One topic we have talked a lot in
our class is that traditional history books teach the winner’s history and for
most of American history African Americans have not been the winners. But it is
not just history textbooks. English textbooks only use black characters as
antagonists or minor characters and math textbooks only use examples with
pictures of white children. Black students only see white historical figures
demeaning black historical figures and positive black historical figures are
uncommon. The only examples for these students are black Americans are slaves
or an objectified group of people. Without examples of African Americans in
textbooks and in the American school system, there will be negative ramifications
for black students. African American students need positive African American
role models that are both historical figures and modern day figures. In
connecting this class with my education classes I can see a blatant need for a
change. I believe that urban schools, especially schools that have a population
that is majority black, need to teach a curriculum that highlights positive
aspects of black culture and black history.
I currently intern at a charter K-8
school in Memphis called Freedom Preparatory Academy. Freedom Preps’s student
population is majority African American. The administrators of the school have
tried very purposefully to set up an environment and curriculum where they
believe their students can feel safe. First, there is active parent involvement
where students can use their own parents as role models. When a student sees
that their parents care about their child’s education, the child will be more
willing to be active in their own education. Secondly, Freedom Prep hires
mostly African American teachers. The administration wants the students to see
and interact with positive role models everyday. Finally, Freedom Prep
incorporates African American leaders into its curriculum for every grade.
Kindergarten students learn about prominent black inventors that invented items
they use everyday. In 4th grade science class students learn about the
rocks and soil in the Mississippi River. In 4th grade history class students
learn the African American history tied to the river. In 8th grade English
class students learn about what the word oppression means and in 8th
grade history class they learn how African Americans have been oppressed. These
students are learning their history from teachers and parents who are actively involved
in their learning. By providing African American students with positive role
models and teaching them a curriculum that is based out of their lives and their
history, we can better teach them and prepare them for their future.
This conversation reminds me of the lecture given by Kiese Laymon and Zandria Robinson a few weeks ago. In this conversation each of these academics and authors talked about the importance of using minority characters in major works studied by students across the nation. I think a huge contributing factor as to why Laymon wrote "Long Division" is that he felt like there weren't enough black southern narrative with a male protagonist. The school system that I grew up in had the same structure that Katiebeth mentioned: white writers talking about white protagonists. I think integrating our education system with works written by and about marginalized populations is key in desegregated our still very racist society.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea to get children involved in their learning. Systems like these are extremely beneficial to build positive attitudes towards schools and learning at an early age. For children in troubled areas, this kind of encouragement might be all it takes to prevent drop-outs. It is impossible to foresee the future, however, I believe that an education system such as this can help increase the likelihood that children, not just black children, will complete high school and potentially continue to go to and complete college.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an important point. It is psychologically harmful for an African American child to grow up without any role models from their own race. I have not heard of any other schools besides Freedom Prep taking the time to teach their students about African heritage. It is wonderful that the students are expected to find role models from their own race and learn about them. If schools can start implementing more avenues for children to learn about their heritage early on, then children can use that information to provide a background when they start learning other things. They will be able to understand the perspective that people from their own race felt at certain points in history. I wonder if Freedom Prep could also integrate something like this for any other races that are prevalent in their school. It could benefit the students to not only learn a lot of information about their own race but also about their peers. Maybe a program like this could slowly work on destroying the racial divide.
ReplyDelete