Critical Reading Reflection of the Book Lives on the Boundary - Essay Example

? CRITICAL READING REFLECTION OF THE BOOK LIVES ON THE BOUNDARY Introduction This essay will discuss the issues dealt with in the book Lives on the Boundary by Mike Rose and will include some direct references to Mike Rose’s story, and the stories of his students. There will also be a critical reflection about my own experiences that connect to the themes in Rose’s text, focussing on some of my experiences in school and in my family. In the book Lives on the Boundary, the author explores the challenges and successes associated with literacy within the American educational system. The author starts by stating that “this is a hopeful book about those who fail.” (Rose, M., 2005 p. xi) and provides an account of the education system in America, so the book can be said to be a book about the hope the author holds for people who may be struggling with the American educational system. He goes on to stipulate that the low level of literacy skills in remedial students is not as a result of lack of intelligence but is rather due to insufficient economic and social conditions to support these students, as well as a history of poor education. The author believes that educators should have more confidence in the literacy abilities of such students and that there must be greater equality as regards educational opportunities in America. This book details the story of how the author learned to read, write and think critically, and how he came to start teaching others to also be able to read, write and think in a critical way. This book can be divided into two sections. The first section discusses the author’s journey as a student, and as a teacher. In this first section Rose learns to read, analyze and write, while engaging critically with text, and making use of language in a correct manner. In the second section, Rose learned how to teach to others these things he had learned as a student. The main connection between these sections is the connection that was made by the author himself about his own experiences. In the book, one can also feel the effect that the author’s teachers had on him. The teachers (Mr.Jonhson, Mr.Macfarland and Dr.Carothers) all affected the author’s experience and influenced his perspective about the issue of teaching. In the book, the author illustrates some examples of the perceived cultural and language barriers that students have to deal with from day to day, and discusses his experiences with students, including high school graduates with reading or writing difficulties. Due to the reading and writing difficulties faced by these students, they are usually branded as remedial students and therefore placed in special classes, regardless of the real causes of their inability to read and write at the predetermined level. These students may go through their school years, and even later into their adult lives bearing this stigma. In the first chapter, rose outlines the main issues about the American educational system, and his prognoses on these issues relegate the reasoning behind his opinions as stated in the book. The history and the policies that led to the ‘back to basics movement’ are also discussed, and it seems that educators and administrators in America believed that American students are a largely illiterate and insufficient group. Although the author does not directly challenge the necessity of examining the social and economic conditions in the educational system, he argues against “framing our indictments in terms of decline, a harsh, laced-with-doom assault, as insisting that our current educational standards do not meet or exceed the supposed perfection of past standards we lose the historical and social realities of American education” (Rose, M., 2005 p. 7). The author also argues against labelling some students as remedial students or punishing those that do not measure up to a false reality of success and advocates a better understanding of the cultural and social conditions that students face. Rose explains that the American society as a whole clings to the notion of equality, but there is hardly any equality in the education sector, as many of the students on the boundaries of literacy originate from racial minorities and different cultures , and the system continues to wear these students down with insulting labels and emphasising on grammar, while ignoring the knowledge and intelligence that these students possess (Rose, M., 2005 p. 91) The author also questioned the prevailing methods of teaching literacy to underprepared students, and analyses the faults inherent in a skill curricula that is basically focused on grammar and usage. The author believes that basic writers should be encouraged to engage in meaningful and constructive composition that draws on critical thinking. I connected with the author’s experiences and his advice to our emphasis on discourse communities in the First Year Learning Communities program. It is important to ensure an understanding of the discourse community, and how the community functions in teaching students how to navigate their new environment in the course of their academic endeavours. The author analyses some student experiences (as well as his own) as they come into contact with new discourse communities and attempt to learn how to navigate and master them. He describes his students as “strangers in a strange land when they first enter into their new environment, uncertain of their surroundings and even more uncertain of their new and expected roles in school.” (Rose, M., 2005 p. 142). He also points out that it is easy for fledgling academics to forget that they once sat in the same chairs as these students, ‘uncertain of their own place in the academic surroundings’. He then goes ahead to emphasise the importance of offering students a safe learning environment as they become acclimated to their new academic settings, relating this situation with a traveller who finds himself in a foreign country. The author also discusses his work with a Veteran’s Program and the students, noting that “these students possessed long and complex life histories, and they were trying to reclaim a place in the classroom they once lost or never had.” (Rose, M., 2005 p.146). This shows the kind of difficulties faced by military veterans, and by students who have had a difficult home life which leads to the belief that they may be losing out on school education. As Rose notes in the book, “The curriculum in Developmental English breeds a deep social and intellectual isolation from print.” (Rose, M., 2005 p. 211) Rose also writes that higher education institutions look upon a research as “the coin of realm” and that “research universities are awful places for freshmen to be adrift.” (Rose, M., 2005 p. 204). One area of institutional culture change that I find interesting involves the issue of teachers who teach students a ‘sloppy second’ and the remedying of underprepared students perceived to be lower on the ladder of importance. I believe that teachers should strive to create a desire and a love for learning in their students. One way this can be achieved is by the teachers beginning to ‘live their knowledge’ which entails teaching by example. Thus, this living by example