Education is Crucial to Democracy
Mike Rose makes very clear arguments about the current education system and how it shapes the way our democracy is run. He discusses the flaws of how our current education system is structured in a way to promote a sense of conformity: “An entire generation has come of age amid disillusionment with public institutions and public life, disillusionment born of high-profile government scandal and insitutional inefficiency, but, even more, from skillful advocacy by conservative policy makers and pundits of the broad virtues of free markets and individual enterprise”(204). Rose is claiming that many people are unaware of the real structure and definition of what a democracy should really be. Because people don’t understand democracy, they are constantly either disappointed with our government, or think that they have no control over the system. Rose wants education to be diverse, and have education be defined by learning to listen and taking intellectual risks.
In his book, Mike Rose discusses how unequal our education system is and how equity is one of the most important parts of what should make up a good education system. The US has a democracy that is not completely representative, and a lack of education is a big contribution to it. Rose describes how many factors can contribute to a lack of educational opportunities, or even make it more difficult to focus on education. In one example, Rose describes how “Poverty does not necessarily diminish the power of one’s mind, but it certainly draws attention to the competing demands of safety and survival” (30). If a person needs to focus on more immediate needs, it becomes more difficult to put attention into their education. Rose also describes the need for all areas of work to be understood and appreciated. This essential to a democracy that functions as it should. Rose explains: “ If we don’t appreciate, if we in some way constrict, the full range of everyday cognition, then we will develop limited educational programs and fail to make fresh and meaningful instructional connections among disparate kinds of skill and knowledge”(96). This demonsrates the necessity for a full range of educational opportunities. If our system was designed to be equitable, and provide opportunities for everyone to receive the education they need, it would lead to everyone grasping a better understanding of the government, and how to participate in a democracy. Education and democracy are clearly linked, an educated society that Mike Rose proposes would surely lead to a more participatory democracy.
Many of the students that I work with are given an opportunity to learn in the way Mike Rose wants. It may not be exactly what he thinks could be useful in tranforming our democracy, but if these kids can go to college and learn to advoate for the right kind of education, the program they are currently in will benefit them and our system in the future.
