The articles by Richard Rodriguez and Mary Pratt focus on a very important topic. The authors of the article focus on the issue of “education”. The authors have reflected this topic in a professional manner. However, scholars have used different strategies to present their arguments.
Pratt uses the concept of “contact zone” to describe how education should break the cultural barriers existing between learners, while Richard Rodriguez encourages learners to give away their cultures to achieve their educational objectives. Every learning institution should consider the best concepts to achieve its learning goals.
Mary Pratt’s Argument
The article “Arts of the Contact Zone” explains how contact zones encourage individuals from different cultural backgrounds to interact. The author analyzes how his institution struggled to redefine one of its courses. According to the author, the institution used different cultural ideas and values in an attempt to redefine the targeted course (Pratt 32). The institution also designed another course that focused on the multicultural history of the United States.
This development established new contact zones between different cultural groups. The approach also created the best environment for teaching. The course was useful because it encouraged more students to exchange their views. The students in the learning institution began to embrace their cultural backgrounds. The learners also improved their skills and competencies.
This article by Pratt is useful because it describes why “every religious, cultural, or regional group tends has both high and low points” (Pratt 36). It is appropriate for individuals from various backgrounds to appreciate their low points. This strategy will also make it easier for such groups to learn about their triumphs.
The above approach made it easier for the students to identify their socio-cultural shames and glories (Pratt 36). The meaningful discussion encourages people to create the best contact zones. The author believes that “education must break every barrier existing between learners” (Pratt 34).
Individuals should create “homogenous, horizontal, and sovereign communities to improve their levels of trust” (Pratt 37). The article explains why teachers should introduce new exercises such as storytelling. This practice can produce the best goals. This strategy will “ensure more students move into the rhetoric of authenticity” (Pratt 40). The decision to break the above barriers will produce appropriate educational goals.
Richard Rodriguez’s Argument
On the other hand, Richard describes how cultural gaps affect the goals of different learners. The author gives his personal experiences as a student from a minority cultural group. The author decided to “shift his allegiance from his parents to his teachers” (Rodriguez 602). This strategy was critical towards supporting his academic needs. Richard struggled with different challenges as a student. He eventually began to interact with students and teachers from different backgrounds.
This approach produced a new contact zone between Richard and his teachers. Most of the teachers recognized Rodriguez’s challenges. Richard’s teachers equipped him with the relevant skills to support his educational needs. Rodriguez encourages more individuals to ignore their cultural backgrounds and embrace the best learning strategies. This fact explains why the author abandoned his family and culture. Rodriguez’s decision to give up his Mexican culture made him successful.
According to the article, teachers should embrace the best practices to support their students. Teachers must look beyond the requirements of their curriculum guidelines. A great teacher always sees his or her learners as individuals with diverse talents. Teachers should use every resource to support the needs of their students with diverse needs. According to Rodriguez (603), “educators must evoke self-identity and self-reliance in order to produce the best outcomes”.
The article describes how parents and teachers can encourage their children. This strategy will make it easier for learners to identify their weaknesses. Students must also work hard in order to achieve their learning objectives. Students must also respect their teachers and classmates (Rodriguez 604). The strategy will make every learning process meaningful. I strongly believe that the ideas presented in this article will support the needs of many students.
The Effectiveness of Rodriguez’s Argument
The above articles offer meaningful lessons for achieving the best educational goals. Learners should work together in an attempt to achieve their educational needs. Mary Pratt explains how “interactional strategies can produce the best results in different learning institutions” (Pratt 37).
I strongly believe that Richard Rodriguez presents the most effective arguments in his article. Richard encourages students to abandon their cultural backgrounds in order to get the best results. He explains how “he achieved his goals despite being a student from a minority group” (Rodriguez 599). Teachers should embrace the ideas presented by Rodriguez in order to support their learners with diverse needs. The concepts outlined by Mary Pratt can also simplify the work of different curriculum planners.
In conclusion, our societies must use different strategies in order to make learning more fruitful. The essay “The Achievement of Desire” is effective because it introduces the topic to the reader in a professional manner. Teachers and parents should be on the frontline to support their students (Rodriguez 606). They should deal with the issues associated with cultural boundaries using different competencies.
Works Cited
Pratt, Mary. “Arts of the Contact Zone.” From Ways of Reading. Ed. Mary Loiuse Pratt. New York: Bedford, 1999. 33-40. Print.
Rodriguez, Richard. “The Achievement of Desire.” Why Change Your Mind? 1.1 (2009): 597-607. Print.