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Copyright © 2013. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Curriculum Violence: America's New Civil Rights Issue : America's New Civil Rights Issue, Nova Science Publishers,

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EDUCATION IN A COMPETITIVE AND GLOBALIZING WORLD

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CURRICULUM VIOLENCE: AMERICA'S NEW CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained herein. This digital document is sold with the clear understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, medical or any other professional services.

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EDUCATION IN A COMPETITIVE AND GLOBALIZING WORLD Additional books in this series can be found on Nova‘s website under the Series tab.

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EDUCATION IN A COMPETITIVE AND GLOBALIZING WORLD

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CURRICULUM VIOLENCE: AMERICA'S NEW CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE

ERHABOR IGHODARO AND

GREG WIGGAN

Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York

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Copyright © 2010 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. For permission to use material from this book please contact us: Telephone 631-231-7269; Fax 631-231-8175 Web Site: http://www.novapublishers.com NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers‘ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Any parts of this book based on government reports are so indicated and copyright is claimed for those parts to the extent applicable to compilations of such works.

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Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. Additional color graphics may be available in the e-book version of this book. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Ighodaro, Erhabor. Curriculum violence : America's new civil rights issue / Erhabor Ighodaro and Greg Wiggan. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-61761-084-4 (eBook) 1. Education--Curricula--Social aspects--United States. 2. African Americans--Education. 3. Discrimination in education--United States. I. Wiggan, Greg A., 1976- II. Title. LB1570.I34 2009 375.00089'96073--dc22 2010025441

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is through God that we receive our Blessings. I (Erhabor) thank those on whose shoulders I stand: Chief Onaiwu Ighodaro and Mrs. Osarogue Ighodaro. I am eternally grateful to my co-author (Greg Wiggan) and true friend. We dedicate this work to the memory of our mentors Dr. Asa Hilliard III and Dr. Robert B. Ingram. To my wife, Shannan, and twin daughters Esosa and Idia, I honor you! I (Greg Wiggan) wish to thank my very first teacher, Mrs. Lyons, the renowned educator in Westmoreland, Jamaica, and my last teacher, Dr. Asa Hilliard. I owe my deepest gratitude to these two educators who have had an enormous impact on my growth and development. I also wish to thank my mother, Norma Wiggan, and my father, Austin Wiggan, and our ancestors. Peace and blessings...

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CONTENTS

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Acknowledgments

v

Chapter 1

National Trends in Education

Chapter 2

Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance

21

Chapter 3

Research Process and Method

51

Chapter 4

Formation: Stages of Development

67

Chapter 5

Deformation: Stages of Development

79

Chapter 6

Conformation and Student Development

99

Chapter 7

Reformation and Student Identity

115

Chapter 8

Transformation: Curriculum and Student Identity

131

Chapter 9

Reflections and Recommendations

143

1

About the Authors

159

Appendices

161

Appendix A: Interview Schedule

163

Appendix B: Demographical Data Form

167

Appendix C: Thematic Statement for Validation ―2nd Interview‖ Schedule

169

Appendix D: Coded Matrix From 1st Interview

173

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Contents 183

References

191

Index

217

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Appendix E: Aggregating the Codes by Interview Schedule

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Chapter 1

NATIONAL TRENDS IN EDUCATION

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―Moreover, I believe that part of America‘s genius has always been its ability to absorb newcomers, to forge a national identity out of the disparate lot that arrived on our shores. In this we‘ve been aided by a constitution that – despite being marred by the original sin of slavery - has at its very core the idea of equal citizenship under the law…‖ Obama, 2006 - The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, p. 231

The notion of equality is a fundamental belief that undergirds the American democratic system, and it suggests that it is ideal for all to pursue happiness and that the society must regard all as equal before the law. Access to education is a major part of the American dream, and many people view it as a social equalizing force (Mondale & Patton, 2001). During the twentieth century, American education underwent a series of reform initiatives that included desegregation resulting from the 1954 Brown case, and federal mandates aimed at providing ―common‖ educational experiences and accountability for ensuring successful school outcomes across racial and ethnic groups (Alexanderet al., 2003; Hilliard, 1995a,b; Jairrels, 2009; Lomoley, 2010; National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983; Ripley, 2010; Woodson, 1933).

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CURRICULUM VIOLENCE: AMERICA‟S NEW CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE This book examines the historical context of the African American educational experiences, and it provides information that helps assess the dominant discourse on educationthat often emphasizes White middle-class cultural values and the standardization of student outcomes. The concept of curriculum violence is central to our analysis in this work. Curriculum violence, wedefine as the deliberate manipulation of academic programming in a manner that ignores or compromises the intellectual and psychological wellbeing of learners. Related to this concern are the issues of assessment and the current focus on high-stakes standardized testing in schools, where most teachers are forced to teach solely for the test. Based on a model of cognitive development by Ingram (2003a), the theoretical framework of this book includes five distinct social-psychological processes; formation, deformation, conformation, reformation, and transformation. These concepts are explored in chapters 4-8 respectively, and are applied to student development and school achievement. In this chapter, we introduce national trends in American education and explain their implications on minority education. In our second chapter, we examine the background of African American education, school curricula, and student experiences. In chapter three, we introduce the social context and research design for the case study of Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida. Interviews conducted with principalsprovide the theoretical framework concerning curriculum violence. In chapters 4-8, we examine the social-psychological stages of cognitive development and curriculum violence, and we explain their implications with respect to African American students. In the final chapter, we provide reflections, recommendations and we also highlight a transformative educational model that addresses the legacy of omission and marginalization of minorities in the curriculum (Woodson, 1933). A curriculum is generally understood to be the program of study and experiences that are related to a field or discipline. Marshall et al., (2000) explains that a curriculum tells us what is worth knowing and experiencing, as well as when, where, why, how, and from whom the learner should learn? What is taught in schools tells us what counts as knowledge and who has power and influence in a society (Abdul-Haqq, 1994; Anderson, 2001; Anyon, 1980; Asante, 1980, 2003; Ornstein et al., 2003; Madaus & Kellagan, 1992;

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National Trends in Education

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Marsh & Williis, 2002; Pinar, 2004; Polito, 2005). And it also tells us who is relatively less important, less powerful and on the margins of the society. Those who are omitted or given very little voice are the victims of a phenomenon we refer to as curriculum violence. In this book, we highlight curriculum development as a central process in helping to improve the content and representation of marginalized groups such as Native Americans, Latino/Latina, and African Americans. Specifically, we address the historical and contemporary omissions of African American content and contributions in the curriculum (Woodson, 1933). Although this work focuses on African American educational experiences, the analyses, findings and recommendations have broad implications that extend to other groups, and into the domain of curriculum development. In the final chapters of the book, we explore an inclusive, non-violent curriculum and transformative educational model, which aims to help address some of the cultural mismatches between schools and students‘ culture, as well as enrich students‘ school experiences (Anderson, 2001; Asante, 1980, 2003; Marsh & Willis, 2002; Pinar, 2004; Popham, 2001). In the context of this work, we explore the curriculum as a socialpsychological discourse of power, which reflects social and institutional values. In this sense, the three basic elements of a curriculum are: (I) Content (what is taught), (II) Process (how it is taught) and (III) Evaluation (how knowledge is assessed). A curriculum forms a discourse of power and culture, where the interests of dominant groups or power elites, are stated and then served through a dominant curriculum, and where in the curriculum development process, less powerful groups are not allowed to enter the dialogue. In the following discussion, we highlight trends in American education such as the ‗No Child Left Behind‘ Act of 2001, and school achievement and school failure. We underscore the fact that the focus on high-stakes testing is actually undermining what students learn, because only tested content are emphasized in schools. Whereas the focus has been placed on standardized testing (assessment/the third element), we contend that the lack of emphasis on curriculum development and pedagogy has constrained, rather than enrich students‘ learning opportunities. We highlight national trends in education by examining the following issues: The meaning of education and what is valued in schools. Basic factors that influenced the American educational tradition.

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Erhabor Ighodaro and Greg Wiggan The impact of global environmental conditions on American education. Student achievement, school dropouts, and graduation rates. Intelligence and standardized tests and their implications for African American students.

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THE MEANING OF EDUCATION AND THE DETERMINATION OF VALUE The purpose of education is something that is debated amongst the most well-meaning educators and scholars. This debate forms a continuum ranging from the more functional and market-oriented goals;, to emphasize that schools should prepare students for the workforce, as opposed to the more liberal, progressive, and democratic perspectives that incorporate social and egalitarian aims of education. There is no scholarly consensus on the philosophical foundations and purpose of schooling in America (Polito, 2005). The fact that there is a conundrum surrounding the most basic educational question underscores a fundamental challenge in the quintessential task of teaching in a culturally diverse and globalized society (Wiggan & Hutchison, 2009). However, in an institutional sense, education is generally understood as the process that involves the acquisition of knowledge and skills obtained through a field of study concerned with teaching and learning. This broad definition encompasses a common understanding regarding the value of learning, growth and development of students, as well as the art of teaching. Although the idea of providing access to education is quite noble and is a basic right of individuals in a truly democratic society, yet lingering questions must be asked, such as: what knowledge or skills should learners acquire? And how should we assess whether or not learning has taken place? As mentioned, a central challenge in defining what constitutes an education concerns the determination regarding what is valued in a society and what is worth learning? In chapter four, we revisit the issue of what counts as knowledge in a society. In consideration of the stated challenge regarding the meaning of education, we extend our definition into the areas of value and practice. As we mentioned, education denotes the acquisition of skills or knowledge-base as prescribed by a society, group or institution. In practice, education can be described as the outcomes from the process of teaching and learning that are

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demonstrated through learners, and in the social improvements in a society. This perspective on education is grounded in the assertion that value is assigned by social groups, generally the elite or those with more power and privilege, which means that what constitutes education for one group may be the hallmark of mis-education for another group (Woodson, 1933). In the history of American schools, education has been in some instances qualified as the dissemination of technical skills training in a Henry Ford efficiency sense of the assembly line, wherein schools produce workers for the workforce. Since the advent of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), former Soviet Union, great emphasis has been placed on ensuring that the future workforce obtains proficiency in mathematics and science, and that this is measured by standardized testing (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994; National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983; Popham, 2001). However, an educated person may or may not include anyone of the stated attributes of being a trained apprentice or a good standardized test-taker. For as Carter G. Woodson (1933) suggests, what good is a college graduate who is socially and culturally irrelevant?

SOME BASIC FACTORS THAT INFLUENCED THE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL TRADITION Although we discuss more thoroughly in the next chapter the history and development of schooling in America, it is important to outline a social and historical context as a basis for discussing current trends in education. In the book, School: The Story of American Public Education, Mondale & Patton (2001) explains that the American educational tradition is rooted in class privilege, racial and gender inequality, and a religious appetite for school reform. Although national beliefs in the ideas of patriotism, fairness and goodwill helped to inform the founding documents of the nation, generally these benefits were only extended to dominant group members. African Americans did not experience the virtues of fairness and goodwill in pre-andpost slavery America, for their struggles for equal rights and justice continued to be an enduring battle. Before the Reconstruction Period, education was primarily for White males from Protestant and wealthy backgrounds, and in some cases, privileged White women were allowed to attend schools (Mondale & Patton, 2001; Tyack, 1974). African Americans were never to be educated and they were

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only allowed to learn from the Bible, which according to slave masters, would save them from their heathen ways, meaning their indigenous African culture and spirituality. We argue that understanding the nature of oppression and privilege is an important undertaking in assessing, critiquing, and transforming the discourse on curriculum development, student achievement, and school accountability and reform initiatives; like, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This is further discussed in chapter two. It is our contention that one cannot address the issue of student underperformance without accounting for the reality of educational inequality and its relationship to the ―class ceiling‖ in America, meaning the social class restrains experienced by some groups (see chapter six). Due to the exclusionary nature of the original American educational program, a significant rationale for initial school reforms aimed to address the education of poor Whites, Women, Catholics, and later African Americans. School reform pioneers like Thomas Jefferson and Horace Mann developed the original public schools as a matter of national obligation and patriotism, to educate all citizens as part of the goal of creating a common national character (Mondale & Patton, 2001). For African Americans, the historical trend in there consideration for education evolved from a state of total exclusion from educational opportunities, to tempered accommodation through the separate but equal doctrine, and then to the 1954 school desegregation ruling in the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas case. Increasing activism through the Civil Rights Movement and gradual change aimed at equality marked the subsequent decades of the 1960s and 1970s. Although this activism helped to create better educational opportunities for minorities, there remained a great need for curricular reform, which remained unaddressed throughout most of the twentieth century. We argue that in the twenty-first century, through initiatives like NCLB and FCAT, curriculum violence is a new civil rights issue that emerges from a historical legacy of omission. Historically, because Africans and African Americans were considered as property, schools purposefully suppressed and denied the intellectual heritage of these groups (Woodson, 1933). We contend that some of these legacies of exclusion and culturally repressive assessments are still prevalent in contemporary American education.

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THE IMPACT OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ON THE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM From its formative years, American education has undergone a process of gradual and perhaps turbulent changes. In some respect the American story is the world‘s premier experiment on social and cultural exclusion of minorities from schools and the curriculum. Although in the 1960s and 1970s, some of the school segregation problems were addressed through bussing, and school districts later re-segregated. The emphasis on improving educational opportunities for minority students shifted as the nation focused its attention on international comparative trends, which suggested that the U.S.S.R./Soviet Union was outperforming the U.S. in mathematics and the sciences. This growing concern with school performance and the evident rivalry between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., created a great interest in standardizing education and obtaining measurable achievement data. Since the publication of A Nation at Risk (1983), more attention and concern regarding the performance of school outcomes in the U.S. became the focus.A national emphasis for evaluating American students‘ performance based on standardized test scoreswas done partly to compare them to other nations. This was much more about a rivalry between competing global superpowers, the U.S. and U.S.S.R., than it was about sound education reform or high quality education and student assessment. Today, in the age of globalization, we live in a globally interconnected society. Just with the touch of a button, key on a computer terminal or a personal smart-phone, a child in the U.S. can instantly communicate with a peer in a remote village in Malawi. In addition, as a part of creating greater business efficiencies, it is now a common practice that local jobs in the U.S. are outsourced to individuals and companies in foreign countries. In the globalization era, social and cultural interactions are creating new kinds of classroom diversity. Through the diversity ofculture in the classroom, the value of inclusion and multiple perspectives and voices can be best appreciated by deconstructing grand narratives, Eurocentrism, and imperial capital market forces in education (Wiggan & Hutchison, 2009). Although most schools around the world are increasing in diversity, global market forces continue to impact school processes and fuel discussions regarding the purpose of education. Citing these basic 21st century technological and social realities, some school reform advocates have decried the substandard international comparative and global record of the American educational system

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(Alexander, 2003; Dittmer; 2004; Ferguson, 1998; Horn, 2003; Mullis et al., 1997, 2000; National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983; Wiggan & Hutchison, 2009). Although Tyack (1974) and Tyack and Cuban (1995) suggest that some of the international comparisons on school achievement are a false alarm, those who undermine more progressive assessment regarding the track record on public schooling in America continue to seek credible arguments to debase the modest record of the American educational experiment. As it pertains to the issue of global education, one major point that most researchers can agree on is the need for more robust curricula and high quality instruction for American students (Angell & Avery, 1992; Haakenson, 1994; Jairrels, 2009; Wiggan, 2008). As such, when we address the evolution of education in America as part of a relevant international discourse on schools, we see the need for an expansion of student learning in the areas of depth and breadth. In addition, there still remains a need for more quality educational experiences that enhances global learning, and students‘ growth and development (figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1. Global Instructional Paradigm (GIP, Figure 1.1).

