| Author | Message | ||
     harmonysociety Citizen Username: Harmonysociety Post Number: 4 Registered: 12-2004 |
}} At times, I often wonder why? If the South Orange/ Maplewood community is so diverse, then why isn’t our curriculum? Sure we art classes and an African Studies program that last for one semester (equivalent to roughly four months of a five day school weeks) but where is the diversity in that. A student has the option of taking a variety of art classes and fibers classes but the history of the student body population is not matched by an equally diverse curriculum. Africa is a huge continent and the current issues going on in the 43 countries (as of 1999) cannot be comprehended in the span of a semesters time which approximately 64 hours and 43 minutes including vacation time, days off and half days. 64 hours and 43 minutes is not enough time to study the history of at least 3 millions years of human life, society and culture (as determined by Louis & Leakey). The matters of finances are certainly applicable when discussing the creation of new course in the schools. However necessary the new courses are, I would propose that the already existent courses in Columbia on African Studies be set up so that the first semester course covers one aspect of the continent and the second semester course cover another portion. This way, more information is available by the students. On the latter end, I would like to see the history of the African Diaspora presented accurately through out the mandatory curriculum and as an elective that covers the subject in more depth. It would also be nice to see the history of Asia and the Middle East to be more specifically, taught in the World History courses with the addition of electives for the same purpose. What do you all think? | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 5239 Registered: 1-2003  |
Not a bad idea. So much of our idea of world culture is very European oriented. We leave out so many continents. As far as I can tell, our culture puts the rest of the world in roughly this order. US Europe the rest of North America and Central America Asia South America Middle East Australia and Oceania Africa Of course, the ordering varies from person to person, depending on ties and interests. | ||
| Analog01 Citizen Username: Analog01 Post Number: 16 Registered: 11-2004 |
Isn't Black History Month enough? | ||
| cmontyburns Citizen Username: Cmontyburns Post Number: 636 Registered: 12-2003  |
Not sure how much of a global history you can cram into one high school history class. Safe to say that we undercover just about every country, including the U.S. Granted, the disparity could be worse than I realize. But I'm just saying that the answer to "Wouldn't it be great if kids learned more about XXX" is, "Of course it would, so long as we're willing to expand high school to a year-round, 8-year cycle." | ||
| e roberts Citizen Username: Wnwd00 Post Number: 287 Registered: 3-2004 |
i agree with cmonty on this one. there are tons of topics that would be great if children could learn about in school from the practical of some basic car repair and household stuff to the more academic in art history and other topics such as african history. however we have time and monetary constraints also we have to consider that european explorlation is what lead to our development as a nation so there is a direct cause and effect. which i believe is why there is an emphisis on european history. lets not forget either that once a student completes high school there are many more classes on many different cultures availible on the college level. if someone chooses not to go to college then in my opinion at least they have much more important topics to learn about besides african histry such as finance and finding employment. | ||
| chickadee Citizen Username: Chickadee Post Number: 33 Registered: 6-2002 |
My gripe with world history is that we never learned parallel timelines; just basically looked at American and European history with no connection to each other(it could have been the school district I was in) In any case, I found this great book/chart at the St. Georges sale that gives parallel time lines for The Americas, Europe, Asia, India, and Africa. So, you just chose a year-1600, and you can see that Queen Elizabeth I died(1603) while the Oyo Kingdom was at its height in Nigeria, and Dutch sailors "discovered" Australia by accident, and the Ottoman Empire was expanding into East and Central Europe, and the Shogun Era began in 1603 in Japan, and the first proper novel, Don Quixote, was written by Cerevantes in 1605. The title of the book/chart is The History of the World: A 6000 Year Chronicle. I recommend it for basic, non in-depth historical information. | ||
| harmonysociety Citizen Username: Harmonysociety Post Number: 5 Registered: 12-2004 |
Good idea chickadee! Analog01!? Are you completely serious? One month out of each year is designated for the studies of African/ African- American history. This is true, and I agree that it would be illogical to try to cramp all of that history into the high school curriculum. However, that is not the issue that I am talking about here. Rather, I’m advocating a balance of the history of the world as a way to construct an accurate perception of global history and our contemporary interactions. When the students take courses with such names as “World History course”, their idea is that they are receiving the history in a holistic manner. Most students are not conscious of the biases that exist (even if for “justifiable” reasons e Roberts). So to not offer that balance, the students assume a perspective similar to that of the textbook they study. The tests that are given further enforce this. So students from a racial background other European, are being taught that they have very little history with very little worth (more specifically minority students). This is the issue that I am bringing attention to. | ||
