Mike Rose's resolutions resemble, in ironic fashion, the tendencies of New Year’s resolutions...you go a few weeks, heck maybe even a few months, remaining steadfast and persistent and dedicated to your resolution...and then you begin to slowly slip into your old routines and suddenly whoosh, your resolutions have been thrown out of a three-story window and crash to the ground in an unsuccessful heap.
This comparison is only viable because Rose’s list of resolutions was made in 2010 in hopes of a better 2011…but at this point in time we are creeping up on the year 2013, and it is clear that none of the resolutions held strong, otherwise we would be looking at a vastly different educational system.
However taken out of the time period, the ideas themselves are highly synonymous with those of Lewis Black. Particularly resolution #2 - questioning what “achievement” should mean in a democratic society, getting a higher rank in international comparisons or perhaps…something more? Rose also shares the beliefs of Freire as made evident in resolution #4 – to stop making the standardized test scores the gold-standard of achievement! Maybe if we gathered Freire, Rose, and Black in a room and held a conference for the sake of bettering education, we could actually get things moving and changing for the better.
Good connections here!
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