The depth of a global instructional paradigm (GIP) suggests a need to harness the taken-for-granted or neglected curricula priories in the Arts, Music, Black History, Multicultural Education, Physical Education, etc. The breath of the GIP demands an outreach and calls for the expansion of the ―networth‖ of students‘ understanding of not only the diverse and multiple perspectives of the American experience, but also the larger global community

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so that students can become global citizens who are competent crossnationally. Finally, the height of GIP addresses the growth and development of students across the lifespan and in a social democratic sense, which can be achieved by exposing students to multiculturalisms, global issues and perspectives, and historical and contemporary topics (e.g., slavery, sweatshops, environmental protection, etc.) related to environmental and social justice issues. As such, the GIP provides some needed context for increasing students‘ international awareness and competencies in a 21st century globalized world, which makes education and student performance and assessment more relevant and meaningful.

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STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, SCHOOL DROPOUTS AND GRADUATION RATES As mentioned, students‘ success in America has been increasingly measured in one or more standardized schema (Jairrels, 2009; Ripley, 2010; Stillwell & Hoffman, 2009). Even though there is research that suggest that many students and some school administrators frame student achievement in a manner that goes beyond standardized testing (Ighodaro, 2007; Wiggan, 2008), the dominant perspective on student performance is based on tests that are normed for White middle-class students. The academic record from the prevailing national data sources suggests that in all measures of school outcomes, African American students and Latino/Latina generally have the most challenges in schools, and are the most underserved by schools (National Center for Education Statistics, 2009; Stillwell & Hoffman, 2009). Data from a Schott Foundation study entitled, ―Lost Opportunity: A 50 State Report on Opportunity to Learn,‖ suggests that beyond the differences in students‘ outcomes, there is an opportunity gap in America‘s schools (Schott Foundation, 2009). According to the study, school performance in the U.S. is stratified along racial and social class lines, where students in the best neighborhoods attend the best schools and have the best school performance. For instance, students‘ access to well-resourced and high-performing schools has the following percentages according to racial composition: Asian Americans (35%), Whites (32%), Native Americans (19%), Latino/Latina (17%) and Blacks (15%). Correspondingly, students in poorly resourced and low performing schools have the following percentages by racial categories: Blacks (42%), Latino/Latina (35%), Native Americans (32%), Asian

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Americans (21%) and Whites (15%) (Schott Foundation, 2009). It is quite telling that in the American educational system, a Black child is more likely than any child from any other racial group to be poorly resourced, and to attend a low performing school. This presents is a challenge to those who profess standardization of testing, while overlooking school inequalities and disparities in quality of instruction and curricula for minority and poor students (Stillwell & Hoffman, 2009). Similar findings from the National Center of Educational Statistics [NCES] (2009) reveal that in 2006 there were 549,149 high school dropouts in the country. The data collected between 2005 and 2006 depicts the following racial composition in high school dropout rates: American Indian/Alaska Native (6.9%), Black, non-Hispanic (6.3%), Hispanic [Latina/Latino] (5.8%), Whites, non-Hispanic (2.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.4%). Regarding graduation rates, the data shows the following: Asian Pacific Islander (89.9%), Whites, non-Hispanic (80.6%), American Indian/Alaska Native (61.8%), Hispanics [Latina/Latino] (61.4%) and Blacks, no-Hispanic (59.1%). Students who are not passing their classes eventually become school dropouts. According to NCES (2009), 14 states had 80% or better in graduation rates (Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin). And ten states (Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico and New York) had graduation rates below 70%. The findings also noted that school district size was associated with differences in graduation rates across the four U.S. regions. It is also quite telling that three of the states with graduation rates below 70% (California, Florida, and New York) have four of the largest and most diverse student populations in the country. In the next section we discuss the early beginnings of standardized testing as a high-stakes measurement, and we explore its implications for African American students.

STANDARDIZED TESTING OF STUDENTS Although the origin of standardized testing is unclear, scholars like Garrison (2001) have traced the first appearance of competitive written exams to China some two thousand years ago. The first large-scale use of the IQ test in the U.S. emerged around World War I as the nation attempted to supply its military with some of its brightest minds (Popham, 2001). Shortly after WWII, in 1947, Educational Testing Service (ETS) was created to provide school

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exams and measurements. Today, ETS functions as the world‘s largest private educational testing and measurement organization, and it operates on an annual budget of approximately $900 million, and administers and scores more than 50 million exams annually, in more than 180 countries. According to Perrone (1991), the testing phenomenon was reignited after A Nation at Risk was published in 1983, and there was national concern about public schools. Later, the U.S. Public Law 107-110, also known as the ‗No Child Left Behind‘ Act of 2001 (NCLB), further tied public school funding to standardized testing. Today, in the U.S. most school districts evaluate the academic qualification of applicants and the performance of teachers based on standardized tests, making high-stakes testing a major issue in public schools. The following highlights some of the well-known standardized tests that are used in school admissions processes, and for gate-keeping purposes. These tests included: American College Test (ACT); Graduate Record Examination (GRE); Graduate Management Admission Test for Business School (GMAT); High School Placement Test (HSPT); International English Language Test System (IELTS); Law School Admission Test (LSAT); Miller Analogies Test (MAT); Medical College Admission Test (MCAT); Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT); Dental Admission Test (DAT); Scholastic Aptitude Test for College Entrance (SAT); Secondary School Admission Test for Preparatory School (SSATPS ); Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL); Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC); Test of Spoken English (TSE); and Test of Written English (TWE); among others. Today we have a plethora of standardized tests, and the test themselves and the preparation classes and supporting materials related to the tests, help to form a mega-industry.

EARLY SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT ON LEARNING, INTELLIGENCE AND EDUCATION Historical motivations behind the development of standardized testing in the U.S. are contextualized in the racial patterns of group exclusion, which were aimed at maintaining privilege and power, and for related social and monetary gains. In 1897, George R. Stetson‘s attempt at comparing the school performance of Black and White students exemplified the early development of racist assessments and bias testing, assessment violence (Wiggan, 2007). In an experimental study on intelligence differences across racial groups, Stetson

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tested 500 African American and White students from a public school in Washington, D.C. Stetson purposefully selected the darkest Black students in the districts, assuming that high melanin levels was associated with low intelligence (Guthrie, 1998/2003; Wiggan, 2007). The test results from a schema in poetry and literature showed that the African American students outperformed their White counterparts on some outcomes, but the results of the experiment were dismissed because it contradicted the prevailing discourse on intelligence and racial superiority claims (Guthrie, 1998/2003). Mental assessment emerged in the field of psychology, and was later used in education to rank and sort students (Binet & Simon, 1916; Chomsky & Halle, 1968; Piaget, 1955; Skinner, 1950). French Psychologist Alfred Binet is one of the pioneers of ―intelligence testing,‖ and he is credited with helping to develop assessment for special needs students. In their work, The Development of Intelligence in Children, Binet & Simon (1916) define intelligence in a manner that related to one‘s mental development and one‘s ability to display and apply knowledge. Binet & Simon (1916) remarked: It seems to us that in intelligence there is a fundamental faculty, the alteration or the lack of which, is of the utmost importance for practical life. This faculty is judgment, otherwise called good sense, practical sense, initiative, the faculty of adapting one‘s self to circumstances. A person may be a moron or an imbecile if he is lacking judgment; but with good judgment he can never be either. Indeed the rest of the intellectual faculties seem of little importance in comparison with judgment (pp. 42-43).

Throughout the twentieth century, the ensuing debates about intelligence, learning and educational proficiency emanated from two basic philosophical perspectives surrounding the nature vs. nurture debate. While the idea of intelligence is culturally specific and is subject to experience and varies across countries and cultures, and is therefore not standard or measurable; we assert that all human beings have aptitude or propensity for learning, and this can be nurtured and developed based on interest, education and socialization. In America, the proverbial dialectic between those who argue that intelligence is innate or biologically determined, versus those who pose that intelligence is an acquired trait that is environmentally influenced , has been properly cited (Gould, 2005; Hilliard, 2004). In the following pages, we present the discourse from the perspectives of three schools of thought: Cognitivist, Behaviorist, and Constructionist.

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COGNITIVIST SCHOOL OF THOUGHT Influenced by the works of early thinkers like Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (Burt, 1909; Chomsky & Halle, 1968; Spearman, 1904), cognitivists propose that intelligence is the result of an internal mental process that develops over the lifespan, and that it can be defined and measured. For instance, Burt (1909) asserts that:

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The growing belief that innate characters of the family are more potent in evolution than acquired characters of the individual, the gradual apprehension that unsupplemented humanitarianism and philanthropy may be suspending the natural elimination of the unfit stocks – these features of contemporary sociology make the question whether ability is inherited one of fundamental moment (p. 169).

As Burt (1909) notes, following a related tradition, some biological determinists have attempted to explain differences in student achievement and children‘s cognitive development by arguing that intelligence is genetically determined (Hallinan, 2001; Herrnstein & Murray; 1994; Jensen, 1969). Hilliard (1995a,b) explains that the position of cognitivists who are biological determinists, have limited explanatory power in regards to students‘ performance because they undermine the influences of social and economic conditions, and school inequalities (Ainsworth & Wiggan, 2006; Horvat & O‘Connor, 2006). Similarly, Gardner (2006) supports the need for a shift from standardized testing in order to better tap into the multiple intelligences that students bring to the classroom.

BEHAVIORIST SCHOOL OF THOUGHT Emanating from the works of thinkers such as B. F. Skinner (1950), behaviorists posit that learning can be facilitated by motivational schemes that reinforce human behavior through systems of rewards and punishment. Starting with the use of early laboratory experiments, behaviorists conducted tests on animals to determine their learning habits, which were later connected to human learning (Pavlov, 1927). The premise of behaviorist thought is the suggestion that human behaviors and intelligence are acquired traits (Gould, 1996). While the behaviorists offer some important insights about human reward and motivation, many of these thinkers have been challenged on the

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basis of reproducing racist truth claims about the abilities of different social groups (Guthrie, 1998/2003).

COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTIONIST SCHOOL OF THOUGHT Stemming from the works of Jean Piaget (1955), constructionists view knowledge as being constructed or created by individuals, and as developing experientially. The constructionist perspective was a radical departure from the prevailing discourse of behaviorist and biological determinist. Constructionist view children as ‗knowers‘ and they view their development as being a part of natural stages of life. They see children as developing mental schemes based on their experiences. Constructionism gives voice to children who have previously been thought of as proverbial recipient of the learning enterprise. The notion that children can create their own knowledge and imprints was an important contribution to the field of psychology and child development. However, later on psychometricians would make some great attempts at developing standardized cognitive measures.

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Critiques of Standardized Testing In this section, we present three critiques for the discourse on standardized testing based on its hegemony, cultural bias, and evidences of inequities in American schools. We discuss the aforementioned under the categorical headings of standardization and power, standardization of culture and the ―unstandardization of standardization in schools.‖

Standardization and Power “Hegemony and Education” In educational research, standardized test scores are typically used as measures of student achievement and as a means of enforcing accountability in schools (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994; Jencks & Phillips, 1998). Researchers have documented the hegemonic aspects of schools inherent in the use of standardized tests and school curricula that are based on dominant group experiences (Garrison, 2001; Gould, 1996, Hilliard, 1995a). There is also significant evidence in the literature that knowledge is constructed,

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manipulated and controlled by those who wield power (Canby, 2008; Foucalt, 1969, Freire, 1985). The proponents of standardized testing argue that it represents an accurate and objective approach to assessing intelligence, school achievement, and that it provides important data for addressing school reform (Dittmer, 2004; Herrnstein & Murray, 1994; National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). Opponents on the other hand argue against the validity of emphasizing a single evaluative tool, which has high-stakes for teachers and students (Gardner, 2006; Garrison, 2001; Gould, 1996; Hilliard, 1995a; Popham, 2001). Gardner (2006) offers a compelling discussion on the subject of intelligence, which affirms the multidimensional and dynamic nature of human abilities. The proposition that human beings are endowed with multiple sets of intelligences (musical, bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal) has elevated the intelligence debate to a new plateau of scientific discourse, which provides a context for this book (Gardner, 2006). The politics of standardized testing was the main thrust of the work documented by Garrison (2001), in which he argues that: ―evidence has been presented showing that while standardized tests can be used to make important decisions, they are mainly tools to justify decisions: both functions work mainly to reproduce the existing social order‖ (p.50). In reaffirming his contention that standardized testing is inherently political, Garrison (2001) concludes: While we can say the origin of standardized tests lies in a crisis of the social values system that occurred with the transformation from feudalism to capitalism, the development of the new standards rests in the particular crisis that capitalism needed to deal with, which was how to practically confront new social entities… (p. 194-195).

Although scholars such as Dittmer (2004) and Horn (2003) have noted the assessment and accountability functions of standardized testing, others have critiqued standardized test on the basis that it serves to legitimize the status quo (Garrison, 2001; Hansen, 2001; Hilliard, 2003; Waite, 2004). In underscoring the legitimate power of standardized tests, Hilliard (2004) in his article, ―Assessment Equity in a Multicultural Society,‖ asserted that historically many of the negative practices in testing emanated from people aligned with biased and racist ideologies.

