The Pygmalion Effect: Rosenthal and Jacobson’s (1968) research is part of the educational
cannon. Nearly 40-years ago the researchers worked with children (6-12 yrs.) all drawn from the
same school. Each child was given an IQ test. The children were then assigned to either an
experimental or control group. When teachers were told that the children in the experimental
group were “high achievers”, these children showed significant IQ gains over the course of one
year than did the control group, despite allocation to group having been, in fact, random.
Even though we talk less about IQ than they did in 1968, the notion of what is also known as The
Rosenthal Effect permeates education literature and mythology. For many of us who believe in
its power, it is what led us to the classroom, believing that if we could make a difference, even in
just one student’s life, the rest would all be worth it. For others, it’s about having had a teacher
we wanted to emulate, to pass onto the next generation the gift that s/he gave to us. Still, for
others, the motivation is to not be like Dragon Breath, their Machiavellian fourth grade teacher.
For your analysis of Mike Rose’s Lives on the Boundary, please craft an argument based on the
ideas presented below. You will write one draft of at least 1000 words and post via our Turnitin
link in Moodle.
Mike Rose wants us to see how much the “system” fails children. Write an argumentative essay
in which you agree or disagree with Rose’s position. Use your own observations from classroom
experiences – from both sides of the desk – to support your argument. Consider the ways in
which “politics” exclude or stigmatize children. Is it methodology? Teachers? Testing? All of
these and more?
• Formulate a thesis by taking a position supporting either Rose’s point of view, i.e.
“system failure” or the opposite point of view.
• Support your thesis with convincing evidence from Rose’s text(s). Please use three
quotes to prove your points. Quote and cite your sources using MLA style.
• Make sure your opening (the first two sentences or so – whatever it takes to do the job),
provides sufficient background for your audience, unfamiliar with the case, to grasp the
situation. To accept your thesis as a possible position, your reader must understand the
failures Rose describes and the possible solutions he suggests.
• Develop and organize your ideas logically.
• Pay careful attention to tone. Include appeals to logic and emotion, sympathy and
compassion.
• Consider your audience, and remember, while you may think you are writing for those
who share your values (e.g. community, peers) and others you imagine might agree with
your stance, you need to consider readers in other contexts who will come away from
your essay, still disagreeing, but acknowledging that your position is “an idea worth
considering.”