We will investigate what happens to students’ aspirations and goals from the start of middle school until college graduation, looking in particular at how these trajectories are impacted by socio-economic factors (SES).

We will study the socially constructed barriers that obstruct access to opportunities for lower SES students and the opportunities and supports that are, conversely, offered to higher SES students. Examining the systemic nature of these will help to illuminate the fallacy of the idea of a meritocratic system. We will investigate data, and strategize about what can be done to make good on the promises we make to our nation’s students about what and who they can be. We will orient our work toward finding strategies to address systems of oppression and privilege that structure education opportunities.

Our speaker, Dr. Simona Goldin teaches about the sociology, history, and policy of schooling in the United States, at the University of Michigan’s School of Education. She has studied ways to transform the preparation of beginning teachers to teach in more equitable ways, and has elaborated the teaching practices that bridge children’s work in schools on academic content with their home and community-based experiences.

This is the third of a six-lecture series. The subject of the series is: Poverty, Inequity and Disparity. The next lecture will be October 1, 2020. The title is: The Short-Term and Long-Term Impacts of Health Care Access for Low Income Americans.

Pre-registration is required via the OLLI website or phone. A link to access the lecture will be e-mailed to you approximately one week prior to the event.