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The role of environment on children
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The role of environment on children
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In the stories, I Just Wanna To Be Average, by Mike Rose and The Achievement of Desire, by Richard Rodrigez, a timeline of their educational progress is exposed. Both are the offspring of minimally educated immigrant parents. Who’s families settled into the working-class of California. Without having their parents as scholastic role models, Rose and Rodriguez had to find their own way through the education systems. Despite the lack of supportive social conditions, both Rodriguez and Rose were inspired to surpass the status quo expectations environmentally bestowed upon them.
Mike Rose, who wrote I Just Wanna Be Average, started his schooling with a bleak future. His lower class immigrant parents hoped that sending their son to Our Lady Mercy would put him on the track to success and surpass all of his family member’s level of education. Rose shares, “No one in the family had gone to college; only two of my uncles had completed high school” (166). Unfortunately, Rose ended up in the vocational program. A program that groomed students, not for college, but to better assimilate into the working-class. The vocational track is one that does not pave the way for a bright future. Its graduating class is comprised of underachievers who lack motivation and have no desire to get ahead. The same could be said about Mercy’s staff. Rose paints a picture of his educators by mentioning, “Civics was taken over by a football coach who had trouble reading the textbook aloud --and reading aloud was the centerpiece for his pedagogy” (163). Surrounded by stubbornly dense students, and less then enthusiastic teachers Mike Rose seemed to not have a chance.
Much like Rose did not have the support of an educated role model within his school pr...
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... shaped him, Rodriguez explains, ”Without extraordinary determination and the great assistance of others --at home and at school -- there is little chance for success” (197). Being able to take the lack of support from his family and be grateful for the roll it played in his personal quest for knowledge is something to be admired.
Although coming from different backgrounds, Mike Rose and Richard Rodriguez share a similar passion and lust for knowledge. They both used inspirations and determination to break out of a mold their family history created. Even though their means to academic success differed, the character gained from their individual experiences allowed for a change. Luckily both of these stories have a happy ending. One where both the “average joe” and the “scholarship boy” can overcome preconceived expectations and become who they want to become.
While staring back into the faces of small children much like his younger self, Rodriguez starts to run through points of his life where the need to know more pushed him further from his family and their norms and culture. Mainly focusing on the bright future an education offers him, he continues to knowingly distance himself from his family. Douglass went through similar situations on his path for education. Focusing on his chance for freedom, with no family ties to distance
Often the change and transition to middle is a difficult one for students, so it is no surprise that a student of Juanita’s caliber would be having trouble as well. Her regular middle school teachers were not going above and beyond to make sure Juanita succeed, if anything it seemed as if Juanita was a burden to them. If it was not for the Ms. Issabelle’s effort, Juanita would have failed the 6th grade, and possibly fell through the cracks of the education system.
Even from an early age, Rodriguez is a successful student. Everyone is extremely proud of Rodriguez for earning awards and graduating to each subsequent level of his education. But all his success was not necessarily positive. In fact, we see that his education experience is a fairly negative one. One negative that Rodriguez endures is his solitude. Education compels him to distance himself from his family and heritage. According to Richard Hoggart, a British education theorist, this is a very natural process for a scholarship boy. Hoggart explains that the ?home and classroom are at cultural extremes,? (46). There is especially an opposition in Rodriguez?s home because his parents are poorly educated Mexicans. His home is filled with Spanish vernacular and English filled with many grammatical errors. Also, the home is filled with emotions and impetuosity, whereas the classroom lacks emotion and the teachers accentuate rational thinking and reflectiveness.
Instead of loving and caring for her baby, and forgetting about Danny, she became worse than him. Rodriguez presents many aspects of the minority class that live in the United States, specifically the South Bronx. Even though the cases presented in Rodriguez’s short stories are difficult to mellow with, they are a reality that is constant in many lives. Everyday someone goes through life suffering, due to lack of responsibility, lack of knowledge, submission to another entity or just lack of wanting to have a better life. People that go through these situations are people who have not finished studying, so they have fewer opportunities in life.
In their respective life journey, both Wes Moores often found them facing with some hard choices or decision to make or standing at a crossroads of life change without knowing which way to turn. Therefore, “for all of us who live in the most precarious places in this country, our destinies can be determined by a single stumble down the wrong path or a tentative step down the right one” (Moore xiv). During their early childhood, both Wes Moores struggle at school and had troubles with the law. However, for the author Wes Moore, attending the military school was the biggest turning point in his life. Aware of his mother’s determination, his family’s sacrifice, and encouragement from classmates and instructors as well as the influence of role models, the author Wes Moore finally made up his mind that he wanted to succeed in the military school. At the end, the author Wes Moore fulfilled his dream and did well academically from then on. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore had tumbled on a series of missteps along the road: dropping out of school, getting involved with drug trade, committing violent crimes, and being a father of four when he was so young and immature. Even though there was a time when he tried to reinvent himself: joining the Job Corp, getting a high school diploma, and finding some decent jobs, the reality and his making-quick-money mentality eventually brought him back to the original path with no return. At last, by committing an armed robbery that left a police officer dead, the other Wes Moore irreversibly drove himself to the dead end of life. Obviously, based on their early life experiences, both Wes Moores would have gone the same route to failure. Nevertheless, at some critical points of their lives, the author Wes Moore made some good choices with intervention and guidance of good people while the other Wes Moore lost his footing under undue
Rose graduated from Loyola University with BA, then went to University of Southern California for his Master, then continue to get his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. Rose has a lot of educational experience, he himself is a teacher at UCLA Graduate School of Education. Rose wrote countless books about educational reform books like Possible lives(1997), The Mind at Work(2006), and Back to School why Everyone Deserves Second Chance at Education(2012). Rose doesn 't seen to want to stop writing books any time soon. His education does give him credibility but not as much as his personal experience in a program that deem to set student to fail before they have the change to
Students encounter many complications during their school career. Some students are smart, but just don’t apply themselves, or have similar hardships that are going on in their lives. These can be fixed if one can find motivation and confidence. In the story “Zero,” Paul Logan coasts through high school and college. Logan doesn’t know the tools to succeed in school, which causes his grades to fall. In the story “The Jacket,” Gary Soto explains how the way one dresses can influences how they feel about themself. Which in this case he gets an ugly jacket; which causes him to be depressed and his grades to fall. Albeit Logan and Soto went through similar hardships, they both succeed with motivation and confidence.
