The Hidden Rules of Social Class

Key Takeaways:

1. What are “hidden rules?”
2. How do hidden rules work?
3. Which rules do I know?  What rules make me uncomfortable?

Starter 10- Hidden Rules of Social Class: The Wire
The clip you are about to watch is taken from The Wire, a tv show that explores poverty in a Baltimore neighborhood.  In this clip, Bunny, a police officer, is taking a group of teenagers from the inner-city out to a fancy dinner as a reward.  This has mature language. If you want to remain innocent, cover your ears!  As you watch this, keep track of the following:

1. When do the students seem confused or uncomfortable?
2. Why were they unable to relax and enjoy this experience?
3. What “rules” were they unaware of?​

Hidden Rules Demo
Participate in this demonstration designed to have you uncovering hidden rules.  Then debrief and discuss:

1. What were your expectations when you entered the game?
2. What strategies did you use to uncover the hidden rule?
3. What rules did you consider as you developed hypotheses about the rule?
4. How did you feel if you discovered the rule early?  How did you feel if you struggled to discover the rule?
5. If you discovered the rule early, were you motivated to share it with others?  Why/why not?
6. If you were struggling to discover the rule, how did you feel about those how figured it out early?
7. How did you feel about yourself as you discovered or struggled?
8. What did you notice about others in the circle?  Expressions, engagement, other?
9. How can you connect this to social class?

Could you survive in a different class?
Take the quiz on the Hidden Rules of Social Class.  Debrief:

1. Which class are you best equipped to survive in?
2. Were there any of these skills that stood out or surprised you in any of the classes?
3. How do you think it would feel if you were in a situation where it was assumed that you had the skills of a particular class...and you didn’t?  Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t know the rules?

Hidden Rules of Social Class: Notes and Chart

1. Hidden Rules = unspoken rules, cues or habits that let you know if you do or do not belong
2. Economic class rules based on how stable your life is (more money generally = more stability)
3. Hidden rules are about how well we navigate different situations and understand economic environments different than our own.
4. It is helpful to learn hidden rules in order to improve relationships and resolve conflicts.
5. Hidden rules come directly from the environment in which we live. All of us bring with us the rules.
6. Let’s make some predictions.  For each of the following, predict the hidden values or rules for lower, middle, and upper class.
   1. Personality: What is valued?
   2. Food: What is valued
   3. Education: How is it seen?
   4. Family Structure:  What is it?
   5. Driving Forces: What are they?

Okay, now let’s compare the hidden rules you came up with to the chart created by Dr. Ruby Payne, based on her research.  

1. What did you get right?  What did you get wrong?
2. Which rules does school follow?
3. What happens when you work or study in a place with middle class rules, but you personally are accustomed to the hidden rules of another class?
4. Are you at risk of being judgmental when someone uses one of the hidden rules?  What hidden rules of another class are hard for you accept?  Why?
5. How might these hidden rules cause conflict?
6. Can you come up with a situation in which you have seen the hidden rules of a class hinder someone’s education? Work life? Relationships with another?

Reading Time: Notes on Class
Read and annotate.  Read carefully, looking for complexity! What are the reasons that Americans are uncomfortable talking about class?  

HOMEWORK:

1. Get small sticky notes for annotating books.  DUE: Monday, 9/29​