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Standardization and Culture “Irony or Agony… Cultured?” The importance of culture as a reservoir of knowledge and reference point for examining the ubiquitous nature of cultural conflict has been well documented (Avruch, 1998; Carment & James, 1997; James, 1954; Lederach, 1996). There is evidence suggesting that conflicts often emanate and thrive in conditions where experts do not recognize nor validate local knowledge and culture (Lederach, 1996). Researchers have documented how high quality instruction and a culturally responsive curriculum positively impacts the academic performance of minority students, and specifically African Americans (Hale-Benson, 1982; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Lyons & Chesley, 2004; Moses-Snipes, 2005; Smith-Maddox, 1998; Suleiman & Moore, 1995). The connection in the literature between standardization and culture is pervasive, and speaks to the marginalization of minority culture in school curricula and academia (Asante, 1991; Browder, 1992; Hilliard, 1994; Irvine, 1990; Jairrels, 2009; Smith-Maddox, 1998; Woodson, 1933). Yet other scholars see schooling as being grounded in a process of acculturation and reproduction, which is linked to legitimizing the privilege of dominant groups (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Freire, 1970; MacLeod, 1987). For instance, in her work on African American students and school failure, Irvine (1990) argues that students live in multiple contexts (interpersonal, societal, and institutional) that contribute to - or inhibits important school outcomes. Several other studies investigate the positive effects of high quality instruction and culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy on academic achievement (Delpit, 1995; Ladson-Billings, 1994). Moses-Snipes (2005) examined the effects of culturally responsive math instruction on African American students‘ achievement. The study indicated that the instructor‘s use of the students‘ culture as a tool of instruction, helped students‘ comprehension and academic performance. However, there still remains a need for a more systematic approach to improving the quality of education across the nation, and implementation of a multicultural curriculum in schools. In providing continued enrichments for students and support for teachers, there still remains a need for developing more diverse student assessments.

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African American Students and Marginalization in Schools One particular example of the adverse effects of standardized tests on African American students was reported by (Hansen, 2001). The analysis by Hansen (2001) found a cultural disconnection between the standard language used in schools and the language often used within the homes of minority students.‘ This is one area where teachers need greater awareness and sensitivity to better serve minority students. There is some evidence that these students feel marginalized in schools and often reject mainstream school culture by forming their own subcultures (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986; Rhymes, 2004). Similar student subculture formation is seen in alienated White students (MacLeod, 1987). Although others have reported on school inequalities and the more compelling consideration is how theneighborhood context can influence academic achievement of African American students (Ainsworth & Wiggan, 2006). Many have debunked the acting-White assertion as a social phenomenon that is present when students are unable to code-switch from dominant cultural ethos to sub-cultural ethos (Harpalani, 2001; Hovart & Lewis, 2003); the implied subordinate cultural references inherent in this discourse puts the dialectic between standardization and culture as an important point of investigation. In a study on the subject, Horvat & Lewis (2003) investigated Black high school students‘ perceptions on the notion of ―acting White,‖ they found some very different results from the Fordham & Ogbu (1986) study. Horvat & Lewis (2003) and Horvat & O‘Connor (2006) reported that there were more structural impediments to Black students‘ performance, and contrary to the ―acting White‖ assertion, most Black students were motivated to achieve in schools, but they often lacked the resources and opportunities afforded to their White counterparts.

Standardization and the Anomaly “The Unstandardization of Standardization in Schools” The literature on school inequality and African Americans‘ experiences is robust and multifarious (Dittmer, 2004; Garrison, 2001; Hansen, 2001; Horn, 2003; Jairrels, 2009; Kozol, 1991;2005; Popham, 2001; Smith & Rottenberg, 1991; Winnfield, 1990; Woodson, 1933). Some scholars report that the emphasis on standardization and standardized testing has improved student learning and could yield some benefits for African American students (Barth

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et al., 1999; Futrell & Brown, 2000; Hoff, 2001; Lashway, 2002; Lemann, 2000; Madaus, 1991; Marzano & Kendall, 1996; Schmoker, 2000). However, the preponderance of this kind of evidence suggests that standardized testing negatively affects students and teachers, where teachers teach to the test or teach students how to take the test, and students‘ actual learning is diminished throughout the school day (assessment violence). In addition, teaching to the test and creating assessment based on White middle-class standards, places minority students in a position of disadvantage because their culture is often excluded and suppressed in school (Madaus & Kellaghan, 1992; Mercer & Mercer, 1986; National Commission on Testing and Public Policy, 1990). It is important to highlight that the African American students‘ educational experience has been documented as a complex network of instability, inadequacy, and inequality (Asante, 1991; Kozol, 2005; Woodson, 1933). There was never an educational system that benefited slaves (Woodson, 1933), and after emancipation and the subsequent 1954 Brown case, African Americans have been in a perpetual struggle for access, resources, and representation in education (Asante, 1991; Jairrels, 2009; Kozol, 2005). The aforementioned issues raise legitimate concerns about standardization of testing. Yet, while school remains grossly unequal in quality and in recourses, education is mostly about student assessments. Some scholars have attempted to investigate why Black students have been unable to meet national standards in testing (Jairrels, 2009; Klopfenstein, 2005; Kolb, 1984; LadsonBillings, 1994; Losen & Orfield, 2002; O‘Connor, 1989; Phillip et al., 1998; Secada, 1995). Common answers to this question often revert back to students‘ family background characteristics, such as parental income, family structure, and parental education (Phillips et al., 1998). Other related issues such as language, culture (O‘Connor, 1989); poverty (Secada, 1995); low teacher expectations (Anderson, 1990; Phillips & Ebrahimi, 1993; Sleeter, 1993); students‘ subculture (Cook & Ludwig, 1998; Farkas et al., 2002; Fordham & Ogbu, 1986; Rothon, 2005); unresponsive teaching (Lyons & Chesley, 2004; Moses-Snipes, 2005; Suleiman & Moore, 1995); low teacher quality (Ferguson, 1998; Phillips et al., 1998); ability–group tracking that disproportionately places Black students in remedial or vocational classes (Gordon, 2000; Keller & Manzo, 2003; Klopfenstein, 2005; Lyons & Chesley, 2004; Losen & Orfield, 2002; Oakes, 1985); as well as the negative social and cultural effects on Black children who are bussed to White schools; are posited as reasons for students‘ underperformance and negative student identity development issues (Cummings, 1986; Stanton-Salazar, 1997). Furthermore, the lack of culturally responsive pedagogy in schools poses additional

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challenges for Black students (Chmelynski, 1988; Foster, 1997; Kolb, 1984; Ladson-Billings, 1994). Concerning standardization, one concern among scholars and educators has to do with a curriculum development and evaluation process, which undermines and downgrades students‘ learning by focusing on testing (Lewis, 1999; Madaus, 1991; Madaus & Kellaghan, 1992; Marsh, 2002). For example, numerous studies have reported that mandated testing at the elementary school level resulted in: (i) reduced time for instruction, (ii) the neglect of non-tested curriculum content, and (iii) increased use of test preparation materials (Allignton & McGill-Franzen, 1992; Ighodaro, 2007; Koretzet al., 1991; Popham, 2001; Shepard & Dougherty, 1991; Smith, 1991; Smith & Rottenberg, 1991; Winnfield, 1990). If we are going to improvement public schools and students‘ achievement, then there has to be a shift away from a testing model, to a model of providing high-quality education for all students. Perhaps, then the benefits of this education can be demonstrated by diverse assessments that go beyond high-stakes testing.

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CHAPTER SUMMARY In this chapter, we introduced the challenges related to curriculum violence and presented a brief outline. We examined the meaning of education and what counts as knowledge, and explored the social forces that influenced the American educational tradition, as well as the impact of global environmental conditions on schools. Lastly, we provided information on student achievement, school dropouts, and graduation rates as a context for exploring African American educational experiences. In the next chapter, we investigate the background and social relevance for examining curriculum violence as America‘s New Civil Rights Issue. We also examine indigenous African educational systems as a model for informing discussions on African American education, culturally responsive pedagogy and a non-violent curriculum.

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Chapter 2

EDUCATION AND THE CURRICULUM: BACKGROUND AND SOCIAL RELEVANCE

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In the American educational system the Negro had no place in the Curriculum (Woodson, 1933). The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife, - this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging, he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He would not Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face. (Du Bois, 1953, p. 6).

As we mentioned in chapter one, education involves teaching and learning which are related to the development of knowledge and skillsas prescribed by a society, a group, or an institution. In practice, education can be described as the process of instruction that includes both institutional (schools) and noninstitutionalized learning such as group socialization. The process and delivery of education are shaped by power dynamics that involves policymakers and dominant group members who can influence what counts as knowledge and shape the basic curriculum on how it is to be taught and how students are assessed. However, this also means that these stakeholders can create curricula to shape their own interests, which might result in the mis-education of another group (Woodson, 1933).

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In this chapter, we highlight the background of the American educational system and its curriculum challenge as it relates to minority students and African Americans in particular. We examine indigenous African instructional models based on contributions from the Nile Valley civilization, and ancient Bini Empire and Ibo intellectual and cultural perspectives. We close the chapter by reviewing indigenous pedagogical practices and their relevance and prospects for transforming African American educational experiences.

EDUCATION IN AMERICA

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The advantages enjoyed by the Negro in the Western world, now that he is free, are hardly greater for the attainment of true manhood than when he was in bondage. And a far more serious difficulty lies in the way of his genuine progress than the mere physical inconveniences which his colour entails, and that is, the impossibility, in the countries of his exile, of securing a proper individual or race development…We might illustrate what we mean by some of the most ludicrous and painful incidents-but this is not the place to record them-of the efforts of Christian Negroes of intelligence to force their outward appearance into, as near as possible, a resemblance to Europeans. (Edward Blyden, 1887/1967, p. 37)

As mentioned, there is no scholarly consensus on the goal of American education (Polito, 2005), and the task of educating in a complex global multicultural society is further complicated by a presumed one-size-fits-all curriculum and instructional method. Ever since the founding of the country, the nation has struggled with the issue of educating diverse groups and particularly, minority students (Mondale & Patton, 2001; Tyack, 1974; Tyack & Cuban, 1995; Van Sertima, 1976; 1983; 1992). Although we acknowledge that as a relatively young country, America has developed more rapidly and globally than any nation in recorded history. However, the merits of including minority contributions in American schools has been challenged, and the discourse on schools have been limited by practices that reify White middleclass values. In School: The Story of American Public Education, by Mondale & Patton (2001) noted three important educational developments in the history of education: (I) the establishment of secular education for the general public and the creation of school financing, (II) the education of girls, (III) the expanding of educational opportunities to African Americans. According to the authors, it was not until 1855, and primarily based on a petition by an African American

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 23 parent named Benjamin Roberts, that the Massachusetts Legislature, the first in the nation, abolished segregation in schools. After several civil rights and court challenges, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896 [Plessey vs. Ferguson], rendered the infamous ruling allowing separate but equal educational opportunities for African Americans. In 1954, the struggle for equal educational opportunities came before the highest court initiated by an African American African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) preacher, Reverend Oliver Brown, on behalf of his daughter Linda Brown and others. The court finally ruled in the landmark school desegregation case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, and overturned the previous ―separate but equal‖ doctrine. However, school segregation and inequality persisted. The American educational system continues to struggle in providing equal educational opportunities (Kozol, 1991, 2005; Tyack, 1974; Tyack & Cuban, 1995). School reform proponents have continued to focus their attention on addressing desegregation, school finance, Eurocentric curricula, and standardized testing as central educational challenges (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994; National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). There has been mounting concern that because of the poor school quality afforded to most minority students, the emphasis on standardized testing shifts attention from systematic school inequalities and the differential treatment of students, to the students themselves (Lewis, 1999; Madaus, 1991; Madaus & Kellaghan, 1992; Marsh, 2002; Popham, 2001).

THE CURRICULUM CHALLENGE You cannot consciously oppress a consciously historical people – Professor John Henrik Clarke

What exactly is a curriculum? Generally, a curriculum is viewed as a systemic program of study that entails a series of coursework and or a practicum. However, the issue and interest of educational stakeholders come into play in the curriculum development process. Tyack and Cuban (1995) reported within America there often is disconnections between the intent of school reform and its actual implementation. Pinar (2004) explained that there exists a fundamental problem in identifying a common curriculum framework in the U.S. Pinar further argues that conservative thinking and special interest groups have been shaping the American educational system.

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Marsh and Willis (2002) in their book, Curriculum: Alternative Approaches, Ongoing Issues, maintain that the educational policy and reform initiatives in the U.S. must address the challenges of curricula inconsistencies by social class and region, and that the task of creating a national program of study should be a collaborative, engaging, and evolving process. The subject of this book, curriculum violence, refers to the deliberate manipulation of education and academic programs in a manner that marginalizes students and compromises their learning experiences, as well as the intellectual and socialpsychological well-being of omitted groups; signaling to learners that these groups have no contributions or are not worthy of inclusion. The dynamics of curriculum and assessment violence affects teachers, who are forced to implement a curriculum and teach a designated body of knowledge, and students who become subjects of this information and its related assessment schemas. Curriculum violence also pertains to the aspect of undermining the skill of teachers through state and district mandated classroom practices, and pacing guides that force teachers to teach for the test. And in schools, students practice test-taking drills and rote-memorization exercises throughout most of the academic year. In addition, the exclusion of minority contributions and perspectives is a central issue in creating social-psychological and academic trauma in students. This phenomenon can lead to school avoidance and dis-engagement, low achievement levels, and negative social-psychological dispositions in students. In the case of African Americans, based on the legacy of omission and persistent denial of educational opportunity, the identified curriculum challenge is an extension of the developments in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. However, we acknowledge that there are growing trends in re-segregation of schools based on neighborhood processes and the racial segregation of wealth across the nation. In addition to the unaddressed aspects of the curriculum which excludes and inflicts violence on learners that are historical in nature, this will perhaps create a new civil rights issue in education. Later, in the closing chapter of this book, we provide a framework for the development of a non-violent curriculum that is inclusive, and aims to improve the learning experiences and social and educational well-being of teachers and students. The record on African American experiences, as detailed in the previous chapter, suggests that this group was never a part of the formative curriculum development process. There remains a modern legacy of omission in the American educational system. As several researchers (Canby, 2008; Johnson, 2002; Perrone 1991) have noted that since the publication of A Nation At Risk

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 25 (National Commission on Excellence Education, 1983), standardized tests scores have become the benchmark for gauging the performance of America‘s schools. The primary problems that are associated with the standardized testing movement concerns issues of cultural relevance and validity. Furthermore, if there are lingering challenges with structural inequities in schools (Kozol, 1991;2005; Lomoley, 2010), those should be uniformly addressed so that all students can benefit from a high quality education. As school reformers emphasize student assessment, the issue of whether testing demonstrates that students are not learning and/or whether the results provide evidence that the educational system is failing, is still a vital topic of civic discussion. Clearly, both forces are at work in American public schools. The disconnection between curriculum development and student assessment is a challenge that the current standardized testing movement has yet to address. In most schools, teachers are forced to teach for the test, and that pedagogy is based neither on a quality curriculum nor on effective teaching practices (Ighodaro, 2007; Popham, 2001). Considering the legacy of omission in schools (Woodson, 1933), school reformers should address the curriculum and inclusion as it pertains to African American history and culture, and African intellectual contributions. Although this book focuses on African Americans, one of the most underserved groups in public schools, curriculum reform should be extended to other minority groups such as Latino/Latina and Native Americans. As a part of the curriculum challenge, any authentic testing or assessment schema should reflect the multicultural aspect of the society, and allow students to share and demonstrate what they know through meaningful assessments. Some of the largest school districts in the U.S., including schools in the states of California, New York, Texas, and Florida, have struggled with standardized testing. When one considers that these are some of the most diverse school districts in the country, there are many opportunities to infuse students‘ experiences and cultural perspectives into the classroom and into assessment (Hilliard, 1995a; Gardner, 2006; Gould, 1996). The growing number of immigrants coming to the U.S. has garnered concerns regarding national testing programs that fail to provide English language learners with the resources or opportunities to succeed in American schools. In schools, instruction and assessment are typically conducted in English, and because there are few linguistic accommodations, English language learners generally have dismal school performances and many even dropout of school. In the case of Florida, other concerns include the

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observation that there are students meeting classroom expectations, but cannot pass the required state exam. There are also students passing the SAT, but failing the FCAT, and many students attending Florida‘s private schools are not required to take the FCAT, but are receiving public monies for a private school education (Dunn, 2003; DeWitt, 1991; Kaczor, 2006; Popham, 2001). In addition, there are lingering concerns amongst researchers, educators and important community stakeholders that the emphasis on high-stakes testing is leading to a narrowing of the curriculum, and increasing high school dropout rates amongst students from minority backgrounds (Ighodaro, 2003; 2007; Jairrels, 2009; Popham, 2001; Stillwell & Hoffman, 2009). Infusing culturally relevant education is important for improving student engagement in schools. The curriculum must be responsive to the learning needs of the students, and schools must establish ways to validate students‘ ethnic culture to enrich and broaden their experiences and perspectives (Njoku, 2003; Tedla, 1995). Towards this goal, in the concluding section of this chapter we highlight African contributions and educational traditions. We make connections to African Americans by examining indigenous African education as a context for promoting school engagement. Lastly, we introduce the Nile Valley contributions to civilization, and we present the ancient Bini educational traditions and highlight the Ibo rites of passage program as models for implementing an African centered perspective (Ebohon, 2008; Njoku, 2003; Obenga, 1995; Tedla, 1995). We review the literature on indigenous African education as a model of transformation for African American students.

