Mike Rose: The Labeling Theory Of Education

Rose writes about his high school educational experiences after he is inadvertently placed in vocational education when the results from his placement tests are confused with another student named Rose. Vocational education is a "euphemism for the bottom level." Rose went to school at a time when tracking, or sorting students by the results of placement tests was common in public education. Rose recounts his experiences in vocational education in order to elaborate on the problems of such system. The author calls the vocational track "a place for those who are just not making it, a dumping ground for the disaffected." To further aggravate Rose's situation his parents lack the capacity or understanding of the educational system in order to question his inappropriate placement. "How would someone like Tommy Rose, with his two years of Italian schooling, know what to ask? And what sort of pressure could an exhausted waitress apply? The error went undetected, and I remained in the vocational track for two years." However the most significant issue raised

In “I Just Wanna Be Average”, Mike Rose talks of his high school experience. He test was accidentally switched with another student and placed in vocational classes because of the lower scores on the test. This included a lower level English class, business math, and typing. Rose talks about his classes and his teachers he had and their lack of enthusiasm. The students he was now surrounded by liked to fight, and were even bullied by gym teachers.

In the city of Los Angeles is Fremont High School, and unlike most schools in the country, this one runs on a three-track schedule, meaning that it is open year round with short numerous breaks throughout the year. The school contains 3,300 students in attendance year round and being that the school is lacking in funds and hindering the students from following their dreams, this is very impactful on a large amount of people beause it lacks also preparation for college. In the article, “Fremont High School”, Jonathan Kozol examines the conditions of Fremont High School from the perspective of the students, and teachers alike. He uses statistics that have been submitted to the courts during depositions and student recounts of activity. Jonathan Kozol uses persuasive techniques such as ethos, logos, and pathos in the article, “Fremont High School”, to persuade the audience, members of society, that they can help by providing funds, because of the lack of funding it has caused a disservice to the students, causing students to struggle with following their dreams.

B.2.a. Within this video, the teacher took her students on a field trip to observe citizens and gauge how the rights showed individualism in America. It made them aware of stereotyping. This supports students learning about cultural diversity by showing how others were treated in history. In student reflection forms, students wrote about how color should not matter when interacting with others. People can be a good person even if they aren’t religious or believe the same way as themselves. The teacher taught the students that everyone is different and that we need to look for and identify the good qualities of others. This was an effective way to teach the students because they became more aware of the way they acted toward others.

At Hazelwood High School, they do things differently than at my school. At Hazelwood, most of the people worry about themselves and nobody else. Most of the school doesn’t get good grades and the school does not do anything about it. One day in English class Andy walked out when they were reading Macbeth because it was too emotional for Andy to handle. His friends were concerned and told the school counselor. They said, “But… but… it seems like… like… he needs help or somethin’.” Then the counselor said, “Well, I probably shouldn’t tell you boys this, but he is getting some outside counseling… So you boys can relax and be assured that he is getting whatever help he needs”(100). At Harrisburg High School, if someone had an issue like that, the counselors and teachers would be concerned, even if the person was getting outside help. Another thing about education that is different than mine is the school. In Ronda’s English homework, she wrote, “Our school building must have been built about a million years ago, because it was brown and tall and raggedy-looking, but it fit right in with the rest of the day”(16). At my high school, we are very fortunate to have a very new building to learn inside of. At Hazelwood High, they were not fortunate enough to have a new high school be built. Culture and education are very important pieces of people’s

There were many diverse aspects to this book. Most of this book is a recall from either the main character, or one of his students. This book is intended to open people’s eyes to see that in order to change the world we must first change ourselves. Being able to go through this story and see the mistakes, and the good decisions, teachers in Michie’s life have made, has taught me that the best way to teach is through love, justice, cultural empathy and imagination. Some of the points brought up in this book include the positive and negative sides of physical contact with a student, classification/stereotyping, race, gangs, police brutality/lack of justice, and children not being able to escape peer pressure.

