Lito Velasco links Monday’s
post on Beck University to “how many of the textbooks in America are just plain full-of-crap. I compare the books I
used in high school to those used by some people I know (my wife's, for
instance) and it amazes me to see the liberties, exaggerations, and really...flat out lies
being espoused and taught to kids by some of those books. But...if they're being
used by an educational institution, people take it as ‘truth.’ When really,
it's a ‘version’ of the truth being spread to hundreds (if not more) of kids
because of the agenda of one group of people who wish to partially rewrite
American and even global history.”
Mike Parker responds to Wednesday’s
post on attitudes toward universities by writing that “Since the
election, I've been viewing my college experiences with a renewed appreciation.
It's interesting watching so many white newscasters and politicians expressing
their surprise at the ‘new’ America that emerged out of this election,
referring of course to the impact the minority vote had on the outcome. Some
are dumbfounded, some are saddened, some are outright scared. And yet, thanks
to the Liberal Arts education I received
in Comparative Literature and Spanish, which exposed me to diverse
American and international works of literature and allowed me to interact with
a wide array of young American and International students, I'm free of the
above-mentioned struggles others are having with this so-called ‘new’ America.
The fact is my education had me prepared for this ‘new’ America even before it
became a mainstream story. In attending a multicultural university, where
Affirmative Action had ensured a diverse student population, and where
professors were committed to teaching diverse voices and perspectives, I was
able to address many of my own negative emotional reactions to diversity and
shared power at a time when my mind was still open to new ideas. I guess what
I'm saying is that this election, and the struggle many whites are having with
it, is a vindication of higher education in the Humanities and the Liberal
Arts, where professors have been way ahead of the game in preparing students
for the future, and providing students with the tools to function in this world
with understanding and empathy, and
without fear or hatred.”
Jeff Renye follows
up Mike’s thoughts, adding, “I quote from the end of Chapter 8 of Diane Ravitch's book, The Death and
Life of the Great American School System, the latest edition, 2011 [This quote is a mix of
Ravitch and citations from a 1988 statement made by the National Academy of
Education on the value of the National Assessment of Educational Progress]: "'While these competencies
[reading, mathematics, and writing, which the NAEP test is meant to measure]
are important prerequisites for living in our modern world and fundamental to
general and continuing education, they represent only a portion of the goals of
elementary and secondary schooling.' They represent neither the humanities nor
the 'aesthetic and moral aims of education' that cannot be measured. The
scholars warned that 'when test results become the arbiter of future choices, a
subtle shift occurs in which fallible and partial indicators of academic
achievement are transformed into major goals of schooling...Those personal
qualities that we hold dear--resilience and courage in the face of stress, a
sense of craft in our work, a commitment to justice and caring in our social
relationships, a dedication to advancing the public good in our communal
life--are exceedingly difficult to assess. And so, unfortunately, we are apt to
measure what we can, and eventually come to value what is measured over what is
left unmeasured.'" To play off of a title
from a book written by the scientist and historian Stephen Jay Gould, here is the mismeasure of education. And
the miscalculation of what it is and what it is worth.”
11/17 Memory Day nominees: A tie between two unique, influential, and very impressive American educators and activists, Yung Wing and Grace Abbott.
11/18 Memory Day nominee: Wilma Mankiller, the first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation and a lifelong activist and voice for Native American rights and
communities.
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