Analysis Of I Just Wanna Be Average, By Mike Rose

Improved Essays
Educational institutes are not only there to provide the basic educational terms, but also to allow development. Unfortunately, there are some schools that don’t quite meet this standard, causing the opposite reaction from students. In the story “I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose, this was just the case. Rose was mistakenly placed in vocational education school where the classes were not designed for success; however, they taught individual growth. The actions that Rose portrayed in his narrative are considered part of the working class, according to Anyon, and also showed signs of personal-growth, according to Knoblauch.
Before Mike Rose was mistakenly placed into the vocational educational school, he was overall a very successful student. However, this changed as soon as Rose made the transition to the vocational educational school. Rose expresses that
…show more content…
Mike Rose wrote the story, “I Just Wanna Be Average” showing the unfortunate events that lead him to be in vocational educational school that taught him important lessons that helped shape him as a person. This changed the day that Jack MacFarland appeared in his life, then he actually had something to work towards. Rose composes, “The man immersed us in language”(Rose,1989). Jack MacFarland showed the Rose how to achieve his goals and move forward. All of these are examples of personal-growth literacy. Rose displays how he had to adjust to a vocational educational school and what the educational system was like. At the beginning of the story, he wasn’t happy with going to a vocational educational school, but towards the end he seemed to have appreciated it when he claims, “Knowledge was becoming a bonding agent”(Rose, 1989). In conclusion, school turned into something that formed Rose into the individual that he is

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Education is something that should be acquired by all human beings, it 's a source of art that should be perfected by everyone. However, people intend to go off of their paths to do something different, unique and that 's how legends are born. Our society thinks that if you don 't study, you won 't be able to get anywhere. CEO 's of companies like Microsoft and Facebook dropped out of school to continue on with their dream and that 's the reason why they are insanely successful today. It 's not about getting A 's and maintaining your intellectual abilities, it 's about what your interests are and perfecting those skills.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The television series Summer Heights High follows the journey of a young boy names Jonah. Jonah is in year 8 at Summer Heights High and has previously been expelled three times because of disruptive and dangerous behaviour. He is known in the school to have anger and attention deficit problems. Jonah struggles socially as he treats his teachers and classmates with disrespect. Jonah’s also struggles academically.…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rose admits to having a personal background with his topic which is displayed throughout the document. Rose states “When I was growing up in Los Angeles during the 1950s, my father and I occasionally hang out at the restaurant until her shift ended, and then we’d ride the bus home with her [Rose’s mother]” (Rose 702). He uses his mother and other family members as examples of people without a standard educational background; yet, they are still capable of learning and adapting to their environment and any task that is given them just as any other scholar. On the other hand, Obama uses a similar approach with the intention of gaining a different response from her audience. Obama wants to audience to be able to understand and relate to her experiences.…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To Grade or Not to Grade? “The real threat to excellence is not grade inflation at all; it is grades.” –Alfie Kohn, The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation Sullen-eyed, sleepless zombies stagger throughout the endless corridors. Their minds remain blank, except for their one goal: the biggest, juiciest brains. These brains are what they live for.…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In an excerpt from “School? A Student in A Community College Basic Skills Program”, Mike Rose talks about his friend Anthony. Anthony was in his late-thirties attending a college due to the fact that he was barely able to read or write because of a childhood injury that had caused brain damage. His whole life he has worked custodial jobs and wanted something better, different, so he decided to go back to school to not only better himself, but, to also better guide his daughter. Rose’s friend knew what was needed for him to finally drop his mop and pail for a better pay.…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Assignment 4 In Jean Anyon ’s essay “From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work,” she focuses on many schools whose curriculum have been carved out by social class. The lower the students families social class is the more repetitive and simple their curriculum will be, while on the other hand, the higher the social class is the more thought goes into the students coursework. Anyons basic point is that the work children are told and expected to do in school is the work that they will continue to do in their future jobs and careers. People, most often, do what they are taught to do.…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This piece of work shows that although these students may possess many great features such as being intelligent, respectful and hardworking, all the effects are not so positive. Students should be respectful but not be afraid to challenge their authoritative figures, they should not be forced to learn a variety of things against their will nor be walked through life instead of being independent, and if they do have to learn certain subjects then they should also be taught how to build character. We live in an age where everyone is okay with being ordered around just to get that good grade or promotion. Society is so used to being told what to do that at times they may not even realize that most decisions they make are not their own. Also though students may be getting more intelligent, knowledge and following rules does not make someone a great person, character does.…