AFRICAN INDIGENOUS EDUCATIONAL FRAMEWORK AND THE VALUE OF TAPPING THE ROOTS ―Until Lions have their own historian the tales of the hunt will always glorify the Hunter.‖ African Proverb

The story of the American experience is one of struggle and triumph. Beginning with a journey of enslavement from West Africa to the Caribbean, and then from the Caribbean and Africa to North America, Africans and African Americans‘ experiences have been characterized by agony, resilience, and triumph. Throughout most of the last four centuries, the international consensus on Africans and people of African descent has created negative

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 27 portrayals of Africans as heathens and savages (Browder, 1992; Jensen, 1969; Lefkowitz, 1996; Spearman, 1904). However, the actual evidence suggests that Africans had the first institutions of higher learning and several great civilizations that gave rise to European civilizations (Diop, 1974; Hilliard, 2003; Njoku, 2003; Tedla, 1995). Next, we highlight some important contributions from the African intellectual heritage, which can be used to expand African American education. Although there are cultural elements that make the universal educational experience a shared human phenomenon, there are unique features of an African education tradition (Njoku, 2003; Obenga, 1995; Tedla, 1995; West, 1994; 1999).

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AFRICAN EDUCATION In achieving our goal of informing the discourse on indigenous African educational content and methodologies, we would like to underscore that Africa is a continent with over fifty countries and each is individually enriched with quite diverse and unique intellectual and cultural traditions. However, African societies also maintain similar social and cultural characteristics. Diop (1978) explains the social and cultural basis of African societies. He argues that in spite of the different ethnic groups on the continent of Africa, similar ethos can be found in most of Africa. For example, women in pre-colonial African societies had a more elevated role than those found outside of Africa, where Africa had some of the earliest ruling queens (for example, Queen Hatchepsout of Kemet [Egypt], and the Queen Candaces of Ethiopia) and in many cases they even had female deities or goddesses (Ebohon, 2008). For instance, the worship of the goddess Isis, or Aset, was common in Northeast African and later in Europe. Isis immaculately conceived and gave birth to her virgin-born son Horus or Heru, who is the Son of God, and he performed many miracles and saved many people (ben-Jochannan, 1991; Jackson, 2002). Matriarchal families and ancestral worship are common in the cultural landscape of Africa, and Africans generally embrace a cosmology that combines the spirit and life worlds (Diop, 1978). In addition, all African societies had systems of education. For example, the high civilization in West Africa has been a principal point of interest for researchers. Saad (1983) poses that the mystery of ancient Timbuktu surrounds the fact that it was an African city occupied by Black Africans, people many westerners believed had no history and no intellectual contribution. And the

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abundance of evidence in this city suggests that – that position is nothing more than a fable and racism. Saad (1983) argues that: The place of Timbuktu in West African history must be a point of emphasis in any study on the city. This is particularly true of the present study, for in approaching Timbuktu from the standpoint of its Arabic sources of its Islamic traditions, we risk conveying to the reader the sense that the city has historically belonged to a realm other than the sub-Saharan or Black African… (1)

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Saad (1983) chronicles the ancient city of Timbuktu and its institution of higher learning, where Africans who had converted to Islam, continued a tradition of scholarship. He writes: Although it was not uncommon to engage in several fields of study at the same time, candidates to scholarship usually began their higher education in grammar, then in tafsir. In Qur‘anic literacy school (mak-tabs), these two fields at an elementary level were treated as one and the same; the instructor (mu‟allim) introduced his students to Arabic grammar while teaching and dictating the text of the Qur‘an itself. At more advanced levels, the two fields were likewise studied simultaneously, though sometimes under different masters. The main distinction lay in the fact that the students were introduced to grammatical commentaries as such, while in tafsir, works of a wide range of authorities were used as textbooks (p.74).

Saad (1983) continues: The extensiveness of the body of scholars, in a relatively small city, serves as a basis for synthesizing the various factors which affected their status… At a higher level of learning, it seems that many medium-ranking scholars acquired high status among their specific ethnic groups, or among their clans or sub-clans, without being prominent in the city-wide affairs of Timbuktu (pp. 158-159).

Like Timbuktu in West Africa, in Egypt [Kemet], the record on higher education at the Grand Lodge is impressive. Thales, who is considered one of the earliest of the Greek intellects, made it clear that he studied in Egypt. After his time in Egypt, Thales advised Pythagoras to further his study in Egypt, which he did, spending over 22 years among the priests (Obenga, 1995, p. 35). In Pre-Historic nations; Or Inquiries concerning some of the great Peoples and Civilizations of Antiquity, Baldwin (1869), explain:

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 29 Before the time of Menes, Egypt had a civilization which must have seemed old to those acquainted with it. This is apparent to all who have studied the antiquities of that country… Menes was a prince of Upper Egypt, the oldest of these separate countries. He was born at the city of This or Thinis, which appears to have been the royal seat of Thinite dynasty of the upper country. That he was a man of remarkable force of mind and character may be inferred from the fact that he was able to unite the ―Two Countries‖ under one government, and lay the foundations of a great monarchy whose monuments are still studied with admiration and wonder (pp. 271-272).

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Baldwin (1869) further states that, ―according to the uniform testimony of tradition, civilization was first established in Egypt by colonies of Cushites, or Ethiopians. The old civilization throughout the whole upper valley of the Nile had the same origin.‖ (p. 272) The historical record provides an abundance of evidence that Africans had advance civilizations and higher education systems. Zaslavsky (1973) further distorts the perceptions and images of Africans being savages and people belonging to primitive societies. She documents early systems of numeration in Africa and illustrates how Africans had basic and advance numeration systems around the continent. Obenga (1992) explains: In the Valley of the Nile, at this period [550-525 BC], instruction was widespread in the country. Each big city had one or more schools which depended on temples, which were powerful and venerable, priestly, and hierarchical. Sais, Budastis, Tanis, Heliopolis, Abydos and Thebes had great scientists who could not do without exploiting the ancient sacerdotal libraries, for example, the library of the Temple of Horus, at Edfu, the library of Tebtunis, at Fayum, including numerous literary text, religious or scientific treaties… (p. 68).

Obenga (1992) further notes that: Pythagoras studied in Egypt for twenty-two years, in Heliopolis, in Memphis, and in Thebes. His teacher in Heliopolis was the Egyptian priest Oinouphis (Ounouphis); in Egypt, Pythagoras learnt the Egyptian language, writing, geometry, philosophy (wisdom), mysteries, the notion of the power of the number, music (the diatonic scale), and astronomy; Pythagoras underwent ritual circumcision in Egypt in order to be admitted to the temples to learn astronomy, geometry and to be initiated in all the sacred ceremonies of the gods… (p. 103-104).

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Egypt continues to yield important evidence regarding its world class educational system and civilization. Obenga (1995) argues:

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The first season of the Egyptian year was known as akhet, and it coincided with the arrival of the annual inundation of the Nile and the helical (pre-dawn) rising of Sirius. The star Sirius (known as Sothis by the Greeks) occupies a very important position in various African classical, medieval and contemporary cosmogonies, and its importance therein reveals the extent to which African science has been advanced for a long time. For example: the bright star Sirius has a companion star, technically called a ―dwarf,‖ which was only discovered by Western science in 1862. The Dogon people of Mali, however, were aware of the existence of Sirius‘s companion—known as ―Sirius-B‖—a long time before, and had devised complex rituals to race its orbit. The Ancient Egyptian calendar was based on a similarly meticulous and expansive astronomical awareness (p.24).

Although this discussion introduces ancient Egyptian [Kemet] civilization as an important point of reference, the accounts presented from the Edos and Ibos embellishes on the rich cultural diversity of the continent. This review highlights the rites of passage and educational program of the Edo [Benin] and Ibo peoples of the mid-west and eastern part of Nigeria. As the son of an Edo Chief, Erhabor provides personal insights that corroborate the established accounts by his uncles High Priest Osemwegie Ebohon (2008), Chief Jacob Egharevba (1968) and close friend and Catholic Priest Father Greg Njoku (2003) on the topic. This part of the discussion contains the following three separate, but related treaties: (i) Introduction to the Nile Valley contribution to civilization as a historical foundations for African intellectual heritage, (ii) Ancient Benin Kingdom provides an example of an institutional and educational framework for assessing education in an African context, and (iii) Rites of Passage and educational program in traditional Ibo society examines the processes and methodologies of an African instructional program. The chapter closes with Sankofa [the African intellectual and spiritual challenge] as a perspective for framing the national dialogue on American education, with an emphasis on transforming the curriculum and pedagogy for African American students.

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 31

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THE NILE VALLEY CONTRIBUTION TO CIVILIZATION: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE AFRICAN INTELLECTUAL HERITAGE Based on the most recent scientific observations, the earliest evidence of humans on earth can be traced to the African continent (Shreeve, 2009). The assertion that humans share a common ancestry is a shared understanding among researchers, scientists, and historians. It is also true that every human society has contributed immensely to the world‘s civilizations. This is especially true of the nations that developed around the Nile Valley region of Northeast Africa. The country we now know as Egypt has been credited with giving the world its first writing and literary system (Ben-Jochannon, 1972; Browder, 1992; Hilliard & Middleton, 1988; Njoku, 2003). Even ancient Greek writers have credited the Egyptians as their intellectual predecessors and as the fathers of medicine, architecture, astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, and physics (James, 1954). Imhotep, the ancient Egyptian, architect of the famous step pyramid, mathematician and medical doctor, is widely regarded as the world‘s first recognized multi-genius. Although the Egyptian intellectual prowess is more known among African historians, there is still much misinformation and ignorance regarding ancient African contribution to the world‘s intellectual and educational traditions (Moses-Snipes, 2005; Obenga, 1995; Tedla, 1995). Even prior to Egypt‘s international acclaim, the ancient African empires of Kush and Nubia ruled and informed the people and intellectual propriety of their Egyptian progeny (James, 1954; Rodney, 1972). At the zenith of its greatness, ancient Egypt provided the world with an educational system unparalleled, which has quite amiably influenced other cultures around the world. As mentioned, early Greek writers and thinkers attest to the knowledge of ancient ―mystery‖ and presence of a well established university system in Egypt. Clearly, this emphasizes Africa as the land of wisdom and spiritual awakening during the formative years of Europe (James, 1954). Influenced by ancient kingdoms of Kush and Nubia, the Egyptian impact on the emerging kingdoms in the western part of Africa was significant (Egharevba, 1968; Rodney, 1972).

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ANCIENT BENIN KINGDOM: INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING EDUCATION IN AN AFRICAN CONTEXT The Edo people of Midwestern Nigeria, also known as the Binins, belong to an ancient civilization whose people have a shared lineage with Egyptians (Egharevba, 1968). Although it is one out of about 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Edos maintain a quite rich and distinctly African traditional culture. The Binins speak Edo, a language that is in general terms unlike any of the more than 2,000 spoken in Africa. On the basis of linguistic diversity alone, the Binins have managed to successfully propagate their linguistic tradition, which was in use before the common-era and has withstood the British interference in Nigeria.

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THE NAMES OF BINI MONARCHS PRIOR TO EUROPEAN CONTACT According to Egharevba (1968), there were distinct dynastic periods in Benin Empire prior to the earliest recorded evidence of European contact with West Africa. And based on the account from a Short History of Benin, Ruy de Sequeira, who was the first European to visit Benin, only arrived in 1472. The following illustrates the Ogisos/Obas (Kings) of Benin for the identified periods:

The First Period (before 1170 A.D. and before 1st European Contact) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Igodo (Obagodo) Ere Orire Akhuankhuan Ekpigho Oria Emose Orhorho Oriagba Odoligie

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 33 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Uwa Heneden Obioye Arigho Owodo

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The Second Period (1170- 1440 A.D. and before 1st European Contact) 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27.

Oranmiyan 1170 A.D. Eweka I 1200 A.D. Uwakhuaken 1255 A.D. Ewedo 1255 A.D. Oguola 1280 A.D. Edoni 1295 A.D. Uwagbedo 1299 A.D. Ohen 1334 A.D. Egbeka 1370 A.D. Orobiru 1440 A.D. Uwaifiokun 1440 A.D. Ewuare the Great 1440 A.D.

After the 1st European Contact 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

Ezoti 1473 Olua 1473 A.D. Ozolua 1481 A.D. Esigie 1504 A.D. Orhogbua 1550 A.D. Ehengbuda 1578 A.D. Ohuan 1608 A.D. Ohenzae 1641 A.D. Akenzae 1661 A.D. Akengboi 1669 A.D. Akenkpaye 1675 A.D. Akengbedo 1684 A.D. Ore-Ogbehen 1689 A.D.

