Possible Lives by Mike Rose

NHU TRAN

WRITING 115

Paper 3, Draft 1

 In “Possible Lives,” Mike Rose describes some important qualities of “the democratic classroom.” He wants students to understand the experience of democracy, which he says includes safety, respect, respect for each other’s race and ethnicity, and a challenging curriculum that also respects the students. Can you explain how Corla Hawkins’ classroom demonstrates most of these qualities of the democratic classroom?

        In the old society, there was no stereotype education system in public schools although education was the most important thing to all students. However, to help students make every effort in study, classrooms had to provide good expectations and authority. While Mike Rose discussed important qualities of a democratic classroom in “Possible Lives”, Jonathan Kozol built a main character in his story, Corla Hawkins, who established a strong relationship with the students and used a unique method to teach them in the classroom. Eventually, both authors were successful in their own ways.

        In “Possible Lives,” Mike Rose spent extended periods of time on a journey around America, and visited good and bad classrooms in may diverse contexts from urban schools to rural schools. After all, he was satisfied with the so-called democratic classrooms which included safety, respect, respect for each other’s race and ethnicity, and a challenging curriculum that also respected the students. He believed that those classrooms could maintain hope for our public education system because they presented “the embodiments of the democratic ideal” (45). Also, he concluded his theory that the authority had to come from both students and teachers, which made the democratic classroom successful.

        In “Corla Hawkins,” Jonathan Kozol wrote about a very nice, hard-working, and dedicated teacher, Corla Hawkins, who spent her life helping and educating students. Without any conveniences that could help her in teaching students, she had to spend her own money buying from furniture to materials. The proof was, “I bought myself because it never works to order things through the school system. I bought the VCR. I bought the rocking chair at a flea market. I got these books here for ten cents a piece at a flea market. I bought that encyclopedia” (33). Therefore, under this circumstance, public schools were hardly successful in educating students and encouraging teachers to keep up their jobs. Despite of missing teaching resources, Hawkins decided to go through with her work. Looking at her persistence, Kozol found a ray of hope for the US public education system.

In his reading, Rose affirmed that safety and respect were necessary components of a democratic classroom. The teachers had to be responsible for students’ physical safety, safety from insult and diminishment, and even “there was safety to take risks, to push beyond what you can comfortably do at present” (46). Only such a guarantee could bring students psychological and spiritual comfort in their studies. Beside safety, the respect of people toward others was also important in a democratic classroom, especially toward students of different ethnicities. “From what I could tell, it meant many things, operated on many levels: fair treatment, decency, an absence of intimidation, and, beyond the realm of individual civility, a respect for the history, the language and culture of the peoples represented in the classroom” (46). They had to respect each other’s background, language and history. So they could maintain peacefulness in the class. Moreover, “even the curriculum has to convey respect” (47). Rose clearly expressed that respect was not only politeness, but also an intellectual dimension in schooling environment. Generally, safety and respect created a healthy environment for students to study.