Lives On

the
Boundary

Lives on the Boundary

Educational narrative of the life of Mike
Rose
Grew up in south LA
Got by in elementary school
Became a reader in middle school
Placed in vocational classes in high school
until Mr. McFarland
Father with chronic illness

Why did Mike do this study?

I use the stories to question educational practices that
dont serve underprepared students well, and, more
broadly, to explore the complex relationship between
education and social class in our country. Nothing predicts
achievement in American schools as strongly as parental
income. - Mike Rose
http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/lives_on_th
e_boundry_education_and_inequality_20141118

Why? (cont.)
Show people that you are not alone in
the struggle of school
Try to understand the relation of social
class and education
Relate all types of stories

Case Study 1
Mike Accidently placed in remedial courses in High
School
Parents didnt understand that he wasnt learning,
and needing help due to their lack of education
Was unprepared for college and struggled started
to understand the difference between the haves
and have nots.

Case Study 2
Harold Started school placing normal and then his ability
deteriorated quickly
Had trouble with school work and behavior.
Even though his IQ was registered as 96 just below
average his school files focused on what he couldnt do
and was worded so he would be put in special ed.
No one had put together that his decline in academics
was the result of missing his father who left shortly
after he started school

Case Study 3
Sergeant Gonzalez
Made a career in the Military was very literal and did not like
ambiguous works.
Having trouble writing and expressing the the literature. Mike
prompts him in understanding Butch Weldy and relating it to
Sergeant Gonzalezs life.
By taking about and relating the material to his student, the work
that followed showed more depth and understanding and his
writing was improving.
But error that crops up because a student is trying new things is
a valuable kind of error, a sign of growth

Case Study 4
Millie

Student at the Bay Area Literacy Program.

She like most of the students were having trouble with standardized test
that were suppose to compute their Standard Written English Skills
She could not understand the instructions as the format and dissection of
language was foreign
By circling the part she needed to focus on she immediately was able to
understand the question and produce the right answers
She showed proof of literacy and understanding. Students in these
programs are thought to have intellectual deficiencies but really they
just dont have the understanding of the test because it is not applicable
to their everyday lives

Solutions
A new philosophy of language and
literacy
Diverse sources of linguistic competence
Understanding how class and culture can
blind us to those sources

A new perspective on Failure

Rooted in the logic of error

Solutions (cont.)
Have understanding of cultural and class
(poverty) restraints on learning
How does the mind work within these
constraints?

A new pedagogy that:

Solutions (Cont.)
encourages us to step back and consider
the threat of the standard classroom and
shows us, having stepped back, how to step
forward and invite the student across the
boundary of that powerful room.

Solutions (Cont.)
Revise the images of educational
excellence.
Closer to egalitarian ideals