Anyon

What connections, similarities, or disparities do you see in Rose's narrative of being placed in Voc. Ed. and then moving to College Prep and Anyon's research on the types of learning and teaching in schools of differing economic status? (Remember to use specific passages or quotations in your discussion.)

I have seen specific instances of students being moved from a vocational education-like setting, then being moved into college prep courses. The state of Mississippi uses the Occupational Diploma program for some students to gain work experience before being ushered into the post-secondary era of their life. Prior to recent legislation and new state education mandates, these students were exposed only to business math, (money strategies such as counting, using a bank account, etc.)life skills English (in this class students may create a mock resume) and life skills sciences ( students are taught how to make healthy decisions regarding what to eat, how a woman's body carries a baby, etc.). You can check out this link to see exactly what entails the Mississippi Occupational Diploma Program. (http://www.parentsunitedtogether.com/page10.html) Recent legislation has now required the same students who have been enrolled in these MOD programs to now take the subject area tests, which are derived from college prep classes in the general education setting. These subjects are English II, Biology I, American History and Algebra I. When talking to the students who are now enrolled in these college prep classes, they feel frustrated, scared, and angry. They felt like they were violently shoved into this situation and now have very little motivation to even attend school, let alone attempt to prepare for the state test exams. I feel like these students are in a very similar situation that Rose was in. His ideal about vocational education is summed up in the following quote "Myself and the others in the vocational education classes were floating in pretty shallow water. Vocational education has aimed at increasing the economic opportunities of students who do not do well in our schools. Some programs succeed in doing that.....The vocational track however is most often a place for those who are just not making it, a dumping ground for the disaffected." Rose alluded throughout his narrative that students who are enrolled in vocational education programs are traditionally from low socioeconomic status households. Similarly, Anyon refers to working class schools as a place where teachers only teach "what the students will use in real life". In the eyes of these two writers, vocational education seems to be reserved to "second best students". From what I have experienced in the classroom, it seems that the students feel this way as well.