Education, For The Masses and The Classes

[peristaltor]

Several years ago, I tripped upon something that puzzled me.

Through family tales passed down through the generations and backed by literally boxes of original documents including diaries and correspondence, Randall Keynes' book Annie's Box recounts the family life of his great-great grandparents, Charles and Emma Darwin. At one point, the

Comments

[nicoli_dominn]

Wonderful post, and I wholeheartedly agree with all of your points. I think this bias also extends to a lot of private tuition-based prep schools, in which graduates are expected to attend colleges and universities with a certain level of prestige, and later "contribute" (rather than "work") in fields that are still considered superior, even if they are "service" based. (When I say "service," I mean fields in which those providing service are still placed on a position of superiority in relation to those they serve and in which holding a position gives one a certain amount of prestige, such as the Peace Corps or Teach for America. I don't mean service positions in which those providing service are viewed as doormats, like customer service and case management.) I'm sure my perspective is also tainted by my personal bitter feelings, but I don't think that makes my perception any less astute.

[peristaltor]

Thanks! And yes, I agree that there is a bit of social status unfairly infused in some of these volunteer organizations.

Come to think of it, I just encountered this. At an open house, a neighbor asked another about the color choices for her house. She said she had just returned from New Orleans, which might have influenced her (we're in the drab and somewhat color challenged Pacific Northwest). The following question, why were you in NOLA, was answered with a bit of a chin lift, that she had been volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, building houses in the Ninth Ward. She was a doctor by profession.

That little chin lift, I tell you, I found outright grating. I'm not saying I haven't done it myself, but in her I found it downright halo polishing.