Literacy Education Essay

Education is provided for all, it is our federal government’s promise that education be accessible to everyone. But what if a student is not able to learn or has difficulty acquiring knowledge? They are then given the opportunity to attend a remedial class so that they can cope up with the lessons. But what if the student is not actually illiterate or in need of remedial classes but only needs a little help in adjusting to the current lesson plan? This is what Mike Rose realized as he worked his way through his own schooling and later on as an educator. During his early education, Mike Rose was not a straight A student nor did he stand out among his peers, his early school life was quite ordinary. In Lives on the Boundary, he recounted the difficulties he encountered as a middle class immigrant family but how education and his encounters with some of his teachers had freed him and enabled him to venture out into the world (Graff, 1994). He eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Loyal University and earned a graduate fellowship with UCLA. Rose argues that students stuck in remedial classes are not necessarily there secondary to lack in intelligence but because of lack of support from a social and economic standpoint. He goes on to question standards used in evaluating intelligence and calls for a change in the standards for a more equalized opportunities in education. He also talks of changes in the way literacy is taught to students who are underprepared. He seeks to develop a new curriculum that can adapt to the needs of the students in remedial classes and that is focus on meaningful composition and critical thinking rather than on grammar and usage. He also seeks changes in the philosophy of education that goes beyond the financial benefit and education gained as measured by the usual tests. Failed Education There are times when a student is not able to learn or fails in class and the usual notion is that the child is lacking in intelligence and is placed in a remedial class in order for them to grasp knowledge. But Rose (1989) argues that â€Å"more often than we admit, a failed education is social more than intellectual in origin† (p. 225). What can Rose mean by this? Essentially Rose talks of the educationally underprepared students, those who are often placed in remedial classes, which was labeled as the ‘sick section’ or ‘hospital section’ (p. 210) which is can already be termed a stigma to those who attend these types of classes. But in his book, Rose (1989) makes one realize that many of these students fail and fall into remedial classes not because of lack of intelligence or lack of skills but mainly because of the lack of understanding of their teachers and the lack of opportunity provided for them due to a variety of reasons not limited to the academic. He explores how these factors including their economic situation and social standings affect the performance and perception of these ‘remedial’ students. He notes that the problem of dwindling academic performance and the statistics that show such problems are misguided and should be reassessed to include a broader perspective. He also notes that the current technique used in measuring intelligence and learning from a student is restricted and misrepresented and should be reevaluated. He argues that the usual approaches used in teaching literacy to students who are underprepared is essentially useless, in terms that the student learns essentially nothing if focus is given to grammar and usage and that this way only ends up in fueling the thought that the student lacks intelligence. He seeks a change in the current curriculum to a more accurate and pervasive one. Learning to Read and Write Learning how to read and write correctly is critical to a student’s success in school and in later life. One of the most excellent forecaster of a child’s success in school is the level where a student progresses in reading and writing, but what if the learning process is inhibited by a variety of factors that includes economic and social ones that prevents a student from learning ‘normally’ as other students who don’t face the same circumstances as them. How can learning then be attained? In Crossing Boundaries, Mike Rose recounts his experiences with a number of remedial students who exhibited low test score results at the beginning but through his help was able to understand what was needed from them to be able pass the test (Rose 1989, p. 219). Looking at the various characters depicted in the book, one quickly realizes that a number of the characters embody the typical sample of youth in the US. These students, coming from a vast and multi-cultural society enveloping a variety of shapes, colors, sizes, ethnicity and culture also typifies the Great American Middle Class. Many of the remedial students share a common trait, which is the problem of not being able to communicate well and usually through no fault of their own. Many of our school’s youth are thrown into the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder even though they do not belong in such places or the very least be able to crawl out of this rung. Much of their talents and gifts wasted away simply because they weren’t able to commune through reading and writing or was not able to grasp the basics and thereby they are left to fend for themselves. Learning is a social process as Rose points out that there is a need for the teacher to connect with the student in order for learning to be achieved, which he has accounted for in many of his experiences in his own schooling and later on in his teaching of remedial students in inner city LA. Rose suggests that once a teacher learns more about his student, it paves the way for the teacher to fully comprehend writing preferences thereby allowing for a more meaningful exchange between the teacher and the student. As an educator Rose argued that test scores and the usual competencies used to gauge a student’s intelligence are obsolete in this day and age. He notes that problems of the dwindling scholastic performance of today’s youth may not be as bad as it is if reforms in teaching and education are put in place in order to adapt to the needs of the remedial class that dictates an eclectic approach that cultivates the inherent intelligence of this youth that focus on creative thinking rather than focus on the traditional approach that is set on the formalities of language. As an educator and proponent of literacy this author realizes that even as one seeks to impart knowledge and guide students towards being literate, one must also be flexible and adaptable to the environment and the student they promise to teach. One realizes that each individual is different in their own rights and the teacher as a proponent of literacy should learn to embrace that individuality adapting to the needs of the student so that learning can actually take place and that the student will be open to learning. The author through this reading also notes that a teacher as he seeks to impart knowledge to his students must also learn about his students in order to really teach them and enable his students to reach their fullest capacities and this might mean adapting a different set of techniques in teaching and learning to cope with the multifarious student body that encompasses today’s school setting. Conclusion Educating a student is generally academic in nature, you need to be able to teach the student the basics of the language in order for the student to be termed literate. Reading and writing concur with literacy. In a sense that when a student understands the lesson and is able to connect the words together and form a coherent and understandable statement then one can derive that the student is indeed literate. But one has to understand that simply because the student cannot comprehend the connection of various words means that they are illiterate. A variety of factors including poverty, responsibilities outside the school and lack of opportunity often leads a student to fail miserably at school. At the end of this reading the author comprehends the reality that there are a variety of students that encompass the school system and that in this sense the teacher is encouraged to develop creative ways of teaching and stimulate the significance of an educator’s vocation. And part of it is learning how to cope with the different situations of various students and even teachers that hinders learning (Preskill, 1998). This author realized the significance of education and what it means to be educated, also this author notes that as education must change in order to adapt to the gush of societal demands and strains. It can be concluded that there is a need for a guiding principle that encourages the system to embrace the rich mix of language, custom and legend that is America (Rose 1989, p. 238). The reading has prompted this author to be a more sensitive educator, someone who is responsive to the consequence of labeling and a teacher who understands the bond between teacher and student. Works Cited: Graff G (1994) Disliking books at an early age. In Falling into theory: Conflicting views on Reading Literature, ed. David Richter. Boston: Bedford Books Preskill, S (1998) Narratives of teaching and the quest for the second self. Journal of Teacher Education 49(5) pp. 344-357. Rose, M (1989) Chapter 8: Crossing Boundaries. In Lives on the Boundary pp. 205-238. New York: Penguin Books.