A Comparison of the Views of Mike Rose and Richard Rodriguez on Education

Education means something different for everyone. According to Mike Rose, “a good education helps us make sense of the world and find our way in it” (33). The truth to this is that education affects us in every aspect of our lives. Rose emphasizes the value in the experience of education beyond the value of education for the purpose of custom or intelligence; he explores the purpose of going to school in terms of how he defines himself and his personal growth in the stages of his academic career. In Rose’s exploration of the purpose of school, he also reflects on his personal experiences and how those experiences gave him tools that are applicable to his daily life. Mike Rose’s Why School?: Reclaiming Education for All of Us persuades his audience of the importance of education beyond the classroom, emphasizing how those experiences become crucial to one’s personal growth and potential.

Rose obtained broad learning all around as much academic years. His work consisted of studying psyche and human performance which made the groundwork for Investigation whom his family lived in the blue-collar society. Rose willingly exposes his adolescence to illustrate an approach that shows the multifaceted nature of such jobs, furthermore that it is much more than physical work. Rose Additionally endeavors that just because you come from a blur-collar life does not put a limit on success, and a quest for higher learning.

Education has always been an important part of our sustainable society in which everyone plays a role. The purpose of the education system is to provide a way for students to learn and gain knowledge. The current education system focuses more on evaluations rather than teaching, which creates a stressful and unpleasant high school experience. Alfie Kohn’s essay, How Not to Get into College: The Preoccupation with Preparation describes the difficulties and purposeless school practices students face when preparing themselves for life beyond high school.

In his writing The Achievement of Desire, Richard Rodriguez describes his pursuit of academic achievement as a way to distance himself from his family as well as his cultural roots: “… A primary reason for my success in the classroom was that I couldn’t forget that school was changing me and separating me from the life

Alison Kong EN 102 The education system in America is broken according to “Lives on the Boundary” by Mike Rose. In this excerpt Mike Rose gives the audience a greater understanding about the decline of the education system. Rose gives examples of how and why education should be equal for everyone. Also, that the importance of great books and a proper curriculum is very significant to our education system. Rose further explains to his audience that these “Great Books” don’t contain real experiences that students could eventually come across during their time at school.

Rose tells us that “It took two buses to get to Our Lady of Mercy.” When placed in classes at Mercy school, “forms and releases and assessments” had to be filled out and taken, as well as “tests . . . for placement.” Rose explains that in some way his results got mixed up with another student by the last name of Rose. Rose says that “The other Rose apparently didn’t do very well” and he had to suffer the consequences of the child that had the same last name and was placed into the vocational track. Vocational track, says Rose, was “a euphemism for the bottom level.”

Ever since Richard Rodriguez stepped into the world of education, he had a thirst for knowledge. Also, at a very young age, Richard began to see a divide between the two most important aspects of his life, his family and his education. Through out the essay, “The Achievement of Desire”, Rodriguez describes himself as a “scholarship boy” and defines the term as one who is a good student, but a troubled son. After reading “The Achievement of Desire”, Rodriguez explains through his personal experiences with education that there is a conflicting relationship between school and family. Rodriguez tries to convey a very important message to students that are similar to him in that there is a balance of education and family and without either, happiness

While reading Too Cool for School by Ellis Cose I have became aware of various aspects of my ‘schooling’ experience. I realized that I may not have had the best schooling experience, but I never pushed up against the system to get any better. Throughout my life I have attended over 10 schools some very high end others bottom of the barrel. Like Cose, I always knew my intellectual abilities, but I was always so dissatisfied with my situation I didn't make the best of it. Instead of soaking up as much knowledge as possible and making a lesson out of my situation I became complacent. I started to slack off and allow myself to become stagnant to what I knew my abilities were. I allowed myself to be a product of my environment when I should I have

But their needs are tended by their teachers which for them is to be able to find themselves are reflected through their course readings and other instructional materials that are provided in school (DeZolt).To have academic and social achievement early school years are the basic figures for future academic, and professional accomplishment for all students. Society must let the people have the freedom to learn while gaining the knowledge and experience, but having the wrong authority that controls the way people think is a step away from improving the economic process.

