Analysis of I Just Wanna Be Average by Mike Rose - Article Example

? "I Just Wanna Be Average" by Mike Rose Explain the importance of the of this article. This line ‘I just wanna be average’ which caught the author’s eyes was spoken by one of his friends Ken Harvey during vocational education. Students who are not academically good are send for vocational education program, a school where they are imparted basic academic skills considered to be essential for them to be ‘average’ in society. According to Rose, this one line reveals the fact that how the traditional style of the American education system has been continuously divulging from the central values of broadminded and humanistic education. This line clearly explains the inconsistencies between every individual’s actual intellectual capabities and how the education system categorizes and deals with them, forcing students like Ken to defend himself “by taking on with a vengeance the identity implied in the vocational track” (as qtd. in Rose, 1989). 2. According to Rose, how does coming from a working class background shape one's identity? Mike Rose had come from a working class family which had sacrificed a lot to enable their son join a Catholic school in expectation of enhanced education. However, Rose was put in the vocational education by mistake and his parents also could do nothing about it since they had no idea about the standardized education system of America. According to Rose, if a child belongs to the working class in a vocational education, he is treated in a guarded manner. In other words, he is considered‘ slow’ by the school, he is given a curriculum which doesn’t liberates rather restrains him from gaining knowledge and even if some training is provided it is always below the esteem level of the society (Rose, 1989). 3. According to Rose, how do students act "average'? Students who are unable to cope up with the vocation education system often defend themselves by acting “average”. According to Rose, students develop this attitude to escape unobserved through most of the classes in vocational education. These students use this as a coping means since they know about their learning disabilities and those due to lack of a real education will remain the same the rest of their lives. Moreover, these vocational schools triggers them to act ‘average’ because instead of giving them a better education to rectify their disabilities, they provide them a below average education from under-qualified teachers (Rose, 1989). 4. What does Rose mean by "students will float to the mark you set?" By saying “students will float to the mark”, Rose wants to imply that the attitude a teacher carries for the student, the same attitude will be replicated by the students. In other words, if a teacher does not puts any endeavor in teaching the students a lesson, the students will also not put any endeavor in comprehending it. For instance, a teacher who is tedious and delusional and exerts only verbal power cannot teach anything to his students and as a result, the students will also not show any interest and effort towards learning. Higher the willingness and quality of teaching of the teacher, higher will be the degree of outcome of the students (Rose, 1989). 5. What does Jack MacFarland offer Rose that finally helps him learn? MacFarland saw great potential in Rose and swayed him to pursue a college education. It was under the tutelage of MacFarland that Rose developed the passion for learning, reading and writing. The influence of MacFarland helped Rose recognize his true inner self and what he wanted to be. Owing to hard work and the complete support of MacFarland, Rose was finally able to attend college (Rose, 1989). 6. Can you, as a former high school student, relate to any parts of this article? Explain. As a former high school student, I can definitely relate to the hardships that these working class students or those with learning disabilities have to go through. There were numerous students in my school whose parents are financially unstable and had made many sacrifices to send their child to this school. Most of the times these kids are not nicely supported by the teachers and especially those in the vocation education programs. However, I would like to request all educational institutions to provide every student with equal education and care about their learning regardless of their class or status. “The Banking Concept of Education” by Paolo Freire 1. Define the 'banking concept of education' in your own words. The ‘banking concept of education’ is one where the teacher is the authority and the students are mere followers. In this system, the teacher fills the students mind with all the contents and lessons, and the students are merely expected to reiterate the information provided by the former “word to word” in the class, during tests, quizzes and everything that needs an answer. 