Ending of The Mind at Work

We read chapters 7 and 8 for our book club meeting today. In chapter 7, I think Mike Rose does a great job in diminishing stereotypes of the American worker. He reminds us that most workers in America are immigrant born. It's important to reflect on these distinctions because they show us how society has changed over the years and allow us to think about different kinds of knowledge such as procedural and declarative. In this chapter, there were less interviews with workers and less descriptions on the job. I missed these aspects as the earlier chapters contain a multitude of details.

In chapter 8, Rose talks about vocational school and the movement behind this kind of education. He mentions that there are biases against this type of education. In my opinion, this is true. I think a lot of parents and educators frown upon vocational education. There are several reasons for this. One being that they think students aren't studying and reading to increase their knowledge. These thinkers fail to understand that learning can take place through doing. Hands-on activities can help students remember how to do something and they will understand the subject matter better. Mike Rose breaks down these barriers in his book to show that jobs require skills and should not be so easily categorized.