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34 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.

Ewuakpe 1700 A.D. Ozuere 1712 A.D. Akenzua I 1713 A.D. Eresoyen 1735 A.D. Akengbuda 1750 A.D. Obanosa 1804 A.D. Ogbebo 1816 A.D. Osemwede 1816 A.D. Adolo 1848 A.D. Ovoramwen 1888 A.D.

The Third Period

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51. Eweka II 1914 A.D. 52. Akenzua II 1933 A.D. 53. Erediauwa 1978 A.D. The fact that there were about twenty-seven recorded Obas that ruled Benin up to 1440 A.D. [ first contact with European] and that there was a well established system of government, underscores the point that Africans had a civilization prior to any foreign influence. In his acclaimed work, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Rodney (1972) cited the impression of the earliest Europeans [Dutch] to visit Benin: The town seems to be very great. When you enter into it, you go into a great broad street, not paved, which seems to be seven or eight times broader than the Warmoes Street in Amsterdam… The King‘s Palace is a collection of buildings which occupy as much space as the town of Harlem, and is enclosed with walls. There are numerous apartments for the Prince‘s ministers and fine galleries, most of which are as big as those on the Exchange at Amsterdam. They are supported by wooden pillars encased with copper, where their victories are depicted, and which are carefully kept very clean. The town is composed of thirty main streets, very straight and 120 feet wide, apart from an infinity of small intersecting streets. The houses are close to one another, arranged in good order. These people are in no way inferior to the Dutch as regards cleanliness; they wash and scrub their houses so well that they are polished and shinning like a looking glass (p.69).

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 35 The level of political sophistication in Benin and its civil society has equally been cited (Ebohon, 2008; Egharevba, 1968). Although considered a monarchy, the Binins had a very democratic system of government (Egharevba, 1968). The Oba, who was considered God‘s emissary on earth, was a significant spiritual and political figure. A position ascended to not just by heredity, the Obas have demonstrated exemplary military and intellectual (wise) versatility. According to Egharevba (1968), the government of the country was administered in the Oba‘s name by the Uzama-Nihinron and the Egbaevbo, assisted by the leaders of the Houses of Iwebo, Iweguae, and Ibiwe, and others. The Iyase of Benin was a Premier. Besides these great chiefs were lesser Chiefs known as Ukoniwebo, Ukoniweguae and Ukonurhoerie, etc., and had judicial authority in civil and criminal cases (p. 79). As an organizational structure, the Oba was the spiritual and political leader in the land. Under the position of Oba were seven counselors of state or kingmakers called Uzama Nihinron (seven counselors). A most influential group in the society and they could make and depose an Oba. We know that the people rejected Ogiamwen, when his father Evian the King attempted to make his son heir apparent to the throne (Egharevba, 1968, p.5). This counsel of Chiefs led by Oliha included Edohen, Ezomo, Ero, Eholo Nire, Oloton, and Edaiken. The Edaiken was the Crown Prince. There is also an Uzama Minor that includes Ogiamwen, Elema, and Ogie-Ego. Next to the counsel of kingmakers we have the Eghaevbo Nore, which is an executive counsel led by a group of senior titled Iyase (Leader and Premier of the Land), Esogban, Eson, and Osuma. The Iyoba of Uselu (Queen Mother) is of the same rank as the Eson and Osuma. We also have the Ekaiwe, which is the Eghaevbo Minor, and includes Edogun (leader), Oza, Arala, Edaza, and Edamaza. As part of the effective administration of the government, there were three main palace societies and a conglomerate of guilds that were of importance in the education, training, and development of its citizenry.

THREE PALACE HOUSES In Benin, there were three major houses.

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The House of Iwebo This is the senior palace society and its members are the makers and custodians of the Oba‘s regalia and wardrobe. The Uzama Nihinron (Kingmakers) belongs to this elite group. The titles of the constituents comprise three distinct groups: Eghaevbo n‘Ogbe, Urhoehakpa, and junior tiles.

The House of Iweguae These were members in charge of the Oba‘s personal household. Constituent titles include the Eghaevbo n‘Ogbe and junior titles.

The House of Ibiwe

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These are the keepers of the Oba‘s harem. The Osodin, head of the Eruerie section of the society is ultimately responsible for the Oba‘s wives.

GUILDS: THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM Education as part of the national character for the ancient Binis has been well documented. According to Egharevba (1968), around 1170 A.D., King Oranmiyan vacated the throne and stated that anyone who was not educated in the ways of the Binis could not rule the kingdom and ―…only a child born, trained and educated in the arts and mysteries of the land could reign over the people‖ (pp. 6-7). The instructional programs that undergird ancient Benin were based on a system of Royal guilds. Each family belonged to an institution of professionals that was ultimately aligned with the Royal guild‘s network (Ebohon, 2008). As a note on the cultural diversity in the makeup of the Binis, Egharevba (1968) highlighted more than thirty distinct morning salutations amongst the Binis, which are specific to particular family lineage:

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 37 Family Identification

Salutation

Ogiso Igodo of the first Benin Kingdom

Delaiso

Eweka I of the second period

Lamogun

Iyase of Benin

Lavbieze

Oliha Edohen

Laogele Lauvbe

Ezomo Ero Eholo-Nire

Lagiesan Lamosun Laire

Olotun Elema Ogiamwen

Lamehi Lagba Laire

Ogiefa Ine n‘Igun

Larendo Delani

Osa Ogie of Ute

Delaiki Lagite

Iyase of Udo

Lagiewan

Ogie of Ugo (Benin-Agbor Road)

Delakun

Ogie of Ugo (Benin Sakponba Road)

Labo

Ise of Utekon

Laeru

Odionwere of Idumwu-Ebo

Labo

Iyase of Uselu

Layede

Elawue of Usen

Delauhe

Ezima (Ojima) of Okeluhen

Layeru

Ogie of Uvbe

Lauvbe

Ogie of Ehor

Delaeho

Ogie of Igieduma

Delaihon

Olokhunmwu

Delagun

Umodu

Lamodu

Emezi Eni of Uzae (Ijare)

Lamezi Lamore

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38 Aide Olomuru

Laide Lamoru

Oloke Umekon

Laloke Lamekon

Ughe Igie Ogha

Laughe Laigie Laugha

Erhabor recalls that growing up it was customary for him to greet his parents Lagiesan (Father –Ezomo family) and Lavbieze (Mother – Iyase of Benin family). Children were taught this important lesson in cultural diversity quite early in their development. In fact as soon as a child is able to speak, he or she rises early in the morning, kneels down (in Benin/Prostrates in Yoruba culture) and greets his or her parents and any elder in the house and later outside. In the African tradition, the two most significant and universal elements of a child‘s socialization are the respect for elders and gender specific orientations (detailed in the next section). In the Edo cultural context, a person‘s family identity is the very essence of their being. In this sense if a child is acting in or out of character, the question the elder asks is ―who are your parents?‖An unruly child brings dishonor to the family. If a child is well behaved, the Edo will say ―Omo na bie se,‘‘ which translates in English as a child that is born well, but actually means a child that is well trained/educated. The child born to a given family invariably takes on the attributes of that family – in appearance, mannerisms, language, trade, and the chosen profession. In Benin, when a child tells an adult his/her family name, the adult could tell the youth where he or she lives, who the parents are, and narrate the child‘s life story.

The Well Recognized Guilds in Ancient Benin Kingdom were as Follows: The Ekaiwe – the royal physicians and diviners led by Iwegie and Ebo The Ewaise – the lower doctors and diviners led by Eguezigbon The Ihogbe – the worshippers of the Oba‘s ancestors and recorders of the departed Obas led by Ihama The Efa –the sanctifiers or purifiers of the palace and worshippers of the gods of the earth led by Ogiefa-Nozeben

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 39

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The Avbiogbe – the commissioners of lands, the police and town criers who announce new laws etc. led by Okavbiogbe The Eben – they dealt with Obas, and were led by Okaeben The Ogbelaka – the royal bards led by the Odionwere The Igun-eronmwon – the royal brass-smiths led by Ine-Nigun The Igbesamwan – the royal carvers led by Eholo The Ikpema and Igbemaba – the drummers led by Omuemu The Ikpeziken and Ikpakoken – the fife players led by Omuemu The Isekpoken – the leather-box makers led by Omuemu The Emehe of Urubi – the royal carriers who are not allowed to see the Oba without a load on their heads The Irhema – the bearers of sacrificial victims The Iwe-aranmwen – they perform the sacrificial order led by Ehondo The Isiemwero – the executioners led by Amaghizemwen The guilds framework provided an apprenticeship scheme where children born into the family of practitioners imbue the traditions and intellectual acuity of the lineage. Erhabor noted as the son of a chief from the Iwebo house of the palace society, his family lineage corresponds to an association of royal drummers [the Ikpemas and Ikpemaba], fife-players [Ikpakohen], and leatherbox makers [Isekpokin].

IBO RITES OF PASSAGE: PROCESSES AND METHODOLOGIES FOR EXAMINING AN AFRICAN INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM ―It takes a whole village to raise one child.‖ African Proverb

In Igbo (Ibo), traditional society education takes place in a holistic, cyclical group process. In this sense, education happens pre-womb to posttomb (discussed in detail later in this section). This next section describes the processes in an Ibo instructional program as recounted by Father Greg Njoku. The first part of the section deals with some general statements on the methodologies and instructional philosophies in Igbo land. In the second part, we describe the stages in an Ibo rites of

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40

passage program as a model for explaining the steps in an African educational program. And in the third and final part of the section, we comment on the goals and quality of the African instructional program, and its prospects for informing African American education.

IGBO INSTRUCTIONAL PHILOSOPHIES We introduce this discussion by highlighting some rich Ibo proverbs and commentaries on child education and instructional development:

Saying

Meaning

Akaa, egee na ebgu nwata, mana, ahu akaghi n‘egbuokenya

Failing to heed instructions kills the child, but failing to denounce evil kills an elder One does not learn to use the left hand in old age A dance learned in childhood is performed gracefully with such effortless supremacy If one should recover from a sickness and his or her child then dies from the same sickness, did the person really recover? It is the mother goat that taught the baby goat to cry incessantly the way it does One who asks his or her way or direction in life‘s journey never gets lost The know-it-all person fetches water with a basket.

Adighi amu aka ekpe na nka

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Egwu amuru na nwata , ukwu ya na eru la

Onye gbakere oria nwa ya nwua, ogbakela?

Ihe nwa ewu na ebe, nne ya mara ya

Onye ajuju anaghi efu uzo

Amarasia ihe uwa, jiri ekete huru mmiri Agwa bun ma

Manners makes a man

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 41

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The use of proverbs constitutes a basic and most profound transfer of life‘s lessons in African context. The methodologies and use of those wise sayings are so popularized that one usually determines the intellectual acuity and maturity of a child by their understanding and use of African proverbs. In the African sense, perhaps one proverb can tell someone as much as a thesis for a academic program. African proverbs are rich in their ability to teach without lecturing, scold without demeaning, praise without flattering and inspire with a sense of conviction. Scholars have noted that there are differences in African and western thoughts ( Njoku, 2003; Obenga, 1995; Tedla, 1995). There are generally secular beliefs that undergird western education systems. However, in the Africa context education and spirituality are inextricably linked. In Igbo society, developing the spiritual character of a child is a foremost priority in the traditional educational program, ―the purpose of education for the Igbos therefore is to foster a healthy child – spiritually, psychologically, and physically‖ (Njoku, 2003, p. 61). In the African sense there is no separation of ―church‖ and state. Every child is educated with an enriched awareness of the order of the cosmos and universe, knowledge of God as creator, reverence for the spirit of the ancestors, respect for parents/elders and love for humanity.

Cardinals of the African Social Program

The two most apparent elements of the African instructional program are marked by a strict adherence to gender based training. Along the vertical axis Curriculum Violence: America's New Civil Rights Issue : America's New Civil Rights Issue, Nova Science Publishers,

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it is important that every child respect and take heed to the wisdom of the elders as physical representatives of the ancestors and God on earth. Njoku (2003) notes, ―growing up children are taught to show respect to their immediate senior siblings, to parents and all elders, especially their teachers, and other constituted authorities. Naturally, the Igbo traditional society at every level is very sensitive to issues of respect, misbehavior and good behavior,‖ (Njoku, 2003, p. 55). The assumption that undergirds the vertical orientation to the Igbo instructional program is supported by the saying that old people know what it means to be young, but young folks do not understand what it means to be old (Ingram, 2003a). As a part of this natural order, everyone has the opportunity to lead and the position of authority is available to all, as we all pray for the privilege of longevity. Along the horizontal axis, there is a parallel but separate orientation to the instructional program. Boys, as we are made to see in the rites of passage program, receive a distinct form of socialization from girls. ―From the age of nine in boys and ten in girls, Igbo children are in well-defined gender groups and are getting ready to begin their pubertal rites and training‖ (Njoku, 2003, p. 27). The fact that both boys and girls embark on the rites across parallel lines, underscores the assertion that although the instructional method may be distinctly different, neither is superior to the other. As Njoku explains, ―by nature and creation, neither man nor woman is superior to the other in family life. Instead, they complement each other. A woman finds her vocation in giving. She gives life by begetting offspring and gives her life to nourish and maintain the child.‖ (Njoku, 2003, p. 88.) Even within the western tradition, it is understood that there is value in delineating gender roles in society. In the acclaimed book by Gray (1992), Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, sheds light on the misinformation and misunderstandings that complicate gender roles in modern society. As mentioned, in African societies women have historically maintained positions of power and influence that extend beyond the domestic domain. While there are countries in the western world, including the U.S., that have yet to elect a female head of state. Where as a case in point, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a woman, is the president of Liberia. Women in Africa have held the position of Queen [Queen Idia of Benin Kingdom] and heads of state (Browder, 1992; Ebohon, 2008; Egharevba, 1968). In the entire West Africa, one will find women in positions of power in business, in the commercial sector, and ―in the Igbo- African family, the wife and mother of the family is called Odoziaku (treasurer or custodian of wealth and family riches). She is

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 43 essentially a mother for both her husband and the children‖ (Njoku, 2003, p. 90). As we explore the model for the rites of passage program from an Igbo educational perspective, it is important to note that the issue of gender identity is highlighted for its essential complementary value. We need men and women just because we have men and women. Erhabor recalls that the age-grade system more than anything else, characterized socialization in his native Benin tradition. For instance, it was customary for an adult male to kneel down and greet an elder female, and as a mark of respect, age indicated wisdom and honor.

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STAGES IN THE IGBO RITES OF PASSAGE Considering these three stated aims (spirituality and connection to higher power, emotional and psychological wellness, and physical growth and development) of the Igbo educational program, we examine the rights of passage program as a model for describing the instructional method for knowledge transfer in the Igbo context. In this part of the discussion, we describe the stages in the rites of passage, we state the curriculum priorities, and we explain the core competencies for the instructional program.

