Time to Unschool Your Minds

So often I have conversations with people regarding their disappointments with the public school system. I am not sure when we came to the conclusion that the public school system was the only option we had to educate our children. This form of educating our children is not our saving grace. It is simply the most convenient and least expensive option that parents choose. Yep, it is a choice. We will talk about educational choices at a later time. If you are choosing this route you must know that because it is the least expensive, government ran form of education for parents we have to become involved as parents, community members, and advocates to fill in the gaps. There are several ways to become involved that do not include being physically at the school all day everyday. We will also talk about that at a later time.

I feel that the first step to an unschooled mind is knowing your history so that you can channel your expectations in the right the direction. That's what I will introduce to you today. This is just a little summary. Did you know that the African American journey to a quality education started with the pre-colonial West African ages, to the arrival in the New World through the Middle Passage on slave ships, to the modern Civil Rights movement? In the past, education for African youth in the western African societies was built upon a foundation of direct participation in political and cultural life for the community. Education, especially literacy, was and is something to be put in the art of living productively and generatively. During this time in history, education for African youth was perceived as a normal occurrence of which a high value was placed upon the need and desire to learn among the community. African youth experienced an indigenous education rich in inter-generational communication and teachings, oral literary traditions, dialogical relationships between the youth and elders, and cultural heritage. This perspective of education changed during the transformation of the New World through the Middle Passage when Africans were transported as slaves to what is now called America. At this point the original values and perspectives of African education moved from education as a cultural norm, to education as a struggle and fight for freedom and liberation.

That was just a little snippet of how the perspectives of education have changed throughout time. Ponder upon what I just wrote. My hope is that the light bulb will come on in your head that will lead you to a deeper understanding of why our children are failing in the public school system. The educational system that we currently have was not built upon the founding principles and cultural norms that we were once privileged to in the past. For those of you who feel that understanding the history of the African American culture is irrelevant to why our students are failing today, I beg to differ. Although African Americans and mainstream Americans may share common, uniquely American cultural values, we should not assume that cultural literacy and patterns are the same for everyone, and that cultural differences do not matter.

To Be Continued.....