    • 1679 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the article Social Class of the Hidden Curriculum of Work, by Jean Anyon, discusses the different social classes in school rooms and the student-teacher interaction. The Working class focuses on following the steps of procedure, and are looked upon as the worst treated school environment, the Middle class focused on getting the right answer and were not allowed any decision making on their own, the Affluent Professional school focused on individual thought and expressiveness, and is very focused on the children being creative in their learning, and the Executive Elite school focused on developing ones intellectual powers, and produced work that was the top academic quality, which people viewed as the best educated class setting. One thing I thought was really interesting was in the Affluent Professional school, Anyon says, “The work is creative activity carried out…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Due to modern schools teaching children to be consumers, Gatto’s solution is that students should teach themselves greater qualities. Being a leader, not following the crowd, and being adventurous with anything. In our culture, learning from own experiences and teaching ourselves is the only way to get an education from modern schooling, according to Gatto. He believes that students should explore what they enjoy including: art, philosophy, history, math, and literature. Becoming mature is the main point.…

    • 1277 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Mind At Work Analysis

    • 1102 Words
    • 4 Pages

    People just think they all surgeons have to do is go to school and study, but he shares the beauty behind all of that and explains how they have basically mastered a skill that most people do not ever get the chance to. Same goes for a physical therapist you cant just sign up to be one and go try to align someone’s spine you could hurt someone and I think Rose tries to explain the beauty in the struggle and tries to open peoples eyes on how much it does take to actually get to be a surgeon or a physical therapist and master the “hand and brain” correlation. Chapter 8, the final chapter in the book Rose explains that the hand and brain in school provides a look over the American vocation education system and how things could be very different. Rose talks about what is happening now in NZ, where they have started learning through “trade academy courses, basically avoiding all the writing and reading taught by English teachers and changing them into shop instructors. This last chapter is basically saying you learn better when your hands on, meaning with your “hand and brain” and the outcome is students learn a lot…

    • 1102 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. I Just Wanna Be Average by Mike Rose 2. In the article, “I Just Wanna Be Average by Mike Rose tells us how his test scores had been mixed with another student with the same name, but rose was placed in an vocational track for two years because the other student did not do so well on the placement test. At Mercy all lower class teachers weren’t good and did not know what they are doing.…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the end of the day whatever that person decides to do, they have to live with their decisions; which at times can be hard, but also very rewarding. The author gives an example of a struggling student who teaches young children and loves what he does, even though he is barely making ends meet. The student may not be rich, but his work is meaningful, and he finds that his soul is filled with passion for what he…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Schools are very important for students. In school, we can learn a lot of things, but students need the right teachers and the material to be successful in life and for a better education. Jean Anyon in “Social Class and The Hidden Curriculum of Work” shows that in some schools they don’t have the right teachers or material because of the economy or the neighborhood the schools are located. Also low-income people do not get the same education as people with a good economy.…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Drop-outs Vs. Degrees In the article “Blue-Collar Brilliance”, Mike Rose argues against the need for a formal education by giving examples of his own family, mainly his mother and uncle, Rose states that many often closely associate intelligence with traditional schooling even though there are many examples of people that drop out of school and still live ‘successful’ lives. While some of Rose’s points are well supported and agreeable his overall argument for the dismissal of general education is, in my view, incorrect and should not be applied in the education system.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Publication Information: Rose, Mike. "I Just Wanna Be Average. " Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. By Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle.…

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics