The school is a great place for the entire spectrum of
Southern culture to be revealed, because children from all walks of life, from every
demographic and socio-economic category all go to the school. So, each type of person
and every quirk of the culture can be represented through the children in one small
classroom. Even better is if the teacher is new to the area, and so must be "initiated"
into the culture, either through direct instruction (as Scout attempts to do), or
through personal experience (as happens when Miss Caroline tries to instruct Burris on
his hygeine).
In the classroom, we get to see the rather
infamous Ewell children first-hand, along with unsavory details about their appearance
and dress. We learn that they only attend the first day of school, so as to avoid the
authorities and their meddling, and that education is of little value to the entire
family; we also learn that their father is a no-good drunk. We also learn all about
Chuck Little, who was also poor, but "was a born gentleman." Then there is Walter
Cunningham, also poor, but with a proud father who refuses governmental help. All of
these different categories of people have their own way of living in the south. Scout
herself tries to inform the naive and uninformed Miss Caroline about the intricate ins
and outs of Maycomb culture, but she doesn't receive it too
well.
The classroom provides first-hand witness to some of
the different social classes that exist in the town, and it does so in an amusing and
harmless way, as a sort of precursor to the more intense and serious action that is to
happen later on in the book. Later, we see these same families behaving in rather
unfortunate ways, and it helps to have a bit of background, through the school, before
those events occur. I hope that helps; good luck!
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