Low self-esteem and low educational expectations for themselves is a sure sign (Eckstem,1987; Rumberger, 1983). Ambient emotions are signs and they consist of fear, anxiety, and boredom (Connell, 1990). One of the subjects, Joey, understood the importance of learning and school, however, he did what was culturally right for him (Willis, 1977). Student’s seem to think that social context such as family support and school environment has a direct influence on self-system and then it leads to affecting the student’s action (Connell, 1990). Many of the risk factors that are examined are self-esteem, locus of control, and educational expectations (Dyaski, Gleason, 2002). Studies have shown that students with low literacy skills tend to have lower grades and that leads to disengagement (Pinkus, 2008). If teachers have high expectations to the point students cannot seem to meet them they become discouraged and disengaged (Pinkus, 2008). Noticing when a student is not getting enough praise or effective praise is important because this can cause students to draw away from school. (Hallinan, 2008). Failing grades in core courses is a sign (Pinkus, 2008). Feelings of being ignored, misunderstood, devalued, and disrespected are hard signs to see, however, extremely important ones (Pinkus, 2008). Students can be affected by many things, teachers need to try to determine whether it is a sign or if the student is just having a bad day. Some things that may affect a student

Over course of their education, students quickly transition into the frame of mind that will allow them to find success through their educational career. Beginning very simply, assignments must be in on time. In addition, they must be perfect. Perfection leads to an ‘A,’ and an ‘A’ is equivalent to superiority. This is the only way to find success in a system that so encourages competition. With this, however, also comes severe pressure that weighs down on students like a few dozen anchors and keeps them from drifting one way or another. The options for the struggling student are rarely just to try harder. With the increasing disapproval, they are to give up because they are not going to amount to much more. Their grades pinpoint them as expendable beings, unintelligent, and all they do is impair the schooling system. Their childhood dream of being a teacher is eradicated by this simple progression of discouragement. Richard Rodriguez, in his essay entitled The Achievement of Desire, also acknowledges the factory he’s been run through, and the negative way that it has affected his development in life. He speaks of the detachment from his home life which he believes to have been the direct result of both education’s intensity and the desire to achieve. As it is, school will only allow us to thrive upon predetermined thoughts and ideas thus ensuring that we disregard the freedom to achieve a success more abstract than what can be captured on paper.

Over course of their education, students quickly adapt into the frame of mind that will allow them to find success through their educational career. Beginning very simply, assignments must be in on time, and in addition, they must be perfect, because we know that perfection leads to an ‘A,’ and an ‘A’ is equivalent to superiority. This is the only way to find success in a system that so encourages competition. With this, however, also comes severe pressure that weighs down on students like a few dozen anchors, keeping them from drifting one way or another. The options for the struggling student are not often to try harder, but with the increasing disapproval, they are to give up because they are not going to amount to much more. Their grades pinpoint them as expendable beings, unintelligent, and all they do is impair the schooling system. Their childhood dream of being a teacher is eradicated by this simple progression of discouragement. Richard Rodriguez, in his essay entitled The Achievement of Desire, also acknowledges the factory he’s been run through, and the negative way that it has affected his development in life. He speaks of the detachment from his home life, which he believes to have been the direct result of both education’s intensity, and to his essay’s namesake, the desire to achieve. As it is, school will only allow us to thrive upon predetermined thoughts and ideas, ensuring that we disregard the freedom to achieve a success more abstract than what can be

This constant connection between the school and the parent poses a detrimental yet potent threat to the student’s overall development. The establishment of such a connection leaves little to no responsibility for the student to claim, and considering the fact that school maintains a major role in the child’s early periods, the student is completely deprived from responsibility in his/her life. Claiming responsibility during one’s childhood builds certain necessary attributes and traits that contributes to the overall development of the individual, of which may include but is not limited to integrity, love and respect, and determined motivation. Such a deprivation results in weak

“Go to school and learn, or else you will not be successful”. This is a well-established proclamation in my family; dating backing several years. At an early age my mother often stressed to my sister and I, the importance of grades and background of superb report cards in the family. So I viewed school as a twelve-year job interview rather than a learning institution where I could academically and mentally grow. Over the years I experienced most of my personal growth outside of school but my life in education taught me several tips on how to be successful in our current school system. I could craft a mile-long list of the differences between my experiences in the different levels of education, but there is a single prevailing objective found in all of my schools; obtain excellent grades in order to be shipped off to the next level of education. So I am going breakdown how I became truly proficient in the game of school by my experiences in elementary, middle and high school.

The presentation my colleagues and I presented on November 9, 2015, generated ardent and argumentative issues surrounding the intricate educational conundrum: What are the effects of the home environment and parental attitudes on student learning? In our presentation, we examined two contrasting views. Are there real limits to what teachers and educational institutions can accomplish? Or are teachers the most stable component in a young person’s life? These opposing perspectives were demonstrated through an introductory skit which set the tone for the rest of the presentation.