[istjohn]

There was a study that found that blue collar and white collar parents have distinct parenting styles. Blue collar parents are more authoritarian. They teach their children to obey authority, which as it happens is what is generally required to succeed in a blue collar job. White collar parents teach their children to think for themselves and be assertive, behaviors that are--perhaps not coincidentally--rewarded in white collar jobs.

[sokoloff]

This is a really interesting observation. I also had to look up whether school teachers were considered blue or white collar, because my first-hand experience (which I suspect generalizes) is that they also tend towards training compliance and deference to authority, despite being on the white-collar side of that line.

[istjohn]

My conjecture is that school systems tend to mirror the population they serve, with blue collar schools tending to be more authoritarian (it's cheaper to operate with the regularity and order of an assembly line, after all), and wealthier schools placing more value on independence (as the parents would demand and be willing and able to pay for). Teachers in schools that operate like factories (or prisons) will be managed like blue collar assembly line workers. Teachers in white collar schools will be given the autonomy needed to adapt the school's policies and curricula to the unique needs of each student; they will be managed like white collar professionals.

[kevas]

Do you have a link to that study as I’d love to read it.

[istjohn]

I don't remember where I read that, exactly. But here's an example that discusses some of these ideas: https://www.jstor.org/stable/350357