12 Confronting Class in the Classroom ‘And even if we enter accepting the reality of cas differences, lieve knowledge will he meted out in fair and ly privileged backgrosnd, from acutely aware of class,vm Ting Tage When I received notice of my acceptance at Stanford Uni- versity, the fist question that was raised in my household was how Lwou ndersiood that I had been awarded schol wed to take out loans, but they laughter were deemed unaccepral pions of lassoom social order. These traits were also beinga member ofthe lower classes, one was ce clas group, adopting a demeanor similar to that of the group could help one to adva «students to assimilate bourgeois val deemed acceptable, Bourgeois in the classroom ereate a barrier, blocking ty of confrontation and conflict, warding off dis ‘Cntronang Cass v~ of clas values that teach them to maintain ovder at all costs When the obse aining order is coupled withthe fear of losing fae,” of not being thought wel of by on fessor and peers, all possibilty of constructive d 1 ih mi processis only one way bourgeois vales overde- the classroom the experience in| “Outsiders,” Kash, under Students who enter the academy ‘question the assumptions and values held by privileged classes tend tobe silenced, deemed troublemakers. fof censorship in contemporary “university settings often suggest chat the absence of construc~ lencing, takes place asa by-product of jon canonical knowledge, critique progressive efforts to qu Felations of domination, or subvert bourgeois ‘Thes jon ofthe way in which190 “eching to Taras + of those from materially privileged clases are everyone via binsed pedagogical strategies. Re- oice of subject mat wed, these bi his esay Karl Andersor pressive aspect of middle-class porary feminist move= le its inital presence felt in the academy there was both an ongoing eritique of Jassroom dyn and an attempt to create alternative pedagogical strateg ke Womer tors and peers would respect, However, as feminist there was shiftin perspective. lass difference. The focus was fences are structed i tion. Yer the focus ‘often meant nolaship. Underlying jon that receiving leged class experience ( rm that not only set ngrclass backgrounds apart but effective: privileged backgrou Of course would enhaspect of our vernacular culture could be voiced in elite settings. This was especially the case with ver- nacular language of a fist language t ot English. To Insist on speaking in any manner that di not conform to priv Teged class ideals and mannerisms placed one always in the position of interloper. Demand viduals from class backgrounds deemed undesirable surrender all vestiges of their past create psychic grounds ent and failure, ‘Those of usin the academy from working-class backgrounds are empowered when we recognize our own agency, our capac: lty to be active participants in the pedagogical process. This process is not simple or eas it takes courage to embrace a Vision of wholeness of being that does not reinforce the capita- ise version that suggests that one must always give something upthinking, fr ialectical exchange classrooms learning comm be heard, their presence recognized and valued. (of Strangers in Paradise ent Jane Ellen Wilson shares the way an ng which have really emphasize focus emerged as central, precisely because it was $0 we, sex, and ela dents more than others, grat move thanry Teaching co Tangrent shallow emphasis on Toud talk or ‘mean that anything can 10 irelevant to classroom sibjek mater,aching Fanaa fear of losing control shapes and informs the professorial ped- agogical process to the exten any constructive gra Sometimes students wha want professors to grapple with las differences often simply desire th rivleged backgrounds he given center stage so that version of hierarchical structures takes place, not a dis viduals from les tadents from working-class backgrounds attended a course I taught on Aircan American women writers. They arrived hoping I would | | lss hierarchy, Jake Ryan and Charles Sackrey emphasize Ino matter what the polities or ideolo idual professor, of what the content of