Middle Class Education

Many great minds would agree that education is a powerful tool. According to Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Moreover, “the investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” (Franklin). Even though according to Montgomery, “a brighter future starts with an education,” three main factors can prevent a high school graduate from obtaining a college degree: the cost, the loss of the family connection, and the perception of knowledge between working and middle class.
Education starts at home. In his book “Limbo: Blue Collar Roots, White Collar Dream,” Alfred Lubrano explains the social class differences between middle-class and working-class. He bases his findings on one hundred interviewed people. He talks about how parents communicate a particular language, “…language is a key to class”, (p.535). Same way Michael Parenti differentiates the middle-class language as “…cultivated, affluent, Smith College accent, free of any low-income regionalism or ruralism. (p.326). Coming back to Lubrano, in working-class families, language is exact and needs no interpretation. On contrary, middle-class families use an extended vocabulary, parents ask for an opinion and give options. In working-class
They include school and friends. There is an obvious gap between working and middle class. Lubrano emphasizes that teachers give less attention to working-class children. On the one hand, kids are not ready to grasp more information; on the other hand, teachers are less well trained. The chances of seeing “the teacher of the year” in a poor area are minimal, if not zero. In addition, a child who shows an interest in study feels threatened and pressured. Close friends, that used to provide support, would want to push away. They would not accept anyone “smarter” or “better”. Because of rejection and lack of support at school, children end up deviating from