These parents, so many of them, are so self-centered, not all of them, but some, and it’s being transmitted to their children. And it’s almost like, “You owe me something. Now, what can you do for me?” . . . or, “You owe an explanation for what you’re doing.” You almost feel at times that you have to defend yourself in some cases.
Clashes between parents and teachers occur now and again. The choir teacher, for example, felt parents who chatted in the back of the room during choir performances were being rude. She included on the inside of the program a list of recommended behaviors for parents who attended the daytime performance, but after parents complained, the principal removed the guidelines. It is not unusual for parents whose children do not initially qualify for the gifted program (at Swan the cutoff is an IQ of 125) to have them tested privately; if the children then score high enough for entry, the parents will insist they be enrolled. To reduce problems, the principal (who parents feel is sometimes too supportive of teachers) engages in preemptive strikes, such as sending letters home to ask parents to respect educators’ professional judgments in assigning children to specific classrooms for the next school year:
The principal did state in a letter to the parents that, you know, all factors are taken into consideration but to please respect his judgment and the teachers’ as to placement for next year. Because it can get out of hand, the requests. It really can.
The level of involvement among Swan parents is strikingly higher than at Lower Richmond, but parents who are active at the school complain that it is a constant struggle to recruit enough volunteers for events such as “Donuts with Dad,” the annual third-grade luncheon with mothers, the luncheon put on for teachers by the parents’ group, and the all-school spring fair.8
Thus, daily life is not always smooth at Swan School. Parents complain about teachers; teachers complain about parents. Recruiting parent volunteers to staff the many school functions is arduous. Still, overall, this school enjoys many social structural resources not available at Lower Richmond. Salaries are higher, there is no teacher shortage, classroom supplies are ample, and the teachers can make photocopies of educational materials. Although the resources are already more than those available at Lower Richmond, they are further amplified by the robust contributions of the PTA. This organization raises thousands of dollars, enabling the school to offer a professional-quality arts and music program.
In sum, between the two target schools, there are important differences in key structural resources, including physical facilities, educational supplies, teacher salaries, and supplemental financing and volunteer efforts contributed by parents.9 If social class did not matter, these differences would be randomly distributed. They are not. Across the country, communities where the average social class position of parents is higher have vastly more favorable public school systems.10
ESTABLISHED PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES AND INSTITUTIONAL STANDARDS
While there were differences between the schools, there were also similarities. Elementary schools in America have many shared elements, including for example, the organization of the school day. Educators at Lower Richmond and Swan Schools also appeared to share similar visions of what constitutes appropriate and desirable childhood experiences. They agreed, in broad terms, on the proper role of families in promoting children’s educational development. These premises were not simply expressions of the educators’ personal beliefs. Instead they echoed a body of cultural practices that have gained widespread acceptance among professionals.11
The teachers in this study generally supported practices of concerted cultivation, with an emphasis on the development of the child through organized activities, development of vocabulary through reasoning and reading, and active parent involvement in schooling and other institutions outside of the home. Educators selectively praised children during the school day, expressed their approval and disapproval of parents in informal conversations with the research assistants and me during our classroom observations, and conformed to established school and district practices that encoded particular approaches to child rearing. Teachers also followed concerted cultivation in raising their own children. As I show next, within the confines of a limited sample, there is a striking level of agreement between educators at Lower Richmond and Swan schools.
THE VALUE OF CULTIVATING THE CHILD
Educators were quite supportive of parents’ efforts to cultivate their children’s talents and skills through out-of-school activities. In interviews, teachers at both schools reported viewing children’s organized activities as helpfuclass="underline"
They all need some physical activity. I think the activities are good, because physical activity can stimulate the mind. The music lessons help with the concentration. I think that it is good to have outside activities.
There is an awful lot going on in the world. The wider variety you expose them to—you never know if you have a future playwright in the group or not. It is just something that they can enjoy and participate in, even if it is not their occupation. They just need to be aware and to talk about the different talents and occupations.
In their interactions with children, teachers also express approval, as in this fourth-grade classroom:
[The Monday following Thanksgiving, Ms. Nettles asked the children to describe what they did for Thanksgiving.] Garrett Tallinger volunteered, “My soccer team won a tournament.” Ms. Nettles says, “Your soccer team won a tournament this weekend?” Garrett nods. Ms. Nettles says, “You must be very proud.”
At both schools, children’s out-of-school activities routinely spill into classroom life. In Ms. Nettles’ classroom, students are required to keep a journal in class. Children’s activities are a common theme, as field notes from October 11 show:
Five of the five boys talked about soccer games. One said that “after the game I am mad because we lose.” Two of the four girls talked about playing soccer.
At Lower Richmond, Wendy Driver proudly describes her dance recital to her third-grade teacher, Ms. Green, as the children are getting ready to line up for recess. She also brought in her trophy to show Ms. Green and her classmates. Adults give organized events such as tournaments and dance recitals more weight than informal play by children, such as playing ball in the yard or watching television. When children volunteer to teachers that they watched particular television shows or that they played an informal game with cousins the previous day, teachers did not express the same level of interest or approval that they do when the children reveal their involvement in an organized activity.
Teachers also promote the concerted cultivation of their own children through a busy schedule of organized activities. Lower Richmond teacher Ms. Stanton had a daughter enrolled in a fourth-grade suburban school relatively close to Swan School. Her daughter’s program of activities is similar to that of the other middle-class children in this study: art lessons, dance lessons, music lessons, Sunday school, youth church choir, and horseback riding were regular weekly events. Another third-grade teacher reported that she has all of her children enrolled in Catholic instruction (CCD), Scouts, Little League, piano lessons, and swim team. Through their actions at home, teachers demonstrate their commitment to the logic of child rearing of concerted cultivation.
Still, teachers complain about children being overscheduled and about concerted cultivation diminishing children’s school experience through exhaustion or absence. As a teacher at Swan complained: