroom Behavior?

The other day, an article caught my eye because the headline was titled, “Poorer Kids May Be Too Respectful In Schools.” I went back to it because I was curious as to what possible reason there could be for poor children being so much more respectful in the classroom that there was an article on a scientific website about it.

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The article actually went on to explain that an observational study found that, in a third through fifth grade classroom, working class children were less likely to ask for help than middle or upper class children and that when they do ask, they are “less aggressive about it.”

The study then said how it was likely due to the fact that working class parents may give their children less guidance and want them to work out problems on their own, while middle class parents encourage their children to seek out help and be assertive.

In my opinion, this is a lot of speculative conclusion from an unreliable study. It appears that a lot of classrooms were observed, but there could be so many third variables at play such as age, personality, location, even time of the year. Also, just because shy kids happen to more often be working class, doesn’t mean they are shy because they are working class, because correlation does not equal causation.

I think this study could use a lot of improvement, such as a bigger sample size and more look at the details instead of grand conclusions drawn from little evidence.

Sources:

scientificamerican.com

8 thoughts on “Could Economic Background Contribute to Classroom Behavior?

  1. Nicole Kristen Abunassar

    I completely agree with you on that fact that this study doesn’t focus on other factors or third variables that could affect the results. Overall, I don’t think that economic background actually contributes to classroom behavior because there is simply not enough information in the study.

  2. Kelli Nicole Ross

    [edited SRY!] Considering that working class children probably come from families that do have a lot on their plate in terms of their home life, it’s no surprise that the children don’t take as much interest in school. Most of these children are exposed to life in ways most children aren’t and they are more independent. Money, believe it or not, plays a huge part of how a child it raised and how they act. In fact, this article talks a lot about what kids whose parent(s) are of poor side/working class face. http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/how-poverty-affects-behavior-and-academic-performance.aspx. It doesn’t always mean the child isn’t being raised with a loving parent or without respect actually.

  3. Kelli Nicole Ross

    Considering that working class children probably come from families that do have a lot of a lot on their plate in terms of their home life, it’s no surprise that the children don’t take as much interest in school. Of these children are exposed to life in ways most children and they are more independent. Money, believe it or not, plays a huge part of how a child it raised and how they act. In fact, this article talks a lot about what kids whose parent(s) are of poor side/working class face. http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/how-poverty-affects-behavior-and-academic-performance.aspx. It doesn’t always mean the child isn’t being raised with a loving parent or without respect actually.

  4. Jiang Shan

    I had actually never thought that economic background could have some correlation to classroom behavior. After reading the study mentioned in your blog, I don’t believe there is an actual relationship between economic background and classroom behavior. The main problem about the study is that we don’t know exactly how the experiment was conducted and we don’t know the exact number of students that participated in the study. Also, because this study is based on observational studies, we can’t rule out the possibility of response bias and inaccuracy. In my opinion, third variables play the biggest part in this study. To start off, culture and religion plays a big part in behavior. Coming from an Asian family, I was taught to always respect and listen to my elders. Also, I believe different children have different personalities and we behave in certain ways due to our personalities. Overall, I do not believe there is a connection between economic background and classroom behavior. Good job on your blog!

  5. Katherine Noelle Loughrey

    I think it would be interesting to also look at how cultural aspects can play into this observation, because the way we are raised and where we are raised plays a large role in how we interact with others such as in the classroom setting. I like that you understood what the study you saw was missing and how it could be improved.

  6. Catherine Broderick

    I agree with you that this study ignore many factors that could be included, such as the type of classroom the children are in. Working class children are often put in more crowded classrooms, which could discourage them from speaking up more often.

  7. Kevin Zheng

    Interesting. Maybe next time you could give an opinion on why you think that working class kids ask less questions. I believe that this is so because working class kids have parents that are probably very educated, which could reflect onto their children. However, you did give a nice opinion on the conducted study itself. I think this is a nice post!

  8. Allison Voegeli

    I found this study to be very interesting. My mom is a third grade teacher and I have volunteered in her classroom multiple times. I have seen similar reactions in my moms classroom as the study found. I believe that economic background could play a big role in classroom behavior but I do not think it is the only factor. Personally, I think that the parents play the biggest role in this situation. Parents shape their children and I do not think that money can out rule parenting. I found an article explaining that some children want to retain the power in the situation. In their mind, not asking for help will get them more attention and then they have the power over the adult. This is an interesting thing to consider. It is hard to figure out the minds of children and it would be interesting to find the real reason why some participate more than others. http://www.empoweringparents.com/child-motivation.php#

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