Mike rose

Mike Rose felt that Vocation Ed was basically just a place to keep the, lets say, "academically challenged" students busy.  The teachers did not show much interest in their students unless they were disciplining them.  Some of his teachers like Brother  Dill were very overpowering and would smack the students when they were out of line.  On the other hand he also had Mr. Montez, the Spanish teacher who was very introverted and showed little, if any authority over his rowdy classroom.   I have had experiences with over the top strict teachers who would shout or try to intimidate students, as well as quiet and reserved teachers who let the students have reign of the class.

 Voc. Ed  helped Rose to learn more about himself and his piers as people, rather than the actual curriculum that was taught. 

 The students in this learning program were labeled as “slow” and out casted by the rest of the school so they each  developed different ways of coping with their dereliction.  Rose found that a lot of the kids would conform to their label and become the underachievers that society labeled them as, and this would seem to soften the blow to their self esteem.   Mike had a hard time catching up in math because he felt that in his former years of education he was not taught to solve equations in a way that was compatible with his learning style.

I think that school can be disorienting to students like Ken Harvey because people are very quick to judge and place labels on each other.  Ken copes with this by ignoring the stereotypes and stating that he just wants to be average.

So far I don’t find college to be disorienting at all.  As long as I listen and follow directions everything works out just fine, and if I don’t understand something I can find someone who is more than happy to help me understand.  In my opinion the most efficient way to lessen feelings of disorientation is to stay organized and don’t be afraid to ask for help. 

My educational experience has been very similar to Rose’s because I found myself learning more about who I am as a person than anything.