WINTER 2012 - National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and ...

Blue-Collar Teaching
graduation in the parent population,” there has not been systematic
consideration of the trend’s causes and consequences. It is plausible,
for example, that the decline has made doctoral training more difficult
for first-generation graduates as their minority status increases.
Lipset and Ladd (1979, p. 323) confirm this and also document that “faculty
offspring . . . are most likely to be found in the top schools. . . . [and] academics
from working-class and farm backgrounds turn up most heavily in the lowerstatus
colleges.” In short, first-generation students experience more problems
as undergraduates than those whose parents had gone to college, and all the
way through the pipeline to the PhD and into teaching they face significant
class disadvantages.
Finally, there is evidence students from families with higher socioeconomic
status (SES) do better on standardized tests than do those from families with
lower SES (Rampell, 2009). Other reports indicate academic deans come from
an elite group whose parents are college graduates or more (Oldfield, 2010).
Overall, higher education is increasingly hierarchal, stratified in its structure and
composition by class.
BLUE-COLLAR TEACHING IN A WHITE-COLLAR ACADEMY
So how do my blue-collar working-class experiences affect my teaching? I
have never held out myself as a role model specifically to blue-collar students.
I do not discuss my family background or politics in class. I do not think of
myself in terms of identity politics, nor do I approach students by categorizing
according to specific identities or background. Yet class affects my teaching in the
sense that I do not give anyone special treatment because of their backgrounds,
including their socioeconomic status. I emphasize hard work and smarts, and not
connections, in my approach to teaching. All my students realize that.
I do have both sympathy and empathy for my students from working-class
backgrounds. I can appreciate the situation they are in and respect that they
are struggling to go to school and trying to earn a living. But at the same time,
from my own life I have learned that these students are not asking for special
treatment, just a fair chance and opportunity. I did receive financial aid and
support to pay for school, but to succeed academically I learned I had to do it
on my own. I showed professors I was willing to work hard and expected them
to help me by putting in the time to teach and talk to me. I recognize that my
blue-collar students have many obstacles to overcome, they are hesitant to ask for
help, and they feel they have to do it on their own. I will provide mentoring and
support; I reach out to talk to them; but I expect them to work. My role model,
if one exists, is that merit and hard work will be rewarded.
Conversely, I accept few excuses based on anyone’s background. I teach in a
graduate program that includes many working adults. I do my best to appreciate
Journal of Public Affairs Education 79