| e roberts Citizen Username: Wnwd00 Post Number: 292 Registered: 3-2004 |
harmony, while i agree with you in principal that under ideal circumstances students should be taught about all cultures in an equal amount it is not feasible and since it is not possible we have to pick and choose. whether or not it is right a huge portion of the culture of america comesfrom european influence from our government, to our legal system, to our style of dress, and to many of our ideals. i am in no way attempting to demean other cultures as insignificant i am saying that students in america should be learning about where american culture came from and the bulk majority of it has a major european influence. | ||
| mem Citizen Username: Mem Post Number: 4583 Registered: 5-2001  |
harmony - many private elementary schools do have more in depth studies of global history and geography - I seem to remember no specific emphasis on one country or continent like Africa at OLS (we learned the names and locations of all the countries, regions and a lot of history of the rest of the world, including Africa), but it was leaps and bounds ahead of what I encountered when I ended up in public high school. Until they straighten out this public school curriculum you have to pay to play... | ||
| Analog01 Citizen Username: Analog01 Post Number: 28 Registered: 11-2004 |
I am completely serious. I happen to agree with eRoberts, so I won't re-type those comments. Using your same logic harmonysociety we should also have a Jewish studies program. We have a large Jewish population in SO/M - why aren't there any long term in depth studies of Jewish culture? I believe that US history is being seriously shortchanged in our schools - more emphasis needs to be placed on it. If this is coupled with chickadees suggestion about parallel timelines, at least students would see how US history parallels world history. There is ample time in high school and college for students to focus on in depth studies of other cultures. | ||
| harmonysociety Citizen Username: Harmonysociety Post Number: 8 Registered: 12-2004 |
Jewish studies should be included as well. Might anyone want to bring attention to these issues at a board of education meeting? As for "American culture"... There are many components of our society that have its origins in places other than Europe. I would even venture to say that most of our “culture” has its origins elsewhere. Certainly the architecture of traditional cathedrals have been modeled after the Egyptian (Kemitic by the area’s original name) temples, Yoga class, agricultural methods that have been adopted from the Native Americans, much of today’s attire has a lot of Oriental and urban influence, etc. The list goes on and on. | ||
| Lizziecat Citizen Username: Lizziecat Post Number: 491 Registered: 5-2003 |
Why do you spell "Afrikan" with a k? Is that some kind of political statement? Aren't you afraid it will be confused with "Afrikaans?" | ||
| Analog01 Citizen Username: Analog01 Post Number: 32 Registered: 11-2004 |
I was wondering the same thing, I figured that spelling it with a "c" is too Eurocentric, so it is spelled with a "k" to be more Afrocentric. This website I found provides some background on it: http://www.augsburg.edu/pan-afrikan/ quote"The use of the “k” in the spelling of Afrika is intentional and represents self-definition." | ||
| Lizziecat Citizen Username: Lizziecat Post Number: 492 Registered: 5-2003 |
I don't see how misspelling can represent self-definition, but that's just the English major in me talking. | ||
| e roberts Citizen Username: Wnwd00 Post Number: 293 Registered: 3-2004 |
let them spell it however they would like, as long as they understand how silly it looks to most other educated people, but thats just the masters in english in me talking. | ||
| Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5128 Registered: 4-1998  |
I think some langauges used in Africa don't have the letter 'c' so using a K became a more typical way to anglicize the name. We now use Beijing instead of Peking and no one questions others' intelligence for using one or the other. | ||
| Analog01 Citizen Username: Analog01 Post Number: 33 Registered: 11-2004 |
Ahh, but we are in America, so we should spell words in English. Africa is spelled with a "c". As I was googling the internet, I am sure I saw a website that had the following title: Afrikan Amerikan Kulture See anything wrong with that? | ||
| Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5129 Registered: 4-1998 |
The thing with language is that it's always changing. If enough people start using Afrika it will become accepted. If you don't believe me, search Google in Afrikaans: http://www.google.com/intl/af/ | ||
| Nohero Citizen Username: Nohero Post Number: 4283 Registered: 10-1999  |
Dave, I don't agree with your Chinese analogy. "Beijing" is better than "Peking", in converting a Chinese word to something that can be read by Europeans. But, it's still a Chinese word which we are trying to spell. On the other hand, "Africa" is not an African word - it's a European word (from the Romans, so "Africa" is originally a Latin word). The spelling "Afrika" comes from the Germanic languages, I think, of which Afrikaans is one. | ||
| Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5130 Registered: 4-1998 |
Dunno. How is Beijing something that can be better read than Peking? It changed only because China changed how it romanized its language in the '50s. Afrika is the Swahili term for Africa. It may be a double standard. |
