Education is a Huge Issue and Race Isn't Even Talked About
Why are We Uncomfortable Talking about Literacy and Race?
Anyone who thinks racism is dead either is incredibly naive or sleeps under a rock somewhere far, far away from civilization. Race is an issue that permeates every level of society especially in education.
I think the reason race is uncomfortable to talk about is mainstream society's desperate attempt to cover it up and make everyone believe that everything is equal and try to pretend that there is no racial strife of any kind. A great deal of this conditioning happens in the classroom but is it really working?
Society's stratification and interaction problems come out in its education system. In, Race and Ethnicity in Multi-Ethnic Schools by James Ryan, he states that, "Both multicultural and antiracist approaches have made significant contributions to education Their analyses of advantage and disadvantage and their suggestions for practice have among other effects drawn attention to the injustices faced by groups of racial/ethnic students and motivated practitioners to adopt more inclusive teaching practices and increased the life opportunities of some students. But despite these positive achievements most multicultural and antiracist approaches are not (as yet) equipped to analyze the process of representation in schools. White representation remains an important part of their respective approaches. It does not figure directly into the ways in which representation works outside curricular images through for example the so-called "Hidden" curriculum and all interactions that take place in schools. Rattansi also maintains that multicultural and antiracist representations which are uniform and positive and sometimes essentialist often gloss over the division an differences within groups. Finally most multiculturalists and antiracists do not account for how the images presented in the classroom come to mean things to students. They do not take into consideration the ways in which students make sense of curricular materials or the interactions they have with fellow students and teachers." (Ryan, 21)
While multiculturalism wants to educate all students on different cultures the antiracist approach only teaches what students should do regarding the race issue. Either way neither of these approaches address the racial tensions in and outside of the classroom. As the quote says, education is not addressing the actual interactions.
The question begs, "How did we get here?" Some history will help answer it. In 1954 Brown v. Board of Education desegregated the American school system. While this was a landmark decision, President Eisenhower had to send the United States Army to force southern schools to segregate at the point of a gun. Many in the south were outraged but it was accomplished. That was when we began to have these inter-racial interactions.
There was one significant problem with integration of public schools. Neither the black or the white students were prepared with the necessary cultural and attitude differences that would make this integration successful. Interviewing my mother who grew up in Texas and how she remembered integration in her small town. "Everything changed. It was unheard of to have black students in the school. They were barely acknowledged in society and now they were in school every day. Everything changed." Many of the students in my mother's school did not know how to act because they had never had to learn with black students before. With only the societal template of cursory acknowledgment to work off of that is how these "new" students were treated. In Texas, black people were never invited over to a white person's house and they were only acknowledged in public with a simple greeting. No elaborate conversations were carried on unless there was specific business to be done. And that is exactly what happened in the newly integrated schools. Struggle between the two races was immediate; the black students also had only their societal template to work off of and so they subordinated themselves beneath the white students and did not speak unless spoken to and generally stayed out of the white students way. Teachers, being adults and using their societal template, treated the black students differently as well and in some cases ignored them entirely. It was very hard for black students to get ahead with these societal templates getting magnified in the classroom. People who are not relaxed and feeling good don't learn well.
Seeing this stratification and the inequities it caused; well-meaning, but misguided educators created the above theories and systems to try to equal things out for all of the students. But as stated above, neither of these methods has adequately solved the problem. So how is this best solved? As minority drop-out rates rise, especially with black students, what is the education system and the public supposed to do? We have to study society to find out.
Works Cited
Ryan, James, Race and Ethnicity in Multi-Ethnic Schools , 1999
Early childhood generally encompasses the first eight years in the life of an individual. The education given during these years of a child's life plays a very important role and helps in proper development of children. Early childhood education can be fundamentally termed as "Learning through play". Recent research have shown that early eight years in any children life are crucial time because during this phase their brain develops and much of its 'wiring' is laid down. The education experiences and relationships a child has along with nutrition can actually affect child mental growth enormously. While good early childhood education helps the brain to develop in healthy ways, improper education or study without play on other hand may affect brain development in different manner. So the experiences and the learning of a child in early years can support them in their entire life.
