Does a degree make you more educated?
Why School?
“He could barely read or write, but was an informed, articulate guy, listening to FM-radio current-affairs shows while he worked, watching public television at home. He had educated himself through the sources available to him, compensating for the damage done.” (P.1–2)
“For some time now, our national discussion of education has been dominated by a language of test scores and economic competitiveness.” (P. 4)
“The purpose of education. The many faces of intelligence, learning, knowledge. The beauty and accountability of working with people. The power of hope. The importance of rich and varied pathways to opportunity. An affirmation of public responsibility and public institutions.” (P. 5)
“A Good Education helps us make sense of the world and find our way in it.” (P. 33)
“Education gave me the competence and confidence to independently seek out information and make decisions, to advocate for myself and my parents and those I taught, to probe political issues, to resist simple answers to messy social problems, to assume that I could figure things out and act on what I learned.” (P. 40)
What?
When Rose says democratic imagination he shows how the United States Democracy has such high values, yet it is hard for everyone to reach. “The economic motive has always been a significant factor in the spread of mass education in the United States, and as someone from the working class who has achieved financial mobility through schooling, I am acutely aware of the link between education and economic well-being.” (P. 28) Rose goes on to say “We seem trapped in a language of schooling that stresses economic, accountability, and compliance.” (P. 27) Rose explains how we see schooling as the most important thing and it runs our country.
So what?
Education can and should engender young people’s capacity for a democratic imagination because an education should show people that there skills that an education can not give you. “The ‘new economy’ lists also suggest that blue-collar and service workers don’t rely on a body of knowledge to do their work, nor learn and solve problems, nor have to coordinate and negotiate with other workers. The lists imply that work involving the hand doesn’t considerably involve the brain.” (P. 88) The most impacted by lack of this type of education is the people who did not get educated. They are missing out on the chance to be apart of democratic discussions.
Now what?
I haven’t been to my first meeting with my community partner, but from what I know about AVID, some of the students may feel discouraged from cultivating a democratic imagination because of their social status and backgrounds.
