Lives on the Boundary

By Mike Rose

Published by Penguin Books

What a perfect book for me. I was plugging along with the grammar book I chose for my second book report and, weary of the constant vocabulary hurdles, I reached for something a little more accessible. It was serendipitous. I like reflecting on my class background and how I fit into the middle class scene with my co-workers and classmates. This book took me on a colorful and personal journey, with a good author. I connected.

I appreciated Rose's compassionate insight. The descriptor, "like a janitor in an art gallery", really spoke to me. He speaks from his own experience growing up in a low-class neighborhood in Los Angeles and trying to make it in a private college, and then at UCLA. The author focuses on America's underclass, their various obstacles to success and the labeling of remedial students in our educational institutions. I myself have pondered on our educational system that seems to be composed of middle class teachers teaching, by in large, working class students. When I hear teachers complain about behaviors, lack of motivation and student's failure to "get it". I feel they are looking through their own privileged life experience and cannot understand why the students do not connect with lessons that don't relate to their lives. It is also hard to discuss this with teachers, because it is an invisible existence. Students do not stand out by skin color or other obvious identifying characteristisc. It was informative to read the perspectives in this book.

Rose referred to "the intelligence of the student's mistake." The thoughtful analysis of why a student would make certain errors was impressive. "Before we shake our heads at these errors, we should also consider the possibility that many such linguistic bungles are signs of growth, a stretching beyond what college freshmen can comfortably do with written language." A student should be congratulated for trying something new. In our haste, as teachers with limited time and an abundance of students, we circle and grade on surface appearance.

I was shocked at the description of a developmental English class in a state college. Students did not write anything longer than a sentence, because "Anything longer than the sentence (even two or three sentences strung together) is considered writing, and the teaching of writing shall be the province of the English Department." Anything smaller is considered grammar review and falls into the Remediation Department! This kind of separation and elitism just destroys any opportunity for real teaching. In addition, all evidence is pointing to grammar best being learned in the context of writing

Lives on the boundary looks at one man's journey through the educational system and at his discoveries, as a teacher, with remedial students. He makes a concerted effort to understand where the errors are coming from. Often, with insight and trials, it was shown that these students were not remedial. Their background or current life experience frequently was contributing to their own lack of understanding. It was Mike Rose's personal knowledge that guided him to a deeper connection with his students. It was a good reminder, for me, to go for quality rather than quantity, though one hundred and seventy-five students a day does make it a bit daunting.