I Just Wanna Be Average

Mike Rose's story "I Just Wanna Be Average" was interesting. I wasn't sure if I was going to like Rose's story after the first bit. He sounded maybe just a little too jaded to talk objectively. After finishing the story I am a fan. "I Just Wanna Be Average" continues the educational theme of our last few readings. The main point is that there is something wrong with our educational system in America. I agree with this opinion. It is a complicated issue and we have read several different points of view on what these authors think the problems are. I very much enjoyed reading Gatto and Rose's take on the issue. I am still of the opinion that personal responsibility rules. It is not the governments job to make you want to succeed and learn. Those who don't want to make the effort, do the work, and motivate themselves need to be allowed to fail. Others will learn from their example and succeed. That being said, Rose made a good point. At one point in his story he mentioned that people will "float" up to the mark you set for them. Rose also says he felt like he was floating in a shallow pool. The point being that people perform better when more is expected of them. I have seen this in my own lives and in the lives of people around me. I enjoyed reading about the teacher Rose had who helped put him on the right path, who taught him how to succeed and enjoy learning. I think most of us have had great teachers here and there who have influenced our lives for the better.

Our countries education system is very complex. I get the feeling that most of the people in it don't even know how it works. We can work to improve it, but it could take forever. What we can do right now is take responsibility for ourselves and our kids. We need to learn to motivate ourselves, get our own attention, and teach ourselves to enjoy learning and succeeding. Then we will have to tools to help teach our children how to work within the system, utilizing personal responsibility and self motivation, to learn and succeed.