STAGES OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM According to Njoku (2003), there are five primary social areas that are a part of the character development of Igbo children: (I) Dependency, (II) Autonomy, (III) Acceptance, (IV) Socialization, and (V) Maturity. As mentioned, for the Igbo child, education occur pre-womb to post-tomb. Because of the highly spiritual nature of the society, it is believed that those who died are reincarnated, and as new beings their education never ends. One would take seriously the educational development of the other, if you understand or believe that you may end up as the reincarnation of the other person. In Igbo land the ―chi‖ of a child, what the Binis call ―Ehi,‖ is the spirit that each child has that determines their destiny. It is an important belief in these societies that one must be aligned with God, the spirit of the ancestors and universal brother/sisterhood in order to share the blessings that emanates from the ―Ehi‖ or ―Chi.‖

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From pregnancy, every care is exercised to ensure that the mother to-be ingest no harmful substance, engage in no laborious work, and is psychoemotionally prepared for the role of motherhood (Njoku, 2003). After the child is born the whole village sings, dances, and participates in the ritual of ushering in the life of the son or daughter of the soil (Achebe, 1958; Ebohon, 2008). The journey from birth to death takes place within the context of a spiritual, psychological, and physical education program that is in a group and community setting (Njoku, 2003). This is the most practical and effective way of teaching children tolerance and acceptance of others, love, unity, and cooperation. Other values that parents and the community teach children are: work, industry, responsibility to community, true love of humanity, good character, education, social participation, patriotism, teamwork or cooperation, respect for parents, elders,all lawfully constituted authorities, and allowing for a sense of initiative and creativity (Njoku, 2003). Although education in the African context occurs in a more cyclical than chronological manner, Njoku (2003) identifies the following age-grades that circumscribe the Igbo instructional program:

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Infancy Period As we have mentioned, the community serves as an important stakeholder from the period of conception through the birth of a child, ―right from birth, the Igbo culture initiates the child into the behavior that the society wants him or her to master‖ (Njoku, 2003, p. 44). However, the ultimate responsibility of education and training of the child in the way of its people rests on the parents (Ebohon, 2008; Egharevba, 1968; Njoku, 2003). During this period, the child is taught to depend on the kinship and village authorities for guidance [dependence]. Njoku (2003) notes that although the early years of a child‘s life is characterized by dependency, parents and elders are wise to recognize the child‘s desire for autonomy. Njoku (2003) states, ―the personality that is being shaped is at a most delicate stage. Parents and the caregivers of little children between the first year and fourth year must learn not to give the child the impression that they are being punitive and vindictive in the way they are correcting and guiding the child‖ (p. 24). In the African instructional program, spirituality takes precedent in molding the character and being of the child. It is through this mechanism that knowledge of God, reverence for the ancestors, respect for parents and elders,

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 45 love for self and the universal brother/sisterhood, discipline, character, and conscience are taught. In addition: Right from infancy, children are taught to have a very strong awareness of God‘s abiding presence and are schooled to know the function of their guardian spirits and ancestors. They are made to know and believe that they can win God‘s blessings and the favor of the divine spirits….. Parents and the community seize every opportunity to impart these religious and spiritual values to children, knowing that on these values depends the efficacy of the training given to children in their future years (Njoku, 2003, p. 34).

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It is well known to be taught within an African context, that the character development of a child commences from day one and every hand is on deck to make sure the child has the right foundation. The common prayer in this sense is that others do for you as you have done for others. In underscoring the nourishment and care that infants receive in the Igbo traditional context, Njoku (2003) notes, The greatest care given to infants in Igbo culture is more of emotional affectionate devotion which everyone including children, teens, adults, and grand-parents a-like offer. Rarely do people pass by a baby or an infant in Igbo culture without giving the child some attention, stopping briefly to play, hug, give the child a kiss on the forehead, lift the child, put the child on one‘s shoulder or back for a while etc. (p. 47)

Ages 4-9 During this period in their lives, children are given [autonomy] to build, construct, act and imitate adults, and as such, it is very important that they have good adult role models. At some point in this age-grade, gender identity and roles becomes pronounced as boys assist their fathers with farm work and girls help their mothers preparing goods for the market. Girls also learn how to prepare family meals and they learn the process of wearing the rappers and hair-tie. Njoku (2003) notes: The tradition of male-female distance is taught almost from infancy in various ways. This had helped the Igbos to maintain their moral standards with regard to sexual behaviors. For the same reason, men and women have remained faithful in their marriages. In general, the two sexes maintained their boundaries in all of life affairs. (p. 53)

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The instructional program here includes the use of vivid illustrations from epic stories, folklores, and riddles [socialization]. Children are made to understand the universe is order and a divine creation of God. They also learn that sharing is a hallmark of spiritual growth and development, and they are ―made to know that rewards follow good behavior while punishment and retribution, follow evil behaviors‖ (Njoku, 2003, p. 61).

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Age 9-12 In the pubertal stage in children‘s development, during this period Igbo children are in well defined gender groups and getting ready to begin their rites and training. This is when children imitate adults and are encouraged to attempt every adult functions. They ask the ―why‖ questions and parents/elders are honest and careful in providing guidance and support. For the child and especially ―girl child,‖ the female age group and big sisters are instrumental in their support and coaching functions. The boys begin to show developmental signs of physical acuity and they engage in extra-curricular activities like sports and wrestling, which are a major pastime of the Igbo‘s. The young men are also encouraged to join their upper age-grade peers in assisting with community service like sweeping the village, assisting the widows and running errands for the old and aged.

Age 12-18 This stage is characterized by the need for recognition [acceptance] and rebellion [autonomy]. Children who now consider themselves grown may want to indulge in adult enterprises, for as the African saying goes, ―if a child washes his hand he can eat with Kings.‖ It is true that children can become mature in this respect, for a child who has developed the sense of spirituality and morality is considered matured and can indeed ―eat with kings.‖ The child‘s strong-will during this period may cause some to challenge authorities, and the Igbo culture disavow unruliness, hence the saying ―onye ajuju anaghi efu uzo‖ (one who asks his or her way or direction in life‘s journey never gets lost, but would always attain his or her goal). The training program in this phase is fashioned according to an apprenticeship scheme. It is customary for children to go into the trades and profession of their parents and predecessors (Ebohon, 2008; Egharavba, 1968).

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 47

Maturity and Adult Development Although adulthood is not the focus of this work, the life of an adult Igbo is developed through a child‘s socialization and rites of passage. An adult may be old and not matured, but in the African sense this is an oxymoron and practically impossible. In the African sense it is possible for a child to be mature, but impossible for an elder to be immature. The elder is one who has gone through the village rites and is wise beyond any age or chronological marker. The adult in this context is not only proficient in a particular trade or occupation, he or she is imbued with dignity and purity and with an utmost devotion to the growth of a generation of young men and women. Adults impart to each generation an understanding of the knowledge of God, reverence of the ancestors, respect for parents and the love for oneself and others (Njoku, 2003).

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INSTRUCTIONAL DIMENSIONS AND COMPETENCIES The value of the African village in the development of a child is profound, and its implications are far reaching. Both parents, man and woman, must be on the same page as the primary care givers and primary teachers of their children. This necessary foundation is to be further supplemented if one is to adopt the timeless African tradition. The instructional dimensions of the African rites of passage program are multifaceted and interrelated and they include the spiritual, historical, social, religious, moral, cultural, educational, economic, political, and psychological components of a child‘s life (Njoku, 2003). Spiritually, a child is taught in the knowledge of God. God is known in all of his/her creation (Ebohon, 2008). In the African tradition you find God in the human expression of love and compassion for others, in the sea, the earth, the air, and in all that constitutes the cosmos (Ebohon, 2008). Historically, children are taught to understand their family lineage, the knowledge of the ancestors, the story of the village and the peoples‘ customs. Socially, culturally, and politically, children are taught the norms of their people. The role that gender and age-grade classifications play in this process has already been discussed. African traditions may have important connections and significance for the education of other children. For instance, there is currently a movement among school reform advocates in the U.S. for the development of single-sex schools (like the Igbo), and African-centered schools.

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In an African tradition, culturally a child is taught to uphold the family name, and every name speaks life and essence to the personality and uniqueness of a child. Acting outside of the norms is considered an abominable act that brings shame and dishonor to the family and village (Ebohon, 2008; Njoku, 2003). Socially speaking, children are taught they cannot be doing good if their brothers and sisters are doing bad (Ingram, 2003a; Njoku, 2003). Psychologically, there is utmost care throughout the instructional program so that the child‘s sense of self and esteem is protected and there is zero tolerance for child abuse in the Igbo traditional system (Njoku, 2003). Economically, everyone is trained to be self-sufficient. As we stated, it is customary for children to enter the profession in line with their family lineage (Ebohon, 2008; Egharevba, 1968). As a rule, a young man never talks of marriage in the Igbo culture until he has trained in a profession that can guarantee a steady salary to maintain his new family (Njoku, 2003). Education in Igbo society is a life-long, holistic instructional program that is cyclical, interdisciplinary, and inter-related in nature. Children who go through this comprehensive program become wise, self-less, righteous, and committed elders of the village that raised them. The core values of the elders in this instructional enterprise involve an aggregate of the three elements of compassion, commitment, and competence. As noted by Njoku (2003), ―teachers, ministers and elders who help in the care and mentoring of these growing children must have certain basic qualities. They must be warm, loving and sincerely devoted in their duties always‖ (p. 47). In the African sense, you cannot teach what you do not know (Ighodaro, 2010). In other words, a wise woman knows her stuff, and because she has gone through the proper rites, she can teach her progenies to be even greater stateswomen. Concerning the value of commitment, it is a common African belief that the prayer of every parent/elder is for subsequent generations to outshine those that preceded them and every hand is on deck to achieve that objective (Egharevba, 1968; Njoku, 2003). Finally and most important is the value of compassion. As noted by Ighodaro (2003), we cannot teach without love. The elder and teacher in a traditional Igbo society are spiritually and morally sound (Njoku, 2003). Because of the unity that underpins the traditional African philosophical orientation, every adult interacts with each child in the village with the same care and interest they would their own children. Teachers in such a context are trusted because their trust is earned and their character is considered to be without blemish. Traditional institutions thrived because of the love and

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Education and the Curriculum: Background and Social Relevance 49 spirituality that constituted the essence of the value system, and as the Bible suggests, ―But now remains faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love‖ (I Corinthians 3:13).

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NON-VIOLENT CURRICULA, INDIGENOUS APPROACHES AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE As part of our discussion regarding the background and social context of this work, we have provided a model, traditional African approach to education.Our belief is that this has value for any serious attempt to educate African Americans, which in our opinion is central for America‘s public education. Although there is no universal remedy for fixing the problems of American education, there is evidence that African Americans excel when the curriculum is designed within an African centered focus (Asante, 1991; Hilliard; 1995a,b; Moses-Snipes, 2005; Tedla, 1995). We hope that through this work and by the development of a non-violent curriculum, we might add further insight on how to promote a higher achievement in schools. We define a non-violent curriculum as the process of inclusive education program design that recognizes and affirms the intellectual and psychological well-being of learners. Described further in chapter nine, a non-violent curriculum creates a transforming education that would address the challenges posed for African American education. The indigenous African instructional framework presented in the preceding sections of this chapter, allows us to examine how a society, and indeed ―the village,‖ takes ownership in the development and implementation of an educational system. We suggest that American education can be more inclusive in its design and implementation, and we argue that the indigenous African instructional framework may provide a platform for implementing this change. The excerpt that highlighted the contributions of the Nile Valley civilizations challenges the quite sinister suggestion that Africans have contributed nothing to civilization. For African American students, knowledge about Africa can arrest a condition Professor Molefi Asante has referred to as the ‗legacy of disbelief.‘ Why should Black students disavow math when they are the progenitors of the father of mathematics? The implication of this assertion has far-reaching consequences for dismantling the ―class ceiling‖ (discussed in chapter five).

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Furthermore, the gender sensitive orientation to education that we find in the African context can encourage discourse on the best practices for African American students, especially considering the disproportionate impact and increasing record of school dropout among African American males (Schott Foundation, 2009). Although there are many prospects for assessing the benefits of indigenous African instructional programs, we believe that we have begun the conversation on how this paradigm and pedagogy can serve to transform African American education.

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CHAPTER SUMMARY In this chapter, we presented the historical foundations and background of the American educational experiment. In that effort, we stated the curriculum challenge and highlighted the indigenous African instructional framework in an attempt to present an alternate model for African American education. We reviewed the Nile Valley contributions to civilization, described the educational perspectives of the Ancient Bini Kingdom, and discussed key elements in a model Ibo African rites of passage program in exploring the prospects of a non-violent curriculum. In the next chapter, we set the context for describing a case study conducted in the state of Florida that underscores the persistent legacy of omission and curriculum violence (Woodson, 1933). Next, we describe the research process for examining the perceptions of principals on how the FCAT affects the teaching of African American history and cultural contributions, and students‘ learning.

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Chapter 3

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RESEARCH PROCESS AND METHOD In addressing the stated challenges of African American education, in this chapter we briefly describe the methodological foundations and processes used in investigating elementary school principals‘ perspectives on the importance of Florida‘s mandate for teaching African American history. Through the principal interviews, we also assess the impact of the FCAT on students‘ learning. In the first part of the chapter, we discuss Florida‘s curriculum challenge and we present the FCAT as the state‘s high-stake test, and we explain the role it plays in assessing school failure. In the second part of the chapter, we introduce Miami Dade County Public Schools and we discuss the social context and research design for our study investigating principals‘ perceptions of Florida‘s school reform, and a specific state mandate to teach African and African American content.

