And the Pendulum Swings…

     Or is it pushed?  Education has always been susceptible to political and social will, so all too often education reflects rather than leads change. 

     For more than one hundred years competing forces have battled over public education policies and practices.  At the turn of the 20th century, when manufacturing was at its height, the pendulum swung toward the racist theory of eugenics whose proponents used standardized tests to posit that some races - such as immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe as well as people of color - were inferior to others, worthy of only a rudimentary education that equipped them to work in factories that demanded a healthy, young, and low wage workforce.     

         In 2021, students and educators are still living with standardized tests and evaluations, whose results may be incomplete and unfair assessments of students’ intelligence and potential.  This is not an opposition to the importance of standards to establish age-appropriate goals and identify gaps in student development.  It is rather an acknowledgement of Dewey’s view that students learn differently (for any number of reasons) and that their academic strengths, growth, and potential for achievement should be appraised accordingly.

     To that point, over decades, Black and Brown educators - including Lisa Delpit, Gloria-Ladson-Billings, and Pedro Noguera - pushed for academic, social, and cultural equity, against racial stereotypes, and for the right to have input in decision-making.  They were not alone in their efforts.  White educators - such as Ted Sizer, Deborah Meier, and Dennis Littky - were also developing a holistic, inclusive, student-relevant approach that honored diversity, student voice, and personalized learning. To help kids who struggled in traditional schools, Sizer, Meier, and Littky each started their own schools.

These educational leaders are among those who believe in an intentional culture of learning that delivers equity and excellence for all children from all backgrounds.  This approach is known as Cultural Relevance and comprises both social and academic components. Scholar Geneva Gay defines it as "the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them." 

      Cultural relevance took on new and significant meaning in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder on May 25, 2020.  The tragedy was a flashpoint.  It galvanized activists who called for social, political, and educational justice, and an accurate account of slavery and black racism in our country.

     It is right to truthfully report and understand the unfiltered histories of all of us, knowing that we cannot change what happened so many years ago.  And we cannot let the past divide us.  What we can do is unite and promise our children and each other that the past will never be repeated. Not against Black, Hispanic or Latino, Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Muslim, Irish, Native, and all other underserved, stereotyped, mistreated, and marginalized Americans.  Not against any American.  Not on our watch!  Never again!

     In 2021, education is no longer solely a reflection of the political and social will of those in power on the outside.  Education today means collaborating with many stakeholders to lead change from within.  Is it messy? Yes.  Is it perfect?  No.  We have a long way to go.  But change is being pushed, and it is moving in the right direction.  

     We are on the brink of becoming a majority minority nation: a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse society of many religious, spiritual, and political beliefs.  An American democracy the Founding Fathers never imagined. We should look back and learn from the past.  Together.  We should learn from the present and effect change. Together.  Finally, we should look forward, hold each other up, and stride into the future that we envision and build.  Together.  Maybe then, we can release the pendulum to find its center.  And ours.

Unpacking Education, Newsletter No. 2, Question of the Day. Answer:

A civil rights activist, author, and public speaker, a prominent abolitionist and antislavery reformer, who fought for equal rights under law and believed in the American democratic ideal of liberty and justice for all, the answer is b) Frederick Douglass. The quote is from one of his most famous speeches, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” delivered on July 5, 1852, in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, NY.