Social Stratification of Communities
Social Stratification of Communities
What social class is
- The level of social stratification set by how community members rank one another.
- One of the main factors shaping an individual, alongside the general social pattern.
The common ranking
- Upper, middle, and lower classes.
- Each is often subdivided, for example upper into upper-upper and lower-upper.
Class awareness in learners
- Class consciousness tends to appear between the fourth and sixth grades.
- Learners can spot who has less money, judging by clothes and what classmates bring.
- Between grades six and eight, they begin choosing friends from their own class.
Two things shape an individual within a community: the general social pattern of the place, and the person’s own social position. That second factor, social position, is what we mean by social class, and it influences a learner long before they reach the school gate.
What social class is
Social class refers to the different levels of social stratification, set by the way the members of a community rank one another. It is not an official label; it is the informal ranking a community gives itself.
Studies of communities describe these ranks using three broad terms: upper, middle, and lower. Each of these is often subdivided into finer levels. The upper class, for instance, splits into an upper-upper and a lower-upper; the middle into upper-middle and lower-middle; the lower into upper-lower and lower-lower. The ranking is more detailed than a simple three-way split suggests.
The level of social stratification set by how a community ranks its members
It is informal but real. Communities are commonly described as upper, middle, and lower class, each subdivided further, for example upper into upper-upper and lower-upper.
When learners become aware of class
Class is not only an adult matter. Learners themselves grow conscious of it, and at fairly predictable points.
Children tend to become conscious of class distinctions between the fourth and sixth grades. By then, many can identify, with considerable accuracy, the classmates who do not have much money. They make these judgments on visible signs: the clothes their classmates wear and what they bring to school.
Awareness, though, is not the same as acting on it. At first, children do not choose their friends by reference to class status. That changes a little later. Between grades six and eight, children distinguish more sharply between middle-class and working-class peers, and at these levels they begin to choose friends largely from among members of their own social class.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Grades 4 to 6 | Class awareness appears; learners spot who has less, by clothes and belongings |
| Grades 6 to 8 | Class lines sharpen; learners begin choosing friends from their own class |
Awareness appears in grades 4 to 6; friendship by class begins in grades 6 to 8
Younger children can spot who has less money, judging by clothes and belongings, but do not yet pick friends by class. The sharper class-based friendship choices come a little later.
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