"If Frederick got two beatings per day how many beatings did he get in one week?"
"Each tree had 56 oranges. If 8 slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?"
These were two of three math problems assigned to 100 3rd graders that recently provoked outrage from parents in a community outside of Atlanta, Georgia. The most incendiary question referenced Frederick Douglass, renowned abolitionist, famed author, orator and advocate for human rights. The perspective expressed in the questions is devoid of any reference to the humanity of the enslaved, the immorality of the institution of slavery, or the economic, social and political advantages slave owners derived from the practice. The passive voice used in the question referencing Frederick Douglass avoids addressing the brutality of the slave owner who beat him twice a day for an entire week and trivializes the condition of slavery. The controversial questions make one wonder: if this is how slavery is being presented in math class, how is the subject being treated in social studies classes?
The anger of the parents is justified. However, the episode should prompt an investigation of other more subtle and systemic curricular choices that distort history and indoctrinate children to practice and allow discrimination. New laws in New Hampshire empower parents and citizens to challenge aspects of the curriculum they find objectionable. Similar legislation in other states would allow parents and citizens to challenge those who are responsible for curricular choices before an incident like the one that occurred in Georgia arises. Parents should advocate for a curriculum that is expansive, inclusive and rooted in historical truth. At a local level, they should seek to influence curricular choices as they are being made. At a national level, they should insist on the inclusion of procedural and substantive safeguards in the pending Reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, to ensure that curricula are historically accurate and reflective of the diversity that characterizes the American experience. To simply call for the termination of the teacher who authored the offending math questions and to label the questions and their author "racist," without more, is so much sound and fury, and will accomplish very little.
It is commendable that the teachers at the Georgia elementary school attempted to integrate social studies into the math curriculum. That kind of cross pollination and inter-disciplinary approach to teaching improves the quality of education for students. Furthermore, teachers should teach students about slavery. It plays a central role in American history, and it provides an important context for students to understand existing social, political and economic realities. The incident should be understood in the context of a national trend towards "sanitizing" American history. In 2010 Arizona HB2281 banned racial and ethnic studies from the K-12 public and charter school curricula. Today, Tennessee activists are demanding that state textbooks omit references to the fact that this nation's founders included slave owners.
To be sure, teachers cannot teach everything, but curricular choices are not neutral decisions. The math questions, as disturbing as they are, present only the tip of a very large iceberg that is off the radar screen of many parents and citizens. People need to know who is making curricular choices and be aware of the social and political perspectives that influence those decisions. The resignation of the teacher who authored the questions, and his racial identity, are distractions, and his resignation should not end the controversy. The issue is far bigger than one teacher and an ill-conceived homework assignment. The incident should raise parent's awareness about what their children are learning in classrooms across the nation and focus attention on those who make curricular decisions. Parents must become more engaged in influencing and monitoring the substance of their children's education. All of us should be aware that what teachers teach, and how they teach it, is informed by their own perspectives, even in a math problem.
Certain... elements within this country, WANT us to be ignorant, to be ill-prepared for higher education, to be non-curious about the world around us, to not ask questions. They don't care that we lack important information which would help us to make informed decisions about our lives. They dismiss YEARS of objective academic research, peer review, and then more research for 'easy,' often ignorant answers given by ministers/politicians who rarely have any expertise beyond memorizing the bible. Unfortunately, there way too many parents who enable this reality.
Educating our youth is a COMMUNITY effort and since so many of our communities are fractured, our children will continue to suffer.
Do you have a reference for this? I'm asking because you have way of twisting facts, and I'd like to check this out for myself.
What facts do you think I've twisted?"
http://www.thegrio.com/local/atlanta/school-near-atlanta-comes-under-fire-for-slavery-recess-game.php
I love history,and tour the country.I was in Charleston,SC ( the birthplace of the Confederacy).I toured the cities many large Mansions,many of these had beautiful iron gates,and fences.I learned that this artistry was done by slaves,also that a large portion of the agriculture ,and knowledge new planting techniques were brought to South,Carolina by slaves.You don't need to go back to Africa( a place these children will most likely never see).Teach them to be proud of that slave heritage,and that even through bondage they brought beauty,and knowledge to this land.The pyramids of Egypt,The Roman Colosseum,are they less in beauty,and magnificence because they were made by slaves.You cannot presume to speak for every person of color history.Many Blacks in America were never slaves,a thriving integrated black community was in New York before the Civil War,Black Preachers preached to integrated churches throughout the Northeast.Children need to be taught to be proud of their American Heritage from the time the first boat hit a Jamestown,VA.
We know our children better than do their teachers.
We have the time and responsibility to nurture our child (one of the teacher's 24+ students), to notice what changes or issues happen because of school.
The difference between hovering and genuine concern is a fine one, but when you are managing your child's/children's education, it is worth getting it right.
We certainly have issues in selection of our curriculum, for example in the debates over whether to teach creationism vs. science fact as the origin of our species. However, allowing parents to entangle the education system by challenging "aspects of the curriculum they find objectionable" is a path toward opinion based curriculum rather than "historical truth."
I think President Obama's State of the Union initiative to get rid of poorly performing teachers is a step in the right direction. I agree that parental engagement and monitoring, and ultimately discussion and clarification of social issues, is a key to educating our next generation.
Clearly we have curriculum selection issues in the US, such as the debate on whether to teach creationism or scientific fact as the origin of our species. But to entangle the education system by allowing overly protective parents to "challenge aspects of the curriculum they find objectionable" is a road toward opinion based curricula rather than "historical truth." President Obama's State of the Union initiative to allow poorly performing teachers to be removed is a step in the right direction if enacted.
The free market stops this happening. The free market is a constraint in radically improving education.
Teachers relish the idea of being able to share information freely which is actually a result of the tenure system, where teachers don't feel the need to hide information due to competition.