becomes a ‘set of tools which the teachers can use. (Rose, M., 2005 p.58), and is a main aspect of a classical tradition in teaching that the author seems to endorse in this book. Initially, when I first started reading this book, I had some difficulty understanding the issues about remedial reading and writing courses as explained in the book, but I later realised that the main area that educators must emphasise is the potential of the learner. It must be noted that the students’ potential to learn is expected to continue changing as the students progress in learning. As Rose notes, “students will usually float up to their teacher’s set marks” (Rose, M., 2005 p. 26). Thus, the teacher is responsible for setting the boundaries of classroom procedures as well as the standards expected from the students and then go on to lead the students to those set goals and encourage them to surpass those. Mike Rose’s analysis of the American meritocracy system in education is quite passionate and thought-provoking. Rose believes that in the American educational system, this meritocracy is sustained and validated by a deep-rooted belief in equal opportunities in the educational system is a false assumption. In many instances students are not given equal opportunity in education due to their lack of participation in primary education as a result of evaluation and categorisation. Students are judged and categorised at a very tender age, and this categorisation immediately affects the type of education that the students receive, and the student’s perceived intellectual ability. “Learning needs to be a challenge and thus exciting, though never entertaining. A new textbook or curriculum with the same methods isn’t challenging, it’s just new material. Students who cannot write usually just need practice and guidance. Students who do not like writing usually just need to be given a different assignment. Students are people, and every person just wants to find a place in society. If nothing else, each student wants to find a place in your classroom. The quest for knowledge starts with a personal connection. And, personally, I think we need to steer away from a fear of failure toward a hope for progress.” (Rose, M., 2005 p. 26) The author notes that many remedial students “open their textbooks and see once again the familiar and impenetrable formulas and diagrams and terms that have stumped them for years. The uncertainty grows slowly into defeat which then snowballs into a paralyzing fear and inability to continue past this point, which has already been labelled as remedial, and therefore, lesser.” (Rose, M., 2005 p. 31). In this book, the author attempts to mix narrative genres with academic genres, although I believe there was room for him to describe more about his life challenges, as more information may have been available to a reader if the text had been more academic. In the course of reading this book, I have been able to relate personally to the author’s narration of his experiences, growing from a student into a graduate student and then becoming a teacher. The author discusses his experiences, as well as those of various students as they come into contact with new discourse communities and try to learn how to navigate and master the new discourse communities that they encounter. He also describes his students as “strangers in a strange land when they first enter into these new communities, uncertain of their surroundings and even more uncertain of their new and expected roles.” (Rose, M., 2005 p. 142). Another valuable point which in this book is the analysis of some mistakes that students will usually make in the course of learning the language of the academy and the way to engage in discussions about such issues effectively. In the course of reading this book, I connected with the author’s initial view about teaching, as he adopts a role that is process-oriented. The author also discussed the idea of “composing a twisted sentence, which indicated arrest at some cognitive-linguistic stage of development.” (Rose, M., 2005 p.141) and is of the stance that “remedial programs aim too low for the bigger dreams of students” (Rose, M., 2005 p.141). The author’s suggested methods for the correction of grammar errors in student writing also struck a chord with me. In the book, the author helped a student, Suzette to fix her paper, and was able to correctly ascertain that her literacy problems were rooted in the fact that she was attempting to make her paper fit the conventional notions of college writing. Although the student made grammatical errors, she seemed to be making higher order assumptions in her while writing. This shows that the true cognitive abilities of most students will come forward if they are not discouraged, but when fostered instead. Conclusion In conclusion, I think that the author has done a good job of showing the importance of looking beyond labels of failure and have more hope for those who are failing in the academic system. Through the exploration of the author’s own challenges in life in learning and also teaching others how to read and write, I gathered from this book that one must not judge a book by its cover, or judge people based on our impression during our first meeting. When a student is placed in a certain category, that student will almost certainly find it very hard to escape from the negative intellectual label that has been put on him or her. I connected with the ideas in this book in several ways. I think the author presented the educational debacle in America from a informed and unbiased perspective noting that education can be a double-edged sword of environmental limits or of individual possibilities. (Rose, M., 2005 p. 114). Thus, I believe that teachers must do their best to ascertain the potentials in each student, and the singular set of circumstances that they live within. This would enable the teacher to foster intellectual growth and stimulation in the students. A valuable point which in this book is the analysis of some mistakes that students will usually make in the course of learning the language of the academy and the way to engage in discussions about such issues effectively. I was also able to relate to the authors narration of his life experiences as he went from being a student and graduate student to becoming a teacher. As a learner, I am also going through these roles. Rose notes that graduate study requires a lot of thought about how to develop one’s discipline to its methods, basic texts and exemplary studies. (Rose, M., 2005 p. 196). From the text, I gathered that a graduate student will usually become completely immersed in the discourse of his or her studies and even start to forget about his or “some scholars emerge from graduate school as experts in their field, but not necessarily as educators. (Rose, M., 2005 p. 196) The author questioned the prevailing methods of teaching literacy to underprepared students and the effectiveness of the drill and skill curricula that is basically focused on grammar and usage. The author also believes that basic writers should be encouraged to engage in meaningful and constructive composition that draws on critical thinking. References Rose, Mike. (2005) Lives on the Boundary. New York: Penguin Books. Read More