More diversity obsession, with a little self-esteem thrown in for good measure:
Fort Wayne Community Schools will add Hispanic and African studies classes to its high school elective offerings next year.
The district will offer four classes
More diversity obsession, with a little self-esteem thrown in for good measure:
Fort Wayne Community Schools will add Hispanic and African studies classes to its high school elective offerings next year.
The district will offer four classes
Comments
While I don't agree with Akan that this will either empower students or get them to be better readers, I DO agree 100% with you Leo...get back to teaching AMERICAN history...
The last time I checked that IS the country we are currently livng in.
Pablum indeed!
B.G.
When I was a little kid we learned European history - is that still being taught? If so, I don't see why teaching African or Latin American history is a bad idea....our AMERICAN culture comes from all of these sources, doesn't it?
Yes, our American culture is made up of many sources. I just don't see the value of studying one or two of the pieces in isolation, out of all those pieces, instead of looking at the whole puzzle and how it fits together.
When I went to school, all we had were American history and world history (OK, so I'm a little older than you). Maybe the books back then were a little deficient in giving fair credit to all the influences of American history, but that overall approach is still the best way to teach the subject.
Imagine if we'd had a separate class on Kentucky history for kids like me and Ohio history and Michigan history because so many of the students started out there. What about the other 47 states? (Indiana history wasn't taught back then, either.)Ignore them because not enough kids came from there? What would we have learned of value, given our day-to-day lives in Fort Wayne, that wouldn't have been better spent on memorizing the state capitals?
And let's be honest. Those classes aren't going to be taught so students will appreciate how Africa and Latin American history have contributed to the American experience. Their purpose is to make black and Hispanic students feel better about themselves and therefore do better. The idea that the self-esteem of feelings is a good substitute for the self-worth of living up to high expectations has been pretty thorougly discredited but is still much clung to in the educational establishment.
Yes, Leo, it was called World History when I took it, too. Started in Egypt (yes, I understand that Egypt is in Africa) and then quickly turned into European history. And that was it, other than a bit about how Marco Polo discovered spices by wandering through Asia.
Anyway, I don't think that the only thing kids should learn in history class is how the other regions of the world have affected the United States....how about a bit of perspective on historical patterns repeating themselves? Why not some perspective that recognizes that we live in the world, in addition to living in the United States? How can a child value the freedoms that we have in the US if s/he has no knowledge of how other people have lived?
A very successful businessperson of Italian descent once said that he had felt bad as a child about being Italian because all he saw in the media about Italians was the mafia, and that he gained some respect for his heritage when he learned about the Renaissance, etc. I guess I don't see how that was a bad thing.
"Diversity obsession?" "Pablum?"
Leo, what is it exactly that causes such panic about the notion that our children should have the opportunity to learn?
You did not indicate that you had actually reviewed the teaching materials for the new classes and found them objectionable. And the article that ran in your newspaper explained that these classes are electives - not replacements for the district's mandatory history classes. So, how these classes threaten the very fabric of our educational system is unclear.
In the mandatory history courses offered by the district, rest assured that all students are still taught that slavery is the totality of the heritage and contribution of Blacks to American history... oh yeah, there was also Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and George Washington Carver. Leo, don't worry. That's not being threatened.
These are elective courses. They simply provide an opportunity for some Black students who desire to learn a little more about history and literature - as opposed to shop class or basketweaving. Some students of other races might want to learn more, too. But unless you know something that you're not sharing with your readers, the students' knowledge of math, reading and science will not be erased from their minds because of a little better understanding of Black and/or Hispanic history and literature. However, if you found something objectionable in the teaching materials for these new courses, please advise.
Will these classes be comforting and empowering (a suggestion about as overblown as the notion that this spells the end of Western Civilization)? Who knows?
Would you ease off the panic button if you were asssured that students would NOT be empowered?