THE MANDATE The apparentneed to correct a historical pedagogical and curriculum flaw in public schools, a coalition of parent groups, educators and community activists advocated for the establishment of a statewide African/African American history taskforce. Possessing the approval and legislation to enforce it, schools had an obligation to teach African/African American content. According to Miami-Dade County Public School‘s social studies manual, in 1994; the state of Florida Legislature passed state statute 233.061, requiring the study of African history before the political conflict that led to the development of slavery, the passage to America, the enslavement experience,

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abolition, and the contributions of African Americans to society throughout k12 education. In accordance with the social studies manual, the following highlights the district-level mandate for teaching African/African American history: The district Supervisor for African American History, in cooperation with other staff members in Social Sciences and staff in other District Offices, provides assistance and support for the African/African American history requirement and related programs. The District Supervisor assists with the development of curriculum support materials, provides professional development programs for elementary and secondary school administrators and teachers, provides instructional support for African American History Advocates, and coordinates special programs and activities related to African American history. Additional support and guidance for the African American history initiative is provided by the District‘s African American History Advisory Committee, which is composed of administrators, teachers, parents, and community leaders. Each year, all schools in the District are required to submit an African American History Information Update form (FM 6693) to Curriculum and Instruction, Social Sciences. The form, or action plan, outlines the school‘s specific efforts to support the study of African American history throughout the school year and throughout the curriculum. The form also provides the school with the opportunity to request professional development and other resources from Curriculum and Instruction (Social Sciences). This Districtdeveloped form helps staff monitor compliance with the requirement while also allowing staff to determine school needs in the area of African American history. All schools are required annually to select an African American history advocate and an alternate advocate to provide leadership for this important requirement. Advocates serve as school liaisons to the District and attend regularly scheduled meetings, professional development workshops, and special programs and events. Additionally, advocates receive regular updates on curriculum and special programs through an e-mail network coordinated by the District Supervisor for African American History. Advocates are responsible for sharing the information they receive regarding curriculum and special programs with the school‘s administrators and teachers. The advocates also network and share best practices with one another (State of Florida‘s Task Force on African American History, 2010).

In light of the ensuing debate over the need for students to meet the state‘s FCAT benchmarks and the compelling consideration for school districts to comply with the state mandate to teach African/African American content, we

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used a case study to investigate how Miami Dade School district is addressing these goals. This investigation, which was conducted between 2006 and 2007, was particularly meaningful, especially in light of recent studies that have documented allegations of teachers teaching to the test, and the undermining of Black history in schools (Allington & McGill-Franzen, 1992; Ighodaro, 2003; Korentz et al., 1991; Popham, 2001; Smith, 1991; Smith & Rottenberg, 1991; Winnfield, 1990).

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THE FCAT The FCAT, designed specifically for Florida and initiated by Governor Jeb Bush in 1998 as part of his A+ Plan, is based on the Sunshine State Standards and it measures how well students are performing in schools (Rosenthal, 2007). There are five very important clauses that are a part of the FCAT. These clauses are: (1) Schools are assigned an annual letter grade on an A through F scale based on the cumulative performance of students; (2) The law requires individual students to be retained and denied a high school diploma if they failed to pass the statewide annual FCAT exam, (3) Students in failing schools can transfer to another school, public or private school, (4) The plan aimed to end social promotion in the state‘s public school system, and (5) The plan was designed to raise standards for teachers by increasing initial certification requirements, recertification and admission standards for entry into colleges of education.

TEST COMPOSITION The FCAT is comprised of two kinds of tests: a criterion-referenced test (CRT) that measures how well students are meeting state standards in reading, writing, mathematics, and science; and a norm-referenced test (NRT), which allows educators and parents to compare Florida students‘ performance with students across the nation (Rosenthal, 2007). Each year, professional test item writers prepare new FCAT questions according to guidelines established by the Florida Department of Education. These test items are reviewed annually by committees of classroom teachers and curriculum supervisors. The state sends nomination forms to districts (superintendents, curriculum supervisors, assessment directors) at the beginning of each school year, soliciting

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representation for the revision committee. Districts nominate teachers, curriculum support specialists and curriculum supervisors. The state then selects candidates for the revision work. These committees evaluate the tests question for bias and curricula soundness. The selected test items are then field-tested, after which a final review of the tested items is performed. Once the review is completed, the final test questions are incorporated into the FCAT exam. Students in grades 3-11 in all Florida public schools are required to take the annual FCAT exam. The FCAT reading, mathematics, and science tests require students to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the information presented on the exam, and they must apply the strategies or procedures they have learned. Although Jeb Busch proposed that the FCAT helps provide assessment and school accountability, others like State Senator Frederica S. Wilson have been cynical to the extent considering a threat to boycott. Opponents of the FCAT argue against the inherent cultural bias of standardized test instruments as well as the high-stakes surrounding the test. In addition, other concerns arise regarding the inadequacy of funding for public education and the unfair practice of allowing public monies for private schools that are not subject to the FCAT requirement (Allison, 2003; Pinzur, 2004). In the next section, we discuss Miami-Dade county school demographics as a social context for the investigation.

CONTEXT Miami-Dade County Public Schools The fourth largest school district in the nation, Miami-Dade County Public Schools consists of over 320 elementary, middle, senior high, technical and vocational schools divided among nine representative school districts (Excerpt from Miami-Dade County Public Schools‘ Statistical Highlights, 2006). Predominantly African American, District 1 schools spread across the northwest and northeast sections of the county. Although African Americans makeup 20% of the state‘s public school population, the percentage of African American students performing at the lowest level (level 1) on the state‘s FCAT is disproportionately high at 48% (see tables 3.1 and 3.2 ). Since African American students have been disproportionately affected by the FCAT (Allison, 2003), a predominantly African American school district (district 1)

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of Miami-Dade County Public Schools was identified for this investigation in order to determine the impact of the FCAT on African American students.

Table 3.1. Ethnic Compositions of State and District Race W B H

District 12% 32% 56%

State 58% 20% 12%

Note: Ethnic compositions of state and district school populations (Department of Research Services, 2002).

Table 3.2. Statewide achievement by race Race B H W

Percentage of level 1 48% 34% 12%

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Note: Statewide achievement by race and ethnicity at performance at level 1 [lowest level performance on the FCAT]. (Department of Research Services, 2002).

RESEARCH QUESTIONS Using Florida as a case study, in this research we attempted to answer the following question: How does standardized testing impact the academic achievement of African American students? The following sub-questions helped to provide further understandings of the FCAT phenomena: What are the perceptions of school principals on the importance of infusing African/African American content in the school curriculum? What are the perceptions of school principals regarding the effects of the FCAT on African American students? What are the perceptions of school principals on how the focus on the FCAT has affected the infusion of African/African American content in school curricula? What are the perceptions of school principals on how well the FCAT reflects African/African American history and cultural experiences?

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THE RESEARCH PROCESS As stated in the previous section, the purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of standardization on African American students. In the subsequent chapters, we report the findings of the study in relation to the concept of curriculum violence. We employed an interpretive approach grounded in the belief that human experiences can be uncovered through qualitative research (Allen, 1996; Colazzi, 1978; Heidegger, 1962; Kvale, 1996; Polkinghorne, 1989; Spiegelberg, 1975). The interpretive approach asserts that qualitative research methods like phenomenology and grounded theory, used in this study, assume that reality is socially constructed and as such there are multiple stories to be told about the phenomena (Berger & Luckmann, 1966; Gadamer, 1976, 1998; Koch, 1996; Kvale, 1996).

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Research Method and Rationale Spiegelberg (1975) identified the following six distinct approaches or values of phenomenology: (1) Descriptive Phenomenology – is targeted primarily at exploration and description of a phenomena, (2) Essential Phenomenology – aimed at probing for structures or essential relations within and among phenomena, (3) Phenomenology of Appearances – is aimed at providing attention to the ways in which phenomena appears, (4) Constitutive Phenomenology – aimed at studying the processes in which phenomena becomes established or constituted in our consciousness, (5) Reductive Phenomenology – aimed at suspending belief in the reality or validity of the phenomena, and (6) Hermeneutic Phenomenology – aimed at the value of interpretations and unveiling of concealed meaning in phenomena (p.11). Hermeneutic Phenomenology was used in this project because it allows researchers to uncover concealed meanings in phenomena. For instance, we were able to corroborate testimonies of principals and compare responses to questions across the sample to explain the FCAT and curriculum revision phenomena.

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Area of Exploration Elementary school principals were chosen because the state‘s FCAT retention policy addresses the elementary school level, and principals as heads of their schools were very knowledgeable about the state‘s policies and they could speak about their schools‘ overall performance. The principals could also reflect on the state‘s mandate to teach African/African American curricula content, as well as how it was being implemented. In the school achievement literature, standardized tests scores are used to analyze intelligence, accountability standards and programmatic interventions for students across America (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994, Johnson, 2002, National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983, National Commission on Testing and Public Policy, 1990). However, there is a concern among scholars that mainstream standardized test instruments are limited in their assessment of the multicultural and multiple-intelligence inclination of diverse student populations (Asante, 1991, Gardner, 2006, Gould, 1996, Hilliard, 1995a). In this study, we aimed to determine how principals viewed the FCAT phenomenon and the mandate to teach African/African American content in schools. The study was undertaken using a qualitative method because it allows access to the field to acquire primary data from principals (Creswell, 1998, Maxwell, 1996). We combined phenomenology and the data collection processes of grounded theory. Although either phenomenology or grounded theory could have been used to conduct this study, we believed that by combining the two traditions we were able to strengthen our research (Hutchinson & Wilson, 1991; Schutz, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1998; Trochim, 2001). In as much as both traditions reflect our desire to investigate and initiate a larger theory-building component, we were more concerned with exploring principals‘ perspectives on the FCAT. Considering that the principals had diverse demographical backgrounds (see tables 3.3 and 3.4), we believed their narratives would generate rich information (Glaser & Strauss, 1967).

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Table 3.3. Demographical information of race/ethnic composition of student population by school district District # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

(Race) B

(Race) W

(Race) H

76.7% 71.7% 28.7% 7.2% 5.1% 11.2% 9.1% 2.3% 30.5%

1.9% 1.9% 21.2% 4.6% 6.3% 13.8% 14.9% 7.5% 18.9%

19.6% 25.6% 46.5 87.1% 87.1% 72.2% 71.6% 88.7% 46.6%

(Race) Other .8% .8% .6% 1.1% 1.5% 1.8% 4.4% 1.5% 4.5%

Miami-Dade County Public Schools‘ Statistical Abstract 2004-05

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Selection of the Sample Thirty elementary school principals from Miami-Dade County Public Schools in District 1 were selected. District 1 elementary school principals were chosen for the following three reasons: (1) they were from a predominantly African American school district (table 3.3), and since African Americans have been disproportionately affected by the FCAT (Allison, 2003), the investigation of this population was targeted for the study, (2) determining the impact of the FCAT on elementary school population was an important aim of this study, and (3) principals are important stakeholders and they have great insights about the affects of school policy. Principals were contacted regarding the study, and several of them told their colleagues about the project. Before deciding to take part in the study, each school principal was given a consent form detailing the nature of the study and highlighting specific safeguards for maintaining the confidentiality of participants (Appendix A). After reviewing the consent form, the participants signed and returned the forms attesting to their knowledge of the nature of the investigation. Pseudonyms were used at all times when referring to the principals and the schools.

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The Participants Tables 3.4 and 3.5 illustrate the racial, gender, age, professional, and include the school-grade composition of the participants in the study. Carefully using the utmost care to safeguard the protection of the participants‘ identity, some of the characteristics of the sample are highlighted as they become quite relevant in the following chapters. Table 3.4 depicts that in terms of racial composition, there were nineteen Blacks, seven Whites, and four Hispanics (Latino/Latina). Gender composition shows that there were twentyseven females and three males. In terms of educational credential, nine of the participants had a Ph.D. or Ed.D., and 21 had a Master‘s level degree. Regarding the ranking of the schools, four were A schools, five were B Schools, fourteen are C schools, five were D schools, one was an F school, and there was one school with an incomplete.

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Table 3.4. Demographical composition of the Participants Race Black

White

Hispanic

19

7

4

Gender Male

Female

3

27

Degree Masters

EDD/Ph. D

21

9

Age Range 30-40

40-50

50-60

4

9

17

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Table 3.4. (Continued) Years in Profession 10-20 21-30

31-40

11

1

18

Years in Position 2-5 6-10 17 11

11-20 2

School Grade LABEL

2005-2006

2006-2007

A

9

4

B

7

5

C

12

14

D

1

5

F

1

1

I

0

1

21-30 0

Table 3.5. Curriculum Violence: Case Study Sample Pseudonym

Age Range

Gender

Race/ Ethnicity

Number of years in Profession

AKEELA ANGEL BEAUTY BRENDA CALESTER CHARLES DAVID DIANA EMILY FRAN GIRLYN

40-50 40-50 30-40 40-50 50-60 40-50 50-60 50-60 50-60 30-40 50-60

F F F F F M M F F F F

B H H B W B W H B B B

21-30 10-20 10-20 10-20 21-30 10-20 21-30 21-30 21-30 10-20 21-30

Number of years as Principal 2-5 2-5 2-5 2-5 6-10 2-5 2-5 6-10 6-10 2-5 2-5

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Degree

MS MS MS EDD MS MS MS EDD MS MS PHD

FCAT Grade 20062007 C C B C A D D A C B C

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Table 3.5. (Continued) Pseudonym

Age Range

Gender

Race/ Ethnicity

Number of years in Profession

HELEN IRINE JOY KIM LENA MANNY NANCY OLIVIA PAULETTE QUEEN ROBERTA SANDRA TRAE ULINE VERA WENDI XENA YOUNG ZORA

40-50 50-60 40-50 50-60 40-50 50-60 50-60 50-60 50-60 40-50 50-60 40-50 50-60 30-40 50-60 30-40 50-60 50-60 50-60

F F F F F M F F F F F F F F F F F F F

B B B H B W B W B W W W B B B B B B B

21-30 21-30 10-20 21-30 10-20 21-30 21-30 21-30 21-30 10-20 21-30 10-20 21-30 10-20 21-30 10-20 21-30 21-30 31-40

Number of years as Principal 2-5 6-10 2-5 6-10 2-5 2-5 11-20 6-10 6-10 2-5 6-10 2-5 2-5 2-5 6-10 2-5 6-10 6-10 11-20

Degree

MS MS EDD EDD MS PHD MS MS MS MS MS EDD EDD MS MS MS MS MS MS

FCAT Grade 20062007 C F D A C C B A C C C C C C C D B I D

Note: All of the participants are elementary school principals.

The Setting As mentioned, this study was conducted in Miami Dade County Public Schools from 2006 to 2007. Because there was already an established rapport with Miami Dade County Public School District 1 principals from the researchers teaching in the district, there were no problems entering the field. Careful consideration was given to assign pseudonyms to the participants. The seamlessness with which this investigation was conducted was further facilitated by the fact that on previous interactions with these administrators, some of their concerns actually incited interest in the topic. The principals had the option of interviewing on or off-campus. However, all agreed to be interviewed on-campus. The interviews were audio-taped and lasted approximately 60 minutes (one hour). After the first interview, the tapes

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were transcribed and coded (see appendix D). A second interview was conducted to establish credibility (Appendix C). The second interview was designed to verify transcriptions of the first interview and to add greater details. The interview questions addressed what constitutes achievement, the impact of the FCAT on African American students, and the extent to which African/African American content were being infused in schools. Sample of the question includes: (a) ―Do you think standardized tests reflect student‘s intelligence levels?‖ (b) ―How do you feel the FCAT has affected African American students?‖ and (c) ―How well do you think the FCAT reflect the teaching and learning of history for African American students?‖

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Data Analysis The interviews were available to the researchers on computer, audiotape, and hard copy. After collecting and transcribing the data, the analysis revealed recurring themes. During the coding process, notations were made about each code and category. The initial coding was descriptive and evolved as new themes emerged and codes were altered or deleted from the analysis phase. For instance, an initial account by a participant suggesting that elementary school students are not given the same amount of time as high school students to take the FCAT, formed a code of ―unfair treatment.‖ However, later that code was not considered salient because there were no other corroborating accounts to keep it as a major theme during the analysis. In underscoring the point that future researchers can embellish on their developed method of grounded theory, Glaser & Strauss (1967) assert, ―We have merely opened up the topic. The motto should be: the more studies are based on theoretical sampling, the more effective should future theoretical sampling and comparative analysis become – provided researchers write their strategies and techniques‖ (p.77). As such, we followed an established criterion for soundness in phenomenological grounded theory, which is intricately situated in sound qualitative genres (table 3.6).

