Thanks for a wonderfully engaging debate. Also nice to hear from a fellow homegirl - although I had probably already left Orlando by the time Donique was born :) Having begun my early education (we moved to Ohio when I was twelve) in the lousy Orlando school system, (and it got worse later) it's good to hear Donique approach education with such a truly progressive approach.
I liked Charles's suggestion at the end that black history/culture be taught on the weekends, by those within those communities - makes perfect sense to me as the religious education I got came from two years' worth of Saturdays at our church. History is *so* broad it's hard to cover any appreciable time period in a semester or two. Honestly, I think that's where a lot of this socialization stuff should be - gender whatever, racism teachings, etc. I haven't been in school for a very long time but I wonder if any kid ever learns how to read and write their language properly, whether they're getting any education in history, math, science, geography, social studies, etc. You know, what they taught in schools back when parents raised their own kids. Maybe I'm wrong, but the impression I get is that teachers are the new de facto babysitters and parents.
Thanks for a wonderfully engaging debate. Also nice to hear from a fellow homegirl - although I had probably already left Orlando by the time Donique was born :) Having begun my early education (we moved to Ohio when I was twelve) in the lousy Orlando school system, (and it got worse later) it's good to hear Donique approach education with such a truly progressive approach.
I liked Charles's suggestion at the end that black history/culture be taught on the weekends, by those within those communities - makes perfect sense to me as the religious education I got came from two years' worth of Saturdays at our church. History is *so* broad it's hard to cover any appreciable time period in a semester or two. Honestly, I think that's where a lot of this socialization stuff should be - gender whatever, racism teachings, etc. I haven't been in school for a very long time but I wonder if any kid ever learns how to read and write their language properly, whether they're getting any education in history, math, science, geography, social studies, etc. You know, what they taught in schools back when parents raised their own kids. Maybe I'm wrong, but the impression I get is that teachers are the new de facto babysitters and parents.