I actually think one of the most American lessons you could learn in school is that your neighbors come from all races & religions, speak different languages, have families that may look different from yours, and that's what makes us great. I'd make Cultural Studies a requirement over Algebra II.
I think we would all do well to articulate and share what truly makes us great, as a candle lighting the darkness that threatens us. Your first sentence is a great start. Let’s not stop there.
This is the smartest suggestion I've read in a long time.
Frankly, attacks on these ideas as "woke"' or justifying shutting them down by denigrating them as "DEI" is literally, fundamentally, foundationally un-American.
My kids’ school does exactly this starting in kinder, age appropriate obviously. They discuss race, indigenous tribes and history, as well as families and how they all look different.
It’s a relief to know this is part of the curriculum, although I know it’s a unicorn, and we need this discussion to be universal. The whole school celebrates black history month and discusses pivotal figures and their roles in civil rights etc. again, starting in kinder and first.
Well I was rubbish at algebra but it’s fine cause it has no role in daily life. People on the other hand….
Agree.
Add civics, please
I totally agree
Great post. As a teenager in the 90s this was never taught at my high school. Also, one third of my school population was ESL.
My kids’ school does this exact thing. They talk about race and indigenous peoples starting in kinder, age appropriate obviously. They discuss families and how they look different.
Cuz I mean, I've never used algebra 1 much less 2. It's not that helpful in healthcare
Also Civics should be taught starting in Elementary School.
The evil that inhabits Trump and all of MAGA struck here in Minneapolis in the first week of school. This sad event should be a powerful reminder that much of America's been making suicidal election choices for some time. Will enough voters hear the quiet whisper that what we reap, we sow?
Grade school was full of lessons like this in the 70s and 80s in (checks notes) California.
Agree 100%. Unfortunately, though, a lot of people are quite determined right now to prevent schools from being the place where all those incredible differences sit together and get to know each other in a classroom. (1/2)
It's almost as if they figured out that when people from different backgrounds and perspectives sit in the same room and learn together they learn to appreciate and empathize across those differences—which then makes it much harder to enact a dehumanizing, oppressive political agenda. (2/2)
This is interesting because Seattle Public Schools had an informational session on Civics in SPS. The program director was laying it all out but paused at the end because she said teachers had an incredibly difficult job in trying to encourage kids of all backgrounds to have a civil conversation.
Further evidence of its importance, imo!
More training needed on how to set guidelines for civil discourse. A lot of kids may come from homes where calm discussions are unheard of.
I home schooled my kids after three years of begging to do so. This was exactly the kind of research and discovery they got to explore. I learned more from them during those years than from all of my weird Catholic education!
I’m glad my kids still have civics class! We all have different backstories, upbringing, concepts…it is how we celebrate those that makes us richer!
It wouldn't be necessary to jettison any other worthy coursework if we only taught history and geography starting in K. We have to get over the idea that knowledge is unimportant. www.coreknowledge.org
Yes, we are being subverted. KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov said the majority of the agency was dedicated to subverting the West through psychological warfare and ideological manipulation. Sound familiar? He made a visual system that explains it. My question is, for how long has it gone undetected?
Let's throw on some fucking civics while we're at it eh?