The Book The Mind at Work by Mike Rose - Essay Example

?Other (s) Critical Reading Reflection Introduction The book “The mind at work” by Mike Rose is an interesting piece of work that offers a critical analysis of the contemporary American physical labor drawing on both cognitive psychology and current researches in social sciences. Born in 1944, Mike Rose is one of the greatest American literary scholars widely recognized for his insights into the struggles and challenges of working class Americans. Drawing from his personal experience, interviews, family memory and observational data, the author has effectively conveyed intellectual and emotional forces that are often associated with any form of physical work. Throughout his book, Rose discusses a number of social and intellectual biases that are often associated with human intelligence and various professions. From waiters, carpenters, teachers to doctors, the author strongly believes that there is no such a thing as unskilled labor. In the literary context, the author uses the term agency to refer to the ability and decisions of individuals to apply their intelligence, skills and ability to change a given situation or make a difference. In this regard, agency simply describes the utilization of ones skills and intelligence to realize their future goals in life. Generally the author’s concept of agency primarily targets the youths. According to Rose “young people are at a stage where they are gradually realizing the significance of work in their future lives, how it will shape who they are as well as what they do in the world. They are desperate to become somebody, have a grasp of the forces affecting them and to possess agency and competence.”(186).This prompt suggests that individuals often exhibit agency through hard work, determination and sense of independence. In my own experiences particularly with regard to my school life, I have realized that one has to make a number of sacrifices in order to achieve personal ambitions and goals. This paper discusses my own critical reflection on the concept of agency in work, education and career particularly in relation to how the concept has been presented in the book “The mind at work”. Agency in education Agency In education is largely concerned with the capacity of individuals to act for purposes of achieving their educational goals. Education is critically important to every individual because it provides the necessary tools through which a person can used to achieve other goals in life. In his boo “The mind at work”, Rose uses the story of Uncle Joe to demonstrate how lack of agency in education can impact on our lives. Joe simply dropped out of school and decided to join his father’s profession because he lacked sufficient human agency required to enable him succeed in his education (Rose, 121). This is probably attributed to the fact that being from an immigrant community who experienced difficulties getting white collar jobs, it is likely that Joe did not have adequate personal motivation to pursue his education. In my experience, there was a time my mother was unable to raise my school fees. I was so desperate to succeed in my education that I decided to seek part time work in a local factory in order to pay my school fees. Although it was sometimes difficult to manage my part time job with my academic programs, I happily continued with the work until I successfully completed by studies. To my educational success was a clear evidence of agency in school. Agency in Life/Family The quest to achieve success in life or family is largely dependent on the conviction of one’s agency as well as the potential benefit they are likely to get in their personal or professional development. Without the strong conviction to achieve competency and success in life, we are more likely to be overwhelmed by obstacles. In his attempt to bring out the concept of agency in life or family, Rose (25) describes how his mother worked hard in a series of restaurants as a waitress to keep their family from poverty when his father became sick and died. Rose suggests that just like other jobs, the work of a waitress is a challenging task that requires many skills such as social relations, memory, knowledge, attention and decision making abilities. In this regard, it can be argued that Rose’s mother was only able to overcome numerous challenges and bring success to her family through her agency. In my experience, I have developed a habit of reminding myself of my ability to act and change the course my life or family. For example, having been brought up with a single mother, I realized in my teenage years that my mother could not provide for all our needs however much she worked. As a result I decided to work as a part time casual attendant in a local grocery. I particularly used to work in the evenings after school and together with my mother, we were able to provide for the whole family and take my younger siblings to school. My decision was motivated by my desire to change the course of my life and as well as my family. I eventually realized that agency is critically important for the success of one’s life or family. Agency in work Agency in work is often demonstrated in the resolve of individual workers and employees to use their experiences, knowledge and skills to make a difference in their work place. Work is indirectly linked with career because the type of work an individual chooses to do will set the pattern of his/her career. Rose highlights numerous occasions in which he witnessed individuals who were able to achieve significant success at their workplaces through agency in work. For example, Rose (61) talks of a woman who was used to say that she works through her fingers. This was because she enjoyed gardening and other hand related jobs so much that such activities became part of her mental exertion. I have in numerous occasions witnessed similar situations which clearly demonstrated to me the significance of agency in work. For example, although my sister received a meager salary from her first job as a nurse, she was so passionate about her job that she could literary dream her work at night. She turned down numerous job offers which were evidently paying higher salaries simply because she was so passionate about helping people and nursing is the only work that provided her with such an opportunity. There were instances when she stayed late at her workplace even when the rest of the workers had gone home. She practically enjoyed her work and excelled in her job so well that the management eventually decided to promote her to be the director of her department. She has continued to excel in her work and has in numerous occasions received a number of awards for exemplary performance. Agency in Career Every student always dreams of a successful career may provide them with an opportunity to tackle new challenges every day and eventually help them in finding a purpose or meaning for their existence. The author argues that although education is important, many people only continue with education as a way of achieving success in their careers. For example, in the Uncle Joe’s story, Joe dropped out of school because he simply had the desire to follow the career of his father (Rose, 121). I believe that agency is critically important in career success because it enables individuals to develop a mindset and belief that they have the power to impact, change and make choices that can positively influence their career success. In my personal experience, I have witnessed numerous occasions where my past career growth was primarily attributed to my inner drive and quest for success. For example, since my childhood, I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur. Despite facing numerous financial challenges, my individual sense of agency has enabled me to recover from every setback and move towards my career success. I realized that although I did not have the required capital to start my business, I had a choice to sit back and watch my dreams wither or change something. After visiting several banks and discussing my financial limitations with a number of friends and was eventually lucky to find a family fiend who offered to borrow me the amount that I needed for the business start up. My entrepreneurship success was primarily because instead of waiting for conditions to improve, I chose to work towards the improvement my career. In summary, as opposed to the concept of free will, agency is based on the idea that success happens as a coincidence and therefore we should always use our intelligence, skills and experiences to make the right choices. In career, agency is simply the belief that you are the drive of your life and therefore can change the course of your career success. On the other hand, individuals who do not have strong sense of human agency often fail to achieve their full potential in their career growth and other aspects of life. Conclusion In conclusion, drawing from my experiences, I concur with the authors’ argument that agency is critically important and as a result many people often desperate to have a grasp of the forces affecting their lives, families and careers. In my opinion, every individual has a moral duty to be responsible for every decision they make. This is particularly because human urgency is closely correlated with our and intelligence and therefore plays a central role in providing a person with a more efficient strategy of addressing a particular problem. Consequently without agency, most of us may not be able to overcome the numerous challenges we constantly face in our careers, families, education and life. I therefore suggest that every individual particularly the young people should be given an opportunity to fully make their own decisions regarding their various aspects of their lives. Works Cited Rose, Mike. The Mind at Work: Valuing the Intelligence of the American Worker. New York: Viking, 2004. Print. Read More