2. Describe the student-teacher relationship found in the banking style of education. According to Friere, the banking system of education is one where the student-teacher relation is very oppressing and backward. The teacher is the depositor and the students are the depositories. According to Friere, in this system of banking: “the teacher teaches and the students are taught, the teacher knows everything and the student knows nothing, the teacher thinks and the students are thought about, the teacher talks and the students listen-meekly, the teacher disciplines and the student is disciplined, the teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students comply, the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the action of the teacher, the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who were not consulted) adapt to it, the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his or her own professional authority, which she and he sets in opposition to the freedom of the students and, the teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere objects” (as qtd. in Lane, 2006) 3. What are the effects on students of the banking style of education? The students are made to record, learn by rote and replicate the phrases or information imparted to them by their tutors. They don’t develop the ability to observe and comprehend subject matters in the banking system of education. Instead they become similar to empty “receptacles” which are only filled with the knowledge of the subject the teacher is imparting them. The teachers only impart lectures on different subjects instead of telling them the details and the significance of the subject, as a result of which the students feel so estranged from the subject. For instance, they learn ‘four times four is sixteen’, or say, ‘the capital of Para is Bheem’, without actually comprehending what ‘four times four’ mean or what is the true meaning of a ‘capital’. In other words, this system hampers the intellectual development of the students by making them metaphorical speakers, unenergetic receptors and collectors of information, one who have no understanding of the actual world (Michelitti, 2010). 4. State in your own words some of the attitudes and practices of the banking style of education which mirror oppressive society as a whole. It is completely true that the teaching methods in the banking model are very perfunctory and follow the pattern similar to a one-way street. Students are expected to learn the facts and figures by rote so as to achieve success in their courses. These practices are apparent at all ranks of education whether its an elementary school classrooms or, Advanced Placement modules in high school to even numerous study programs at esteemed universities. This system of education persuades students to acknowledge the world as it is, thereby disconnecting the student and the student's awareness from the world, and contributing to oppression. The students are merely deposited with the subject information by the teacher without being allowed to put forward his views on the matter. Such an education where oppressive learning is persuaded will only create an oppressive society (Michelitti, 2010). 5. How is the banking style of education a form of oppression? According to Freire, in the banking system the teachers assume the role of a depositor and the students that of receptors thereby changing humans into substance. The banking concept inflicts a division between the student and the “real world” which causes the apparent death of his or her true perception as they (perceptions) can only be apprehended when a person is able to connect and relate the material to real life. As a result of this system of education, students are deprived of any independence which disables them to reduce and comprehend knowledge at an individual level. The banking style of education is considered a form of oppression because of this primary misinterpretation (Michelitti, 2010). 6. What does Freire offer as a remedy to the banking style? Freire has introduced a “problem-posing” system instead of the banking system. He has advocated an education system where teacher and students will become associates in critical thinking. Problem posing education will emphasis on concepts that have “praxis”, that is, realistic appliance of the concepts and theories learned in classrooms. Students must be able to relate and connect the subject matters they have learned in class to the real world. In addition, Freire believes that absolute understanding can be shaped and produced only by means of communicating, inquiring, and sharing of one’s analysis with all the persons in the classroom. As Freire states, “It [problem-posing education] enables teachers and students to become Subjects of the educational process by overcoming authoritarianism and an alienating intellectualism” (as qtd. in Michelitti, 2010). 7. What experiences have you had with the banking style of education? How might these have affected you? In my years of education, I had come across a number of teachers who simply followed the banking system of education. They definitely had a negative impact on my learning process but due to some wonderful experience with other instructors I was reassured that it was possible to produce a learning environment where students and teachers are mutual partners. It is true that the banking system is still the protocol for many tutors, but there also exist numerous teachers who only work for the enhancement of the students. I am fortunate enough to be under the tutelage of those educators who advocate incorporated learning and equality in student-teacher relationship and I hope such teachers become examples for further spreading this liberal method of education. References Lane, L. (2006). "The Banking Concept of Education": An Essay on Submissive Learning by Paulo Freire. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-banking-concept- education-essay-submissive-32288.html?cat=4 Micheletti, G. (2010). Re-Envisioning Paulo Freire's 'Banking Concept of Education'. Student Pulse, 2(02). Retrieved from http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/171/re- envisioning-paulo-freires-banking-concept-of-education Rose, M. (1989). I just wanna be average. In Lives on the Boundary (pp. 11-27). New York: Penguin Books. Read More