The American Dream is a belief that socioeconomic success is available to each and every citizen in the United States of America, regardless of belief, social class, race, gender, etc. There is undeniably an “…underlying connection between the education one receives and the resulting cultural capital that can manifest…” (Rysdam, 2012, pg. 586). Our country today places a large emphasis on creating literate citizens through education, capable of receiving and communicating ideas with other people in society, which leads to this socioeconomic success. When all of this information is compiled, it seems very hopeful that any one citizen, regardless of the starting point, could become educated in America, leading to a prosperous lifestyle. However,
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12). This is shown throughout everyday life, and especially present in the story of Mike Rose, a professor in the School of Education at UCLA. In his piece, I Just Wanna Be Average, Rose illustrates these principles through his high school, which separated students into different ‘tracks’ based on test scores. Test scores, in general, have been known to be linked to socioeconomic class, as revealed in a study conducted by the College Entrance Examination Board, where “standardized scores increase steadily with increases in household income” (Rysdam, 2012, pg. 588). The study also found that ‘For every $20,000 increase in household income, student’s test scores increase about forty-three points” (Rysdam, 2012, pg. …show more content…
In C.H. Knoblauch’s “Literacy and the Politics of Education” (1990), he critically analyzes this view of literacy and the hidden agenda behind its use. He defines functional literacy as an “… emphasis on readying people for the necessities of daily life… as well as for the professional tasks of a complex technological society... Language is a code that enables the sending of messages and the processing of information” (Knoblauch, 1990, pg. 3). In further critically analyzing this view of literacy, he notes that functionalism is great for tying learned skills to everyday life, but that it has a “more hidden advantage as well…: it safeguards the socioeconomic status quo” (Knoblauch, 1990, pg. 3). This has already been proven through Jean Anyon’s study and the story of Mike Rose, but Knoblauch is quick to emphasize the fact that this way of thinking benefits the socioeconomically wealthy and that lower class citizens are unknowingly promoting it. By not being allowed to become more literate than this functionalist view allows, lower class citizens continue in this system that is advantageous to higher class citizens without making any sort of changes. Knoblauch (1990) notes that this specific argument ‘presume(s) that a given social order is
12). This is shown throughout everyday life, and especially present in the story of Mike Rose, a professor in the School of Education at UCLA. In his piece, I Just Wanna Be Average, Rose illustrates these principles through his high school, which separated students into different ‘tracks’ based on test scores. Test scores, in general, have been known to be linked to socioeconomic class, as revealed in a study conducted by the College Entrance Examination Board, where “standardized scores increase steadily with increases in household income” (Rysdam, 2012, pg. 588). The study also found that ‘For every $20,000 increase in household income, student’s test scores increase about forty-three points” (Rysdam, 2012, pg. …show more content…
In C.H. Knoblauch’s “Literacy and the Politics of Education” (1990), he critically analyzes this view of literacy and the hidden agenda behind its use. He defines functional literacy as an “… emphasis on readying people for the necessities of daily life… as well as for the professional tasks of a complex technological society... Language is a code that enables the sending of messages and the processing of information” (Knoblauch, 1990, pg. 3). In further critically analyzing this view of literacy, he notes that functionalism is great for tying learned skills to everyday life, but that it has a “more hidden advantage as well…: it safeguards the socioeconomic status quo” (Knoblauch, 1990, pg. 3). This has already been proven through Jean Anyon’s study and the story of Mike Rose, but Knoblauch is quick to emphasize the fact that this way of thinking benefits the socioeconomically wealthy and that lower class citizens are unknowingly promoting it. By not being allowed to become more literate than this functionalist view allows, lower class citizens continue in this system that is advantageous to higher class citizens without making any sort of changes. Knoblauch (1990) notes that this specific argument ‘presume(s) that a given social order is