The final work from one of the most beloved voices in American education explores stories and lessons of transformative experiences in educationFor more than a generation, American education has been structured as though it was built of and for concepts, not people. This has transformed education into a vast assessment, scoring, and ranking enterprise; a sales platform for high-tech entrepreneurs; and a fiercely competitive arena of advantage and status that grinds the poor and propels the middle class into debt.In When the Light Goes On, educator Mike Rose features the stories of people of all ages and backgrounds to illuminate how education has added meaning to their lives. The inspiring stories include:
- A supermarket checker whose job wore away his soul takes a remedial math class that starts him on a path to architecture school
- A young man badly injured in a motorcycle accident finds both rehabilitation and a career in a welding program
- A transgender youth’s odyssey to self-definition extends though courses in social sciences and campus advocacy groups
- A Native American athlete finds graduate study as a way to use her celebrity to articulate the needs of her people
When the Light Goes On helps us dig through the discord and fragmentation of school politics and policy to reclaim the mind and heart of education. Through various students’ stories and his own, Rose provides an urgent reminder of the core purpose of education: to learn about ourselves and the world around us, to spark new interests, and to experience with guidance both the fulfillment and the uncertainty of exploring our limits—all in the service of creating a meaningful life.
“[The author’s] inspiring accounts offer strong testimony.”
—Booklist
“Mike Rose’s masterful final book, When The Light Goes On, is a reflection on the beauty and magic of learning. But it is not only that—it is also a much-needed reframing, for policy and practice and research, of what learning is and how we talk about it, foster it, and measure it. With meticulous detail and artful storytelling, Rose brings to life the moments when learning changes everything—life trajectories, identities, intellectual engagement, futures. It is fitting that this is his final work, laced with both fear about the state of education and hope that we could reach for something more humanizing, richer, and more connected to the lives and personhood of learners.”
—Dr. Na’ilah Suad Nasir, president of the Spencer Foundation
Foreword, by Christina A. Christie
Preface
INTRODUCTION
When the Light Goes On
CHAPTER ONE
Anatomy of an Awakening
CHAPTER TWO
Learning to Do Things with Books
CHAPTER THREE
What Teachers See
CHAPTER FOUR
From Life Lessons to the Classroom
CHAPTER FIVE
Expecting More of Yourself
CHAPTER SIX
Becoming Smart
CHAPTER SEVEN
Finding Educational Opportunity
CHAPTER EIGHT
How the Light Goes On
CONCLUSION
On Method
Afterword: Through Light and Shadow, by Power of Opportunity and Experience, by Manuel Espinoza
An Acknowledgment
Notes