Rose first explains how the educational system classifies a child’s class. He then proceeds to elaborate on how the vocational class works for those who do not do as well in school. He uses pathos so the reader feels emotional for the less fortunate student in the vocational class. Rose conveys his beliefs by using personal examples. He learns true qualities of people and shares the stories of Dave Snyder, Ted Richard, and Ken Harvey. Sharing the personal indications of what puts the students in the vocational class, gives the reader the notion that they have strengths that do not apply doing well in school. Rose ties the examples together in the end to confirm his opinion that one should never settle being defined as average.

In the story “I Just Wanna Be Average” the author Mike Rose argues that society very often neglects and doesn’t see the full value and potential of students.

Many are quick to disregard education’s role outside of the classroom. According to Mike Rose, “a good education helps us make sense of the world and find our way in it” (Rose 33). 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. By reflecting on his personal experiences and how those gave him the tools applicable to his daily life, he emphasizes why education should never be overlooked. Rose’s use of referencing relatable experiences in a logical manner makes his argument persuasive to the readers and he succeeds in making the readers reconsider why education matters to them. Mike Rose’s Why School?: Reclaiming Education for All of Us effectively persuades his audience of the importance of education beyond the classroom, which proves true in our everyday lives because the essential aspect of education is what we do with it and how it helps develop one’s personal growth.

I am aware that there are better and worse high schools out there than Fremont High School. And yet, reading Kozol's account of the terrible conditions that are endured by these students made me feel more aware of the severity of improper or inadequate education that poorly funded schools provide. All of these problems, alongside my awareness of my fortunate years of education, make me wonder, just as Mireya did, as to why, "...[students] who need it so much more get so much less?" (Kozol 648). Interestingly, I have little to comment on Kozol's actual writing style, even though he wrote this account of his. I was just so attached to the characters within that school that I wanted to be able to reach out somehow; Kozol definitely achieved something very touching here.

(Newman and Pedulla, 2010). This number is twice as much as whites. Even if they had a job, many African Americans work for the low quality jobs. This means low levels of income relatively whites. And also nearly 50% of the wage differences between blacks and whites result from the racial discrimination. (Greene and Rogers, 1994). So, we can say that discrimination of wages between blacks and whites play a key role to determinate the income status of blacks. Also underemployment is serious as unemployment for many Americans especially for African Americans, because generally they work in that kind of positions. In March, almost 6 percent of workers had worked part time involuntary jobs. (Newman and Pedulla, 2010).

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.

There has been a constant fall in unemployment amongst black people. Society and their stereotypes about black people have a lot to do with it. Discrimination is also a reason. Millions of African Americans live in communities that lack access to good jobs and good schools and suffer from high crime rates. African American adults are about twice as likely to be unemployed as whites, black students delay their white peers in educational completion and achievement, and African American communities tend to have higher than average crime rates. These issues have been persistent problems. I chose to write on this issue because I am a black female that will be seeking employment and I am concerned about the wellbeing of my future.

African Americans are the topic I selected, born in Brooklyn New York the year of 1963, where skin color never mattered to me while living in a melting pot where people from all nationalities migrated. Equally important, I am proud of the accomplishments and strides African Americans have pushed to achieve. On the positive side, I find the good in everyone and believe every American has something to offer in displaying their gifted talents. Provided that, I could be bitter to other races from an incident that happened over forty years ago while visiting my grandparents in Northampton County North Carolina. My grandfather drove us to the local store, as soon as I got out the car with my mom, a little Caucasian girl spit on me, my mom just

Over the last eight weeks, we have visited and deeply discussed many topics that surround social justice in the classroom. These topics have ranged from social justice in the world to how to create a socially just classroom and everything in between. In class, there has been a few times where it has been uncomfortable because the topics can bring out many opinions in the room. Many people in the room shared their opinions, including me, which brought up many other discussions. In this essay, I will be discussing our navigations through the social justice issues that classrooms face by talking about the key points of our class throughout the last eight weeks.