in memoriam: Jean Anyon

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work by Jean Anyon: "It's no surprise that schools in wealthy communities are better than those in poor communities, or that they better prepare their students for desirable jobs. It may be shocking, however, to learn how vast the differences in schools are - not so much in resources as in teaching methods and philosophies of education. Jean Anyon observed five elementary schools over the course of a full school year and concluded that fifth-graders of different economic backgrounds are already being prepared to occupy particular rungs on the social ladder. In a sense, some whole schools are on the vocational education track, while others are geared to produce future doctors, lawyers, and business leaders. Anyon's main audience is professional educators, so you may find her style and vocabulary challenging, but, once you've read her descriptions of specific classroom activities, the more analytic parts of the essay should prove easier to understand. Anyon is chairperson of the Department of Education at Rutgers University, Newark; "
Dr. Jean Anyon passed away on September 7, 2013. Another remembrance is here:
Tony's Thoughts » Jean Anyon!: "The students, faculty, and staff of the CUNY Graduate Center and the Program in Urban Education lost one of our pillars with the death of Jean Anyon. Jean had been fighting cancer for about a year and succumbed to it yesterday. Up until the third week in August, she had hoped to teach her courses this fall. 
Jean had been on the Urban Education faculty since its beginnings and in every sense was critical to its development and success. Her thoughts, positions, and ideas added mightily to the vibrancy of our program. Her scholarship on political economy as a lens to examine public policy regarding urban neighborhoods and schools is respected throughout the professional education community. Her books, Radical Possibilities and Ghetto Schooling, are standard reading in every education program in the country."

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