Richard Rodriguez’s perspective of the American education system

 

In this paper I discuss Richard Rodriguez’s perspective of the American education system. Rodriguez had a complicated relationship with formal education. On one hand he was very appreciative of the great teachers and the academic opportunities that were made available to him, but on the other hand he feels that success in the education system came at the expense of his individuality.

 

In recent years, there has been a great deal of debate over the definition of intelligence. We have coined terms such as “book smarts” and “street smarts” to categorize different types of intellect. In his youth, Richard Rodriguez had not yet been introduced to the concept of different types of intelligence; the only notion of intelligence that he had was “book smarts”. This misunderstanding of intelligence informed the academic methodology he employed, namely, that of a mimic. Likewise, it informed his opinion of his parents as simpleminded. As Rodriguez evolved as a person, so too did his perception of intelligence. This expanded perspective imbued him with newfound appreciation for his parents’ intelligence. Ultimately, it is through this personal growth that Rodriguez is able to rekindle his relationship with his family and reclaim his cultural identity.

 

Rodriguez discovers a parallel between his own life and that of the archetypical academic described by author Richard Hoggart in the chapter “Scholarship Boy” from his book Uses of Literacy. According to Hoggart, the scholarship boy over-evaluates the importance of examinations, of the acquisition of knowledge, and of hoarding the opinions of others. The perception of the scholarship boy as intellectual is only illusory, because the scholarship boy mistakenly concerns himself with acquisition of facts rather than of the handling and use of facts. The self-destructive cynical lens through which the scholarship boy views education persists into his adulthood; he begins to perceive life as a series of examinations where he must trounce the competition. All these characteristics that Hoggart describes as intrinsic to the scholarship boy are very much present in Rodriguez throughout his youth. Although Rodriguez achieved a large degree of success in his academics, he did not truly learn much at all due to his passive approach towards education. While Hoggart chastises the scholarship boy for his passive approach to education, Rodriguez argues that in this respect the scholarship boy is but a victim of circumstance. That the scholarship boy does not spend hours mindlessly accumulating factoids by his own volition; he does it because it is what the education system expects from him. If he ignored these expectations, fulfilling his academic ambitions would be impossible. Ask not what your education can do for you - ask what you can do for your education.

 

            Just as Rodriguez cannot be faulted for his passive approach to education, he must also not be faulted for his disparaging opinion of his parents' intelligence.