Paper 1 Final
Paper 1 Final
Paper 1 Final
U.S. 1
Adrienne Ducato
This paper explores three published articles that report on education inequities across the United
States of America. The articles, however, vary in their reasoning for why the education system is
failing its students. On the one hand, Rose (1989) tells of his personal story to provide evidence
that educators are at fault, whereas Moore (2004) uses a variety of statistics to emphasize his
point that teachers are not to be blamed rather it is the flaws of the government. On the other
hand, Anyon (1980) provides information about the five different levels of schools and proof that
they are not providing students with equal access to learning. This paper not only examines what
the United States’ education system is lacking, but the improvements that need to be made.
Education is not equal for all therefore, the United States of America is not fully
succeeding at its noble goal. The education system in this country has been failing the majority
of students for quite sometime, by allowing for students to fall behind and not receive the same
access to success. In three divergent articles, the authors, Mike Rose, Michael Moore, and Jean
Anyon, discuss the lack of improvements being made to fix major educational issues and how it
Discussion of Articles
The article “I Just Wanna Be Average,” written by Mike Rose, tells of his personal high
school experience. The detail provided throughout this article made me stop and question how
many students have felt neglected like Mike Rose did. Average is alright however, students
should believe that there is more to strive for than this. Sadly, the truth is students who feel this
way are being neglected, when they should instead be encouraged to strive for better. The vast
majority of educators are dedicated, but there are others who are undoubtedly disengaged.
According to Rose (1989), “But mostly the teachers had no idea of how to engage the
imaginations of us kids who were scuttling along at the bottom of the pond” (p. 2). His point is
that too often teachers go into this job with the wrong motives, which ends up hurting students in
turn. I consider education an extremely valuable resource that deserves to be handled in the most
responsible manner and no longer with laxity. There needs to be better mechanisms put into
place for educators, in order to enhance student learning. Rose (1989) himself writes, “My
homeroom was supervised by Brother Dill, a troubled and unstable man who also taught
freshman English. When his class drifted away from him, which was often, his voice would rise
in paranoid accusations, and occasionally he would lose control and shake or smack us” (p. 1).
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This sort of physical behavior is unjust treatment, which is highly unacceptable and should never
be tolerated. Frequently, however, teachers raise their voices in anger and do not handle
situations in a calm demeanor. Jack MacFarland was the first teacher Mike Rose came across
who displayed genuine care for his students and urged them to work hard (Rose, 1989, p. 6-7). I
believe this is important, because it encourages an individual to strive for more than just the bare
minimum. Knowledge is powerful and through the process of education Mike Rose became
much more than just average. Every student deserves an educator who truly expresses and acts
upon making sure all students have the ability to achieve a favorable outcome in life.
In Michael Moore’s article, “Idiot Nation,” his point is that intelligence among the
American population is unprecedentedly low, because of the problems surrounding the education
system. Moore (2004) states, “American schools are literally falling apart” (p. 8). He supports his
argument by providing a large amount of statistics and factual evidence, while doing so in a
cynical manner with multiple sarcastic phrases. Michael Moore (2004) himself writes, “There are
forty-four million Americans who cannot read and write above a fourth-grade level—in other
words, who are functional illiterates” (p. 1). This is not to say that teachers are to endure all of
the blame, but politicians are part of the problem. He goes on to say, “A nation that not only
churns out illiterate students BUT GOES OUT OF ITS WAY TO REMAIN IGNORANT AND
STUPID is a nation that should not be running the world” (Moore, 2004, p. 2). His beliefs stem
from the overwhelming corruption throughout this country and how the focus is more on
bombing than educating. Politicians, Moore argues, should begin to focus more on education and
not on destroying other countries (Moore, 2004, p. 3). My own view is that education is a
valuable resource that should be used properly and made equally available to all. It has become
common today to focus on trivial issues, instead of addressing fundamental issues. Students are
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not receiving the proper education they deserve and this needs to turn around quickly, because it
is simply unjust. Nevertheless, I disagree with Moore’s (2004) view that, “The ultimate irony in
all of these is that the very politicians who refuse to fund education in America adequately are
the same ones who go ballistic over how our kids have fallen behind the Germans, the Japanese,
and just about every other country with running water” (p. 9). By focusing on the lack of
educational funding, Michael Moore overlooks the deeper problem of students lacking
motivation. As recent research has shown Finland along with many other countries give far less
funding to their schools than the United States does, yet the students are far more advanced. Thus
supporting my point that funding is not the issues that needs attention. Finland’s education
policies have been highly praised for their efficiency and its high student performance rate. The
main driver of Finland’s education policy is not competition between teachers and between
schools, but cooperation. Instead of focusing on a so-called lack of monetary resources, I believe
the focus needs to be put on finding new ways to engage students and improve their
performance.
Jean Anyon’s literary work, “Social Class and the Hidden curriculum of work,” talks
specifically about the status of five different school types in detail. There are crucial problems
facing the United Sates’ education system, but one stood out to me the most. Anyon (1980)
states, “Creativity is not often requested” (p. 79), in a Middle-Class School, which I find mind-
boggling. I’ve always believed that creativity is an important factor to incorporate into a
student’s education, because without it individuality is not promoted. With this being the case it
allows for students to believe that being average and doing the bare minimum is alright, when in
fact this advances a student nowhere. Anyon (1980) maintains that “Their is little excitement in
school work for the children, and the assignments are perceived as having little to do with their
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interests and feelings” (p. 79). The author is surely right that if experimenting with one’s creative
side is not promoted then the student’s passion will diminish. In short, it is simply unfair to allow
for certain students to not receive beneficial experiences, while others do. An important aspect of
individuality. Hence through creativity, excitement is built and students can begin to explore
Conclusion
It is an unfortunate reality that not all students are exposed to an equal education.
Improvements have needed to be made for quite sometime now regarding the problems that have
come about, because of poorly run schools. Greater efforts need to be made to improve the
quality of education for all. This needs to happen now and in a well-structured, long-lasting way
for student success rates to increase. Students in America deserve to be properly and equally
educated, so that every single individual has the possibility and capability to succeed.
References
Anyon, J. (1980). Social class and the hidden curriculum of work. The Journal of Education, vol.
Moore, M. (2004). Idiot nation. In G. Colombo, R. Cullen, and B. Lisle (Eds.), Rereading
Press.