...ild, when he would hide and daydream, up until his first years of college, when he would avoid areas that were difficult, the author recognized that there was important link between challenging the student on a meaningful level and the degree to which the student eventually produced. “I felt stupid telling them I was… well – stupid.” (Rose 43) Here, Rose shows an example of how poor preparation and low standards in the classroom can make a student feel inadequate. Indeed, one can see how many things seemingly unrelated do affect a student’s ability to learn.
Returning to his old high school after having had graduate ten years ago, Shamus Rahman Khan came in with one goal: to study the inequality of a school that claims to be more “diverse.” St. Paul’s School located in Concord, New Hampshire claims to have become more diverse over the years, accepting people of different racial backgrounds and social classes to their prestigious boarding school. However, as described in his book, Khan found that this claim made by the school is false. He also found out that the elite that used to attend his school is not the same as the elite attending it now. Nonetheless, it was the elite that were succeeding because they were the ones who could afford the school, had family linages that already attended the school, and mastered “ease” which made them privileged in society. Separating his book into five different chapters, each focusing on a different topic that helps support his claim, Khan describes this change in elite and the inequality that still accompanies St. Paul’s. In the introduction to Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School, Khan states the three most important points he will refer to during the rest of the book: hierarchies are natural and can be used to one’s advantage, experiences matter more than inherited qualities, and the elite signal their status through ease and openness. These are discussed thoroughly in throughout Privilege.
“Fremont High School” an essay written by Jonathan Kozol presents a high school in need of transformation and support with educational advancement. Kozol writes about the limited educational opportunities available to the students that attend this lower class institution. Kozol addresses the overcrowding of this institution and lack of consistent staffing. The purpose of Kozol 's essay is to illustrate that lack of opportunity based on social class is an active crisis in the United States educational system, whereas addressing this crisis in the essay, Kozol would hope to achieve equal opportunities available to all socioeconomic class institutions.
Some people may believe that education all over the United States is equal. These people also believe that all students no matter their location, socioeconomic status, and race have the same access and quality of education, but ultimately they are wrong. Throughout history, there has been a huge educational disparity between the wealthy and marginalized communities. The academic essay “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by Jean Anyon, an American critical thinker and researcher in education, conveys that depending on the different economic backgrounds students have, they will be taught in a specific way. He reveals that the lower economic background a child has then the lower quality their education will be and the higher their economic background is the higher quality their education is. Anyon’s theory of a social ladder is extremely useful because it sheds light on the
My story began on a cool summer’s night twenty short years ago. From my earliest memory, I recall my father’s disdain for pursuing education. “Quit school and get a job” was his motto. My mother, in contrast, valued education, but she would never put pressure on anyone: a sixty-five was passing, and there was no motivation to do better. As a child, my uncle was my major role-model. He was a living example of how one could strive for greatness with a proper education and hard work. At this tender age of seven, I knew little about how I would achieve my goals, but I knew that education and hard work were going to be valuable. However, all of my youthful fantasies for broader horizons vanished like smoke when school began.
Through this essay Richard Rodriguez writes about his experiences as a son, and as a student. Through his relationship with his parents the reader can see how Rodriguez was separating for his
...a portion of the earned income to family, easing their crisis by a bit, I undertook more responsibilities. However, by continuing to maintain straight A's in school, I did not allow financial difficulties impede success. Even when 12th grade lurked around and a realistic me knew that a costly university education stood far away from my grasp due to financial difficulties, I continued to stand out in school. For succeeding despite facing a myriad of hurdles, I stand out among the majority of applicants.
“People knew I was different. But not less.” Temple Grandin understood what she had, but she knew she was not less than anyone else. She did what anyone else could do. She knew she could push through everyday, no matter how hard and how long it took. Temple is not different, but she is unique! “We’re focusing so much on academics that we’ve taken out things like, art, sewing, cooking, woodworking, music, and other things that introduce kids to careers.” Temple Grandin is trying to explain and tell the world that it is not all about academics. She had the tremendously strong willpower to prove that what she was thinking was actually right. She wanted people to stop worrying about all academics and more about the arts, sports, and the creativity of all of it. Because if not, only the few students that excel at academics are