TEACHER PLANNING OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS FOR LOWER-CLASS CHILDREN

The purpose of this research project was to investigate the possibility that, given a free choice of materials, elementary school teachers would not differentiate between materials judged appropriate for lower-class children and materials judged appropriate for middle-class children. The subjects were twenty-eight and twenty-nine teachers of lower-and middle-class children, respectively. Teachers were selected from a random list of schools identified as either lower-or middle-class by the respective superintendents, using Alba Edwards, Alphabetical Index of Occupations and Industries as a guide. When teachers of lower- and middle-class children were compared in selecting material for children in the respective classes, no significant differences were found. The failure to reject the two basic subhypotheses seems to support the possibility that, given a free choice of materials, elementary school teachers of lower-class children do not differentiate between materials judged appropriate to be used by middle-class children. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.