Recent studies of early childhood education have even shown some remarkable success. It resulting effects on child motivation and learning power last for a long time. Today where education has become very important role to play in a society, it is not right to postpone investing in children education until they become adults, nor wait till they reach school age. In fact early childhood is a vital phase of life in terms of a child's intellectual, emotional and social development. Besides this, the most important point to know is that the growth of mental abilities is at an astounding rate and high proportion of learning takes place during this period.
It is very important for every parent to understand that a child spends first eight years in realization of his or her own identity. These are very crucial years when children gain a sense of self and learn to associate themselves with the people around them. They develop an understanding and behavior to a certain extent. For this reason it is suggested that early childhood education during these years should be more focused on teaching children about the world around them through play and establish the links. Moreover, many child development experts also agree that play is very important in the learning and emotional development of children. A play can be multi-facet and often helps in educating different skills in children. In addition to this, education through play also helps them learn social skills, and develop values and ethics.
Certainly, today it won't be wrong to say that early childhood education is the key element that helps in building a god foundation for child's educational success. Every child learns habit and form patterns that are not easily changed in later years. If parents and educators can develop productive early education patterns for the children in their charge, those children will be on their way to achieving great educational success. The lack of parental interaction during early childhood can negatively impact a child's development. Ultimately it is the equal responsibility of the parents and tutors to assure the children have a good early childhood education that can further help them develop their personalities.
Looking for career options in early childhood education? Find the list of top education schools or universities for courses or programs in early childhood education in United States or Canada. Also find top education schools and teaching degrees for start career in teaching.
Millions of young and not so young will continue or try to finish their education. For a developing country, mobility depends so much in the acquisition of knowledge. Education practically is almost a religion.
Sadly however, meager resources of our country cannot assure our seekers of knowledge of adequate support. It is the duty of and older generation to hand down the knowledge of how to make most of life. However, life is fast changing. Lessons acquired in the placid past are sometimes not applicable to the turbulent present. New sciences have evolved. What may be true yesterday may not be applicable now. Information technology, genetic engineering, molecular biology and celestial physics threaten old beliefs. Cybernetics and robotics threaten to replace human in the factories and farms.
The greatest asset our country has is trained manpower. Exported manpower, the Overseas Filipino Worker is one of our biggest dollar earners. The OFWs fill a niche in the Middle East semiskilled and skilled manpower needs. Our proficiency in English gives us an advantage. Our adaptability and willingness to adapt to allied job, in short our versatility, makes us a prime catch. However, only few of us make it to the specialty department.
Recently, there had been a move to legislate out our valuable asset. There had been a move to add another year to the grade school but was turned down. Objections had been raised pointing out that such move would make an acquisition of a degree more expensive. The reason may be valid but it might not be considering it from another angle, which is from the angle of employability.
The Philippine job market is educational degree conscious. Most employers require completion of a four year college course before considering acceptance of an applicant. In highly industrialized countries, they are more concerned with performance. Am applicant may be asked for a work experience but it may not be absolutely necessary. Then a newly accepted employee has to pass a probationary period of a month or more before being considered a regular. Should he not able to perform within that period he is laid off without chances of recall. An ephemeral term for dismissed.
While we are making our education shorter, other countries are upgrading theirs. In the United States, aside from a preschool training, the grade school reach up to seven or eight years. Secondary or high school education requires four years while a Bachelors degree needs another four years. A Masters degree needs a year of graduate work plus a passing of general examination plus a writing of a brief thesis. Ph D needs another three more years of study plus an extended examination and writing of a dissertation based on individual research.
Now U. S. pedagogues are devising lessons, which teach kindergartners rudiments of engineering through play. The course hopes to promote critical thinking and creativity at the same time teaching them not to be afraid of taking intellectual risks. Perhaps we cannot hope to match them but we have hopes on the adaptability of our children if taught well. Expatriate Filipino children had made a name for themselves as over achievers. It is high time to allocate more of our limited resources to education and to upgrade our curricula so we can keep our edge in the international job market.
