Working class children need to try to be more middle class to get on!

[rollonthesummer]

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/10671048/Working-class-children-must-learn-to-be-middle-class-to-get-on-in-life-government-advisor-says.html

lawyers breed lawyers

God, I hope not. Hope my daughters have the opportunity to be much more creative and not feel the need to rush into a "proper career job".

Hully I agree with you.

I think one of the best things you can teach your DC is about economics and how money and power works.

If they don't want to try to take that money or power, then fair dos, but it should be a choice, rather than a default position.

It infuriates me that such a small group dominate...

Personally, I think the more you know about economics, money and power, the less you want to join it. But maybe that it is just me!

God yes. Don't tell your kids the lie that if they work hard then they have much a chance as anyone else.

Like hell they do, unless they have a hell of a lot of other privileges.And not telling them this means they will just be bewildered or blame themselves when it doesn't work out the way they were told it would.

Mind you, don't depress them either, or encourage cynicism or bitterness. They CAN fulfill their potential, albeit with more struggle than others, once as Hully says they know that the system exists, and the nature of it.
Knowledge is power. Know thine enemy.

Merry, poisonous chalices and all that. Personally I am very very far to the left.

But I want my DD to make her own decsions, and to do this, I want to give her options. Personally my dream is for her to be a hippy on a Californian commune, that I can visit often. But you know this is my dream. She might want to opt in and be a banker and I don't want to stymie her.

don'ttrythisathome, just tell her the truth. I doubt she'll want to opt in. I think MC kids are as brainwashed as anyone else. Success = status, status = happiness blah blah blah

I intend to Merry. But who knows what she will want to do? It's her life. I will accept her no matter what. And most people do seem to want to opt in. And not everyone is ignorant of how the system operates. People are smart in general. Nowt queer as folks.

Whether a person in full possesion of the facts wishes to tear down the atructure, or grab apiece of the action, is up to them.

The worst thing is not to tell them anything about it.

Mind you I don't know whether I'd ever have all the facts. There is so much that is a mystery to me still. I have only glimpses. And yes I do read and think. But it is labyrnthine.

The facts are simple:

Them what have like having and want to keep it. They want to give it to their children and for them to have too. They make them what don't have fight amongst themselves instead of demanding a fair share.

Something else... in terms of skills, when I was at my comprehensive (the horror!) we had a screen printing workshop, pottery kiln and dedicated pottery teacher, photography studio, drama studio with full lighting/sound system, wood/metalwork shop and a mini farm.

I had free private lessons in 2 instruments, was loaned the use of an oboe as we couldn't afford one etc

I'm not sure how much of this access to the arts is available to working class children anymore. And yet these skills enrich your life, especially if you have a routine or stressful job.

Surely access to the arts and to sport is one way to build children's confidence and these 'soft skills' it also helps children from different backgrounds mix on a level playing field.

I think the accent thing is a bit of a red herring. Likewise the snobbery of words such as "settee", "serviette" and "toilet". (Although "toilet" is a bit bleeuurgh.)

But it is important that people speak clearly . I was watching the tv programme on the Teach First teachers and the kind of patois that some of the pupils were speaking was never going to be anything other than detrimental to their life experience. And this was the way they were talking to adults, not to each other. Similarly those kids who pepper everything with an upspeak "like?" need to be told to tailor their language to the audience.

All comprehensives have music departments,art departments and Sports departments.

I'm not sure why some people think they don't

There aren't free music lessons any more though, sadly.

No more free music lessons, art facilities in new builds are poor and the subject is underfunded. Friend recently started MA Fine Art (mature student) at art college, couldn't believe how wealthy the students are these days.

My Ds got free music lessons at school. As do my Grandchildren.

But years ago schools had no specialist status, we just had a department which did all these things.

My daughters are in primary but will have to audition to win individual music lessons. Obviously the children who have had previous lessons funded by parents will have the advantage. Their school is so oversubscribed the art room is now a classroom, they are not allowed to do art in the classroom because the owners of the PPP building have specified this.

Anyway, this is a side issue

Do they have individual tuition on an instrument for free usual? I don't know any schools that provide that now. Some kids get a six week go on the recorder, but that's about it.

My Grandchildrens school has an art workshops with drama groups going in to put on productions.

The Cathedral choir has an outreach dept who go into the school to teach the choir.

This is a school in the middle of a council estate.

My DS got 2 years of free individual music lessons as part of his Btech music course.

As part of a course, yes. But not on a "I want to learn the piano age 6" basis as they used to and as now has to be paid for by parents/carers.

You know if WC children saw more WC politicians, Lawyers etc who spoke with regional accents and didn't come across as public school 'poshos' then maybe they would think 'I will have some of that'

That's never going to happen if they are told to become like them or to pretend to be like them.