Page 23 - Šolsko polje, XXVIII, 2017, no. 3-4: Education and the American Dream, ed. Mitja Sardoč
P. 23
r. c. hauhart ■ american dream studies in the 21st century
impair some from succeeding in educational institutions. Bettie’s careful
ethnographic report on student peer groups at Waretown High is simply
among the more recent to describe how the intersection of certain life cir-
cumstances combine to disable some students from achieving through ed-
ucation.
Bettie’s observational study of girl peer groups details identifiable
preferences for styles of dress, accessories, speech, and demeanor (2014:
p. 45) that telegraph specific group membership. These group affiliations
based on cultural choices, when combined with salient school curriculum
choices and engagement/dis-engagement from specific extracurricular ac-
tivities, act either to facilitate – or restrict – what Bettie (2014:p. 49) calls
“class futures.” Thus, while there is a strong tie between a person’s class or-
igin, their present socioeconomic status, and success in school, the criti-
cal influence of peer group membership with its shared codes either shapes
further the reproduction of one’s social class or, when resisted, allows for
class related performances that augment the ability to pass from one class
to another, whether upward or downward.
At Waretown High, Bettie was able to identify the prominent peer
groups: preps, chicas, cholas, hicks, skaters, and smokers. The preps were
mostly white, with a handful of Mexican-American girls, middle class,
well integrated into the school environment, and displayed good social
and academic skills. These girls dressed well, often had their own automo-
biles, and expressed themselves with distinctive styles for their hair that
always emphasized feminine display in a manner not shared by other girl
groups (2014: p. 20–1, 57, 63). The chicas, on the other hand, who were
Mexican-American and predominantly working class, wore more makeup
and tight fitting clothing than the prep girls. They avoided difficult col-
lege preparatory classes and gravitated to the vocational or business class-
es. They showed generally little interest in the classroom curriculum, of-
ten flirting with male substitute teachers and turning their attention to a
girl culture built around heterosexual romance, clothes, appearance, shop-
ping, and shared personal interests (2014: pp. 58–60; pp. 63–64). As Bet-
tie describes, these preferences and alliances shape the class futures that
individuals can envision, aspire to achieving, and attain.
Prep girls, for example, embrace adult, middle class norms for com-
portment during late adolescence as one means of preparing to move up-
ward socially and economically through another educational institution.
(2014: p. 61) This means that while the prep girls may not be any less sexu-
ally active than their chicas peers, they conduct their sex lives in more se-
crecy and insure that their upward trajectory is not disrupted by an un-
planned pregnancy by using birth control (often without the knowledge
21
impair some from succeeding in educational institutions. Bettie’s careful
ethnographic report on student peer groups at Waretown High is simply
among the more recent to describe how the intersection of certain life cir-
cumstances combine to disable some students from achieving through ed-
ucation.
Bettie’s observational study of girl peer groups details identifiable
preferences for styles of dress, accessories, speech, and demeanor (2014:
p. 45) that telegraph specific group membership. These group affiliations
based on cultural choices, when combined with salient school curriculum
choices and engagement/dis-engagement from specific extracurricular ac-
tivities, act either to facilitate – or restrict – what Bettie (2014:p. 49) calls
“class futures.” Thus, while there is a strong tie between a person’s class or-
igin, their present socioeconomic status, and success in school, the criti-
cal influence of peer group membership with its shared codes either shapes
further the reproduction of one’s social class or, when resisted, allows for
class related performances that augment the ability to pass from one class
to another, whether upward or downward.
At Waretown High, Bettie was able to identify the prominent peer
groups: preps, chicas, cholas, hicks, skaters, and smokers. The preps were
mostly white, with a handful of Mexican-American girls, middle class,
well integrated into the school environment, and displayed good social
and academic skills. These girls dressed well, often had their own automo-
biles, and expressed themselves with distinctive styles for their hair that
always emphasized feminine display in a manner not shared by other girl
groups (2014: p. 20–1, 57, 63). The chicas, on the other hand, who were
Mexican-American and predominantly working class, wore more makeup
and tight fitting clothing than the prep girls. They avoided difficult col-
lege preparatory classes and gravitated to the vocational or business class-
es. They showed generally little interest in the classroom curriculum, of-
ten flirting with male substitute teachers and turning their attention to a
girl culture built around heterosexual romance, clothes, appearance, shop-
ping, and shared personal interests (2014: pp. 58–60; pp. 63–64). As Bet-
tie describes, these preferences and alliances shape the class futures that
individuals can envision, aspire to achieving, and attain.
Prep girls, for example, embrace adult, middle class norms for com-
portment during late adolescence as one means of preparing to move up-
ward socially and economically through another educational institution.
(2014: p. 61) This means that while the prep girls may not be any less sexu-
ally active than their chicas peers, they conduct their sex lives in more se-
crecy and insure that their upward trajectory is not disrupted by an un-
planned pregnancy by using birth control (often without the knowledge
21
