Defining the Rules of the Culture of Power

The rules of the culture of power reflect those who are in power. One unwritten rule is that teachers will be courteous and allow parents at least one week notice for any upcoming special event, such as Picture Day, a special visitor coming to the school, or the class participating in a special event. For the low-income families who tend to live day by day without using an organized system such as a calendar or planning diary, they may completely forget about events by the time they arrive. Thus, as Kelsey mentions, a problem arose when a student arrived at school on Picture Day with his hair dirty and not combed and wearing a shirt with a stain. Stephanie speaks about parents being required to send money or consent forms to school in advance for a special outing. She states that some of the children from low-income homes are typically the last ones to bring in their permission slips or money, which is a source of great frustration for their teachers.

Another unwritten rule is that a parent will ensure that his or her child prepares in advance for kindergarten entry. A message that comes out clearly in the interviews with the parents is that several are afraid of taking on a teaching role with their children for fear that they might be teaching something the wrong way. Thus, they rationalize their lack of action in not preparing their preschool children for school. They hold to the belief that they could end up confusing the child or having the teacher "angry at them". The teachers do not see the lack of parental initiative in the same way. They frequently label the parents' lack of or limited involvement with their children as simply laziness. The teachers do not seem to realize how hard it must be for some families to carryout what they see as everyday activities that they routinely expect.

It was also apparent from my classroom observations and interviews that some parents do not recognize or understand the school routines and appear to be oblivious to the time and need for school schedules. As presented earlier, among the parent participants in this study, Jill and Natalie are the only ones who wear watches. Incidents of student tardiness or parents delivering lunches throughout the morning are reported by the teachers to be extremely disruptive. Late arrival seems to be a common practice at this school, even though many of these students live within a five minute walk from the school.