A Blog on Finn

 "A" Blog on Finn: Literacy with an Attitude

Finn argues that educating youth of different socio-economic statuses plays out differently because of the cycle in which youth and their families are raised. In the beginning he claims what our education system and culture have become is this way because different classes have different values but goes on to explain the history of how the rich class was once in fear of the working class gaining access to the Bible. They feared an upraising if the lower classes were to gain literacy. "The status quo is the status quo because people who the power to make changes are comfortable with the way things are." I feel these two statements are contradictory to each other. How can you claim education is due to different class's values but also explain that the rich and ruling class have always, and continue to control what kind of education and literacy the rest of society has access to?

Overall, I really enjoyed the stories and information collected from low- , middle- and upper class schools and communities. Based on my own experience in low- and middle class schools, much is still true in the way of educating youth. What hurt me the most is how this does play in the working classes. For example, working in afterschool and out-of-school time programs (AS/OST) , a field largely made up of people who grew up in the community they now serve continues the cycle. Only in recent years has the field been fighting for better pay after being kept in a cycle of subservient behavior. I credit this to increasing social justice movements being added to our field's programs, for many of us, we want our youth to have access to all the opportunities we never had but we cannot ask our youth to do something we are not willing to do ourselves. This is the thought process that pushed me to complete my bachelor's during the pandemic and now pursue my master's. Because most of our field's employees are from low to middle class schools/ communities, based on Finn, we remain complacent and while our field has made many strides, we still struggle to advocate for funding, livable wages and other resources needed to be successful and break our cycles.