Conflict Perspective in Education

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through an interview with a group of lively students with strong views

stating, “I don’t go to physics class, because my lab has no equipment…. The typewriters

in my typing class don’t work. The women’s toilets, I’ll be honest, I just don’t use the

toilets, I come back into class and I feel dirty…. I wanted to study Latin, but we don’t

have Latin in this school.” This relates to point one, showing exactly how under equipped

students in East St. Louis are. It really shows how poverty stricken certain schools with

less funding are. It also makes people in more fortunate areas realize how blessed they

are for things they never may have realized before.

1.) Unequal Funding: Comparing St. Louis to Glenbrook North, the funding invested into

simple things is vastly different. “There are shortages of textbooks, as well as books in

the library. The science labs are 30 to 50 years outdated. Some of the vocational shops

cannot be used because of a lack of staff and equipment.”

2.) Correspondence Principle: Parents in East St. Louis don’t invest as much time into their

kids not because they can’t, but because they don’t know how to. Students coming from

low-income families have parents that are uneducated, financially unstable, work long

hours, and most households are run by a single parent. Compared to more upper-class

families, with parents able to afford time to assist their kids in school and afford private

tutors, they ensure the children successful futures.

3.) Hidden Curriculum: Many of the students in St.Louis are racially segregated,

predominantly because of the fact that the majority of the population is made up of black

and hispanic families. This separation between races creates a difference in test scores as

well. Schools with more white students statistically have higher test scores, whereas

students in St. Louis cannot even say the approximate time when school begins.