Blue Collar Brilliance step 5 PDF

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ENGL 111 Dr. Makin In Mike Rose’s article, “Blue-Collar Brilliance,” Rose argues that, unlike popular belief, blue-collar work requires a high level of different types of intelligence. In other words, only because a job may require less schooling, it does not mean that the worker performing the job is less intelligent than an academically educated worker, the blue-collar worker possess a different type of intelligence, not acquired in a classroom. Growing up, Rose would sit at his mom’s workplace where she waitressed, accompanied by his father until the end of his mother’s shift. Intrigued by the numerous work demands required of his mother as a waitress, as well as from his uncle as a railroad worker, he later in life began a study on thought processes of blue-collar workers. His findings were very comprehensive on the different set of skills required of different fields of blue-collar workers, for instance, through daily encounters with people with different emotions, his mother learned to study and read human behavior, ultimately enhancing her ability to positively interact with people of diverse backgrounds. Viewing the set of skills that his mother acquired, from an analytical point of view, we can conclude that his mother acquired knowledge in social psychology and communication. Likewise, Rose’s uncle—whom worked as a railroad worker, possessed different intelligence, intelligence related to his work field. In Rose’s belief, “If we believe everyday work to be mindless, then that will affect the work we create in the future. When we devalue the full range of everyday cognition, we offer limited educational opportunities and fail to make fresh and meaningful instructional connections among the disparate kinds of skill and knowledge.” (283). In short, Rose supports his argument, highlighting the importance of acknowledging blue-collar workers’ intelligence, of the contrary, it would consequently limit the many uses of these workers’ skills and intelligence. Through his

article, he hopes to raise awareness on the many skills and physical knowledge blue-collar workers possess, ultimately defining them as more intelligent than popular assumption....