Personally, I feel as though my elementary and middle school education did not really help me in terms of being able to move up in social class. However, I do feel as though my high school experiences and education could potentially help equip me to move up on the social class ladder. I think this way because in elementary and middle school I felt as though my education was very history forward; meaning that I feel as though we only focused on things such as world wars, holocaust, and slavery which are all important historical moments but I don’t think that knowing any of that will help move up my social mobility.
There was not much that my teachers did to help broaden my views or help with social inequality as they did not teach about social inequality during those years. In high school, I was given different opportunities given the type of environment that I was in. I went to Henry Ford Academy which is located inside of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. Going to school inside of a museum proved to be challenging because often the teachers and administrators would have elevated expectations of us, but they always pushed us forward.
One reason I think my education from there will help with moving me up socially is because for all 4 years I was taught Spanish and those who are bi-lingual typically can receive more jobs and even a higher pay. We were also taught coding and how to build websites in my computer technology course and technology jobs pay very well, especially those involved with coding. We were also required to do a practicum (75-hour internship) in the field that we were most interested in pursuing. That allowed students to go into our future fields and make connections that could help us later in life.
During my first year of college, I attended Oakland community college, and I learned the French language. I took two semesters and even got offered to go to France with my professor and some other classmates but sadly I could not go on the trip. Learning another language in addition to Spanish can really help broaden my job opportunities and may even open the door to different opportunities that are not just related to work. Overall, I feel as though the quality of my education is a good one.
I feel as though my high school and college institutions had better resources than elementary and middle schools because those schools did not have the option to learn new languages or coding, and that could be because they simply could not afford to add things like that into the school curriculum. I do think that because my high school and colleges are in better neighborhoods that they have more privileges and better textbooks as well.
