Week 10, October 31st


Image result for precious knowledge

Precious Knowledge

“Precious Knowledge” is a documentary that showcases a legal struggle between a Mexican-American Studies program, also known as La Raza Studies, being implemented in Tucson Unified School District and Arizona state legislation. The film begins by highlighting typical class instruction in the program and student interviews. In the late 90’s/early 2000’s, the dropout rate of Mexican-American students was among the highest of any other racial group. Gilbert, a student featured in the film, says at the beginning, “Sometimes I feel like the education system is so against me, that they don’t want me here. That they want me to just drop out.” Other students expressed that they were having trouble earning good grades and staying engaged in school. With the introduction of ethnic studies to the school curriculum, students were given the opportunity to learn about the history of their culture, to look at this world through a critical lens, and ultimately are taught the values of love and respect for themselves and their community. After the implementation of ethnic studies, test scores among students taking these classes increased, and 93% of students involved in ethnic studies graduated. It is clear that students see a purpose for their learning and are inspired to stay in school and work hard. The school environment depicted in the film demonstrates Grace Bogg’s vision of a meaningful, community-centered educational system for all students.

However, things take a turn when Tom Horne, TUSD superintendent, calls for the discontinuation of all ethnic studies programs through a statewide bill. He argues that the program indoctrinates students through an anti-American agenda and opposes splitting up students based on their race. The rest of the movie follows the legislation of this bill through Arizona House and Senate. Students are enraged that the program that helped them see a purpose for their education is being shut down by officials who had never even set foot in their classes. Along with their teachers, students protest the bill on multiple occasions. Ultimately, the bill passes and the ban on ethnic studies classes is enforced in Tucson schools.

We’ve discussed in class how the actions of those in power are a direct result of their desire to stay in power, and they fear any type of revolutionary thought among marginalized groups. This documentary provides another example of the privileged few taking measures to oppress racial groups at the first hint of uprising. While it was frustrating to watch such an important program be shut down, it seems as though the ban of this program sparked a national movement for other school districts to start implementing ethnic studies classes. Had the students in this video given up and accepted defeat rather than fight for their education, this ban might not have gained so much national attention. This is an important film that all educators should see. It enforces the importance of planting the seeds of “precious knowledge” within our students-- the lessons of their cultural histories and the skills needed to advocate for themselves.

Image result for ethnic studies

Comments

  1. LisaOctober 29, 2018 at 5:15 PM

    I also read the article you linked - and thought this comment really helped indicate WHY knowledge is needed ... "They were doing a very simplistic application of Karl Marx's dictum: All of history is the struggle between the 'oppressor' and the 'oppressed,' " Huppenthal says. "And they were going to identify whites as oppressors and Hispanics as the oppressed."

    "going to"... again, this knowledge of REAL history and reality of current events etc... is important for all of our students. I also think that Huppenthal really fears an overthrow of "white government", but in my eyes, the more all students (and people) can be honest about the systems in place, the more gradual and real change can happen -- as opposed to continuing to oppress until it actually erupts into an "overthrow" revolution!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ally FortierOctober 30, 2018 at 3:30 PM

    What Huppenthal says in the article you linked, that"To teach kids that they're victims and they can't get ahead in life because somebody's holding them down, I think it's a mistake" is exactly the kind of denial that perpetuates white supremacy. A statement like that comes from someone who will never be willing to admit that they have ever been wrong. For years, our educational system has made white people out to be the heroes, the ideal. It's only recently that we have begun to look more closely at important historical figures and have stopped romanticizing them. In class we talked about how many places are celebrating Indigenous People's Day rather than Columbus Day, and I think this is an important step. Huppenthal was so offended that the class identified Benjamin Franklin as a racist, but anyone who has read his autobiography knows that he was far from perfect. As people become more educated, they start to see that the 'perfect' America that we know has actually been a horrific place for many, and this is what lawmakers are so keen to keep people from finding out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Julie GonçalvesOctober 31, 2018 at 12:34 PM

    I focused so much on Gilbert during the film, how he had this poor relationship with school and finally he finally felt like education meant something. He wanted to learn more. It was extremely frustrating hearing Horne tell media and the court that ethnic studies was anti-American when these course were based on understanding and respect.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 9, October 24th

Image
School-to-Prison Pipeline Jean Anyon described a “hidden curriculum” in schools, where students are being prepared for the social class that they are brought up in. Working class students engage in rote learning and are taught to obey authority, and elite class students are given opportunities to expand their thinking and solve real-world problems. The two articles we read this week introduce another “class” of students to the mix-- the criminal class. We examine the Latino and LGBTQ student populations and are provided with many examples of how these students in particular are marginalized and treated in ways that oftentimes pushes them out of school and straight into the criminal justice system. In the article “Smoking Guns or Smoke & Mirrors”, Rios and Galicia describe how “administrators, educators, and SROs can label youths of color as “animals,” “inmates,” or “killers,” and they can also project criminal futures onto their students, as well as lead their students to believe ...
Read more

Week 8, October 17th

Image
Standardized Racism Lamawaima and McCarty push for a critical democracy-- one that “demands that the United States be a nation of educational opportunity for all, not merely a homogenizing and standarding machine, unable to draw strength from diversity”-- in their article “American Indian Education and the Democratic Ideal”. They describe the struggle of Native American tribes to maintain their sovereignty through bilingual/bicultural education programs and community-controlled schools. Research has shown that when students are given the opportunity to receive long-term schooling in their heritage language, their academic performances surpass those of their peers who are taught in English only. In addition, when Indigenous community-controlled schools were at their peak in the 1970s, Native American students reported a positive self-image, improved confidence, and increased interest in learning. However, these schools and educational programs are constantly fighting a battle against th...
Read more

Week 6 Blog, October 3rd

Image
National vs. Cultural Identities  This week’s reading, entitled ““I Was Born Here, but My Home, It’s Not Here”: Educating for Democratic Citizenship in an Era of Transnational Migration and Global Conflict”, is an in depth study of how Palestinian American students perceive their national and cultural identities and how Palestinian Americans are viewed in the “imagined community” of the United States. The author, Thea Renda Abu El-Haj, worked with many Palestinian students over the course of the study and analyzed their words and actions to discover how they identified both culturally and nationally. Many of the students describe themselves as holding U.S. citizenship but being Palestinian, even though they were born in the US and lived there at the present time. The students all demonstrated that they have strong connections with Palestinian culture. Some students describe that even though the conditions in Palestine are tougher as far as access to medical services, a decent e...
Read more