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Table 3.6. Research Standards

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Phenomenology (Polkinghorne, 1989, p. 57) Did the interviewer influence the contents of the subjects‘ description in such a way that the descriptions do not truly reflect the subject‘s actual experience? Is the transcription accurate, and does it convey the meaning of the oral presentation in the interview? In the analysis of the transcriptions, were there conclusions other than those offered by the researcher that could have been derived? Has the researcher identified these alternatives? Is it possible to go from general structural description to the transcriptions and to

Grounded Theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) How was the original sample selected? What Grounds? What major categories emerged? What were some events, incidents, actions, and so on (as indicators) that pointed to some of these major categories? On the basis of what categories did theoretical sampling proceed? Guide data collection? Was it representative of the categories? What were some of the hypothesis pertaining

Phenomenological Grounded Theory (Wiggan, 2003, 2008) Did the interviewer influence the content of the participants‘ narrative in such a way that the descriptions do not truly reflect the actual experience? Is the transcription accurate, and does it convey the meaning of the oral presentation in the interview? In the analysis of the transcriptions, were there conclusions other than those offered by the researcher that could have been derived? Has the researcher identified these alternatives? How was the original sample selected? What Grounds? What major categories emerged?

cID=3020915.

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Table 3.6. (Continued) Phenomenology (Polkinghorne, 1989, p. 57) account for the specific contents and connections in the original examples of the experience? Is the structural situation specific, or does it hold in general for the experience in other situations?

Grounded Theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to conceptual relations (that is, among categories), and on what grounds were they formulated and tested? Were there instances when hypothesis did not hold up against what was actually seen? How were these discrepancies accounted for? How did they affect the hypothesis? How and why was the core category selected (sudden, gradual, difficult, easy)? On what grounds?

Phenomenological Grounded Theory (Wiggan, 2003, 2008) What were some events, incidents, actions, and so on (as indicators), that pointed to some of these major categories? On the basis of what categories did theoretical sampling proceed? Guide data collection? Was it representative of the categories?How did the participants help to drive the inquiry and the research process? How and why was the core category selected (sudden, gradual, difficult, easy)? On what grounds?

cID=3020915.

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65

.

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The process of conducting the second interview helped to check for consistency with the first interview and to further establish the reliability of the study. Reliability generally refers to the prospects of getting the same results each time a particular technique is applied (Babbie, 1983). Completing the second interviews helped to triangulate the data sources. Triangulation is the use of multiple investigations and data sources to establish the validity of data (Foucault, 1969; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Zerubavel, 1991, 1997). The use of an audit trail was helpful in establishing the rigor of the study. An audit trail refers to the particular documentation in the research process that allows it to be traceable and reproducible by another researcher (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). In this study, the audit-trail consisted of memos, interviews, and fieldnotes that were recorded prior to the actual data analysis. These documents helped to corroborate evidences for the data analysis. Quite complementary to the audit trail, the peer debriefer, a third party unrelated to the study, helped to unveil some salient codes that illuminated specific observations. The findings of the study are discussed in chapters 5-9 in relation to curriculum violence, the theory of cognitive development, and the creation and implementation of non-violent curriculum.

CHAPTER SUMMARY In this chapter, we attempted to situate our research by explaining the case study conducted in the state of Florida. In accomplishing this task, we discussed Florida‘s curriculum challenge by highlighting a state mandate that attempts to address the problem of cultural omissions in schools. We explored the FCAT as Florida‘s version of standardized testing, and we explained the role it plays in school assessment. We introduced Miami Dade County Public Schools and explained the design and context for our study investigating principals‘ perspectives on Florida‘s school reform and its impact on African American students. The findings of the study are discussed in chapters 5-9 in the framework of curriculum violence. In the next chapter, we further explore curriculum violence by developing a five-stage theoretical framework for explaining cognitive development and student achievement. Formation, the subject of the next chapter, introduces an exploration of how current evidence based largely on our case study, supports our standpoint that there is a lingering legacy of omission in American schools (Woodson, 1933).

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Chapter 4

FORMATION: STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.

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Declaration of Independence, 1776

The first stage in the theoretical framework for mind (cognitive) development, Formation refers to the cognitive aspects of socialization and identity development through which an individual learns to assess the values, norms, and cultural perspectives of a particular group or society. We argue that a society and or school that is based primarily on the experiences of one group, the dominant group or the interest of the group in power, best serves that group, while simultaneously indoctrinating the excluded groups, teaching them of their subordinate status in the society. This negative indoctrination falls under the domain of curriculum violence, and an inclusive multicultural education as an alternate mediating process is central to a non-violent curriculum. The basis for a non-violent curriculum is discussed in chapters eight and nine. Every human civilization struggles with the issue of survival, and the desire to educate children is a quintessential part of ensuring intergenerational development. We believe that in order for a group or society to thrive, it must define, assess and reinforce its social values and educational systems. In the following pages we describe the African American educational experience in the context of how value is defined, measured and maintained in our society.

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1. DECIDING WHAT IS OF VALUE Depending on where one stands on the current debate and understanding of human origins, we are compelled to accept some common facts concerning the human family tree. While the early Africans started the human family along the River Nile and gave birth to diverse populations, later incorrectly called different races, all human beings have a common origin-Africa. As such, the early Africans passed on vital information pertaining to their social, cultural, and moral life priority, which allowed their offsprings to survive and by consequence, this lead to the ultimate survival of the human race. Having tested and validated the parameters for survival, humans quickly learned to trust and depend on the initial sources of information, and this gave way to primordial sources of expert knowledge. Overtime, the burden of consolidation and transfer of this knowledge became the imperative of parents and adult relatives. Those who have had the benefit of vital information were responsible for safeguarding the interest of their personal and communal wellbeing. With this knowledge came the responsibilities of having power and privilege. According to researchers who have studied the nature of power, wealth and privilege, powerful people often do not educate the powerless on how to exact power from them (Cross, 1984; Garrison, 2001). If that is true, then let us fast forward many thousand years since humans first walked the face of the earth, to 1619, the year recorded as the landmark date for the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the new world. Considering the established dynamics of power, it was natural for the Africans to depend on their owners to navigate the reality of their new experience. Put mildly, the enslaved Africans met a world that was the most repressive, brutal, and subjugated in the course of recorded history. In terms of normalization and cultural values, there was nothing of the African experience that was validated by the slave system. In essence the slave, whether child or adult, was treated like a child. In fact the Bible acknowledges that ‗train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.‘ For the African slave that landed in Jamestown, Virginia, there was no open house but a nightmare for a first day at school on the plantation. This was the beginning of a life-long learning experience that was dehumanizing, and would later create a national psychology that devalued any experiences and knowledge that Africans brought to North America. In other words, as far as the system of learning was concerned, the American slave was to inherit a banking system of education (Freire, 1970), where the

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value of the master was to take precedence over the language, thought, culture, socialization, spirituality, and personality of the African.

Illustration I: Mungo Park Erhabor remembers that as a student in Nigeria they were taught in school that Mungo Park, a Scottish Surgeon and explorer, discovered the River Niger, one of the many rivers of Africa, sometime around 1795. Now, any reasonable person who knows that Nigerians have lived in that part of the world for thousands of years, even before any European would have mastered the navigation system, would be hard pressed to believe that this Johnny come lately discovered what people already knew. Yet, this was the ‗truth‘ that was taught to Africans by a European prescribed curriculum, and any boy or girl that is smart enough to answer an exam question regarding the discoverer of the Niger river with an answer choice other than Mungo Park, would be failed for challenging the established-fictitious discourse.

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Illustration II: Christopher Columbus A derivative of the principle regarding how the powerful define the norm is the example that Christopher Columbus discovered America. As we are told, Columbus landed in the ‗new world‘ sometime around 1492. Yet we know that, as in the Nigerian example, Native Americans have lived in this part of the world thousands of years before the Columbus entry, and Africans came to the Americas hundreds of years before Columbus (Van Sertima, 1976). Notwithstanding, this story has been repeated and taught in American schools and it has been validated by textbooks and curriculum supervisors for many years. On an exam, should a child who has critical insight answer correctly or just check the Christopher Columbus‘ choice in spite of the compelling argument against what he or she has been told?

Although these are very simple illustrations, the Mungo Park/Christopher Columbus examples present a very clear case of how a dominant culture dictates what is of value in a society (formation). Even though some may want to redefine what is meant by discovery, and whether it is discovery for Europe or for the rest of the world, the point is that in an unequal power relationship, those with less power have limited opportunities to challenge the discourse of the powerful, even when there is glaring evidence of bias, misinformation, and prejudice.

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2. INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF CULTURAL VALUE In a democratic society, one would expect the social and economic systems to provide equal opportunities for the growth and development of human talents. For indeed, as the preamble to the U.S. Constitution speaks to the recognition of human equality as a premise upon which this great nation was founded. The famous lines from the Declaration of Independence states, ―we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.‖ The value of these basic principles lives and it is a part of the aspiration of every American as affirmed by President Barack Obama in his speech at the centennial celebration of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The President contends that as Americans we agree that we must give every child the highest quality education from cradle through career (Salomon, 2009). In order to understand the formation stage of cognitive development as it relates to curriculum violence, it is important to underscore the place where African Americans find themselves on the eve of the nation‘s founding. It is evident that sometime around the late 1700s when the founding fathers were putting their thoughts on paper about what was going to be the nation‘s guiding principles, they must not have had African Americans and Native Americans as part of their mental calculations regarding equal opportunities. Based on the outcomes of the U.S. Constitution, the Africans were to remain in subjugation as slaves were not to be regarded as humans, and were not entitled to the ‗unalienable rights‘ clause, and as such were to be completely denied opportunities for Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness. The Constitution, which was to serve as the most liberating and civil force for the country was at the same time, the most damning evidence of the limitations and possibilities for African Americans. The assertion that all men are created equal, presupposes that there was to be a liberal approach to the goodwill that all persons in the union was to enjoy. The irony of this pledge was to be a compounding factor in the life and journey of African Americans from slavery to freedom. In today‘s educational system, three major issues are affecting African Americans. Schools are challenged in the areas of providing these students with exposure, relevant information, and positive reinforcement. These three processes are important to the psychological development of our youth (Ighodaro, 2003). Let us attempt to examine each element as the following

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categories of value: value of exposure, value of meaning and the value of reward.

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Value of Exposure Exposure is as essential to the mission of learning as a child‘s limbs are as vital to the act of walking. In other words, when it comes to education exposure is the key. This is based on the assumption that all that we say or do is derived from all we have seen or heard, or can imagine. This is the basis for one of the major critiques of standardized testing. The fact that there is a disconnection between what is taught and what is expected is a source of the woeful performance of many students. In our estimation, when it comes to testing, we cannot have a system of unstandardized inputs and expect a system of standardized outputs. If we want a child to pass, we must give her the instruction, information, and the resources (textbook, materials, tools etc.) necessary to pass (exposure). One of the major problems in regards to this fact is that we have educational inequalities that enable some students to pass and others to fail. Research on the hidden curriculum underscores concerns with school processes that purposefully create omissions, which teach students their place in society (Anderson, 1990; Anyon, 1980). The following illustration provides an example about improving education.

Illustration III: Knowing where the Leak is A man once had a broken sink and called for a plumbing company to fix the problem. The plumber came to assess the nature of the problem. After about two minutes, the plumber said he knows the source of the problem and that it was going to cost ten dollars ($10) to buy a pipe to fix a leak at the base of the sink. The man gave the plumber $10 to buy the pipe. The plumber left for a hardware store about a block from the man‘s residence and returned in less than two minutes. And upon his return and in less than 5 minutes he replaced the broken pipe with a new pipe, and immediately water began to flow through the sink. The grateful man then asked the plumber for the bill and the plumber wrote him a bill for five hundred and ten dollars ($510). The man‘s countenance immediately changed and he replied, ―$510 for what…you and I know that it only cost you $10 for the pipe, come on now!‖ To which the plumber replied, ―Yes, $10 dollars for the pipe and $500 for knowing where the leak is.‖

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Like the plumber, we know that to improvement American education we must improve the quality of our schools and the quality of the instruction and resources that students receive. However, improving school quality for minority students and poor Whites means that this would challenge the status quo, a social cost that those who are well-served by the current system are unwilling to bear. In the next illustration, we further elaborate on the ‗mystery‘ surrounding improving school performance.

Illustration IV: Walking on Water

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This is a variation of another story. Three friends, a Jewish Rabbi, a Catholic Priest, and an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Preacher went fishing in the Rabbi‘s boat. On their fishing expedition, they encountered a tempest and the boat was ruptured. About five miles offshore the boat began to capsize and the Rabbi walked off the boat and started to walk on water. Similarly, the Priest got off the boat and started to walk on water. The AME Preacher being uncertain of his fate, and contemplating the magical feat of his colleagues, remained still and motionless. Looking at his friends as they left him to drown, he saw both men turn around and heard one whisper to the other, ―Do you think we should tell him where the stones are?‖

Whether someone can literally walk on water is a question for another discussion on theology. The point here is that, like the AME Preacher, too many of our children have been led to believe (formation) that they are inadequate and their expectation of themselves have been limited because they have come to believe others can walk on water and that they cannot. And most importantly, because of a legacy of exclusion and misinformation, they have not been able to access the type of education and technical skills to compete with their counterparts who are better served by schools. This problem is magnified especially in a high-stakes testing climate where students from different communities, different life experiences and different levels of exposure are measured based on information that was never uniformly taught to them. This is the struggle that many students must overcome. This next illustration conveys the importance of exposure and how it relates to students‘ performance on standardized tests. The illustration about the ‗open book‘ and the accompanying mathematical schema, ‗standardized test equation,‘ provides a context for understanding the nature of testing and assessment of students‘ knowledge base.

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Illustration V: The “Open Book” Exposed

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An old university professor once walked into an auditorium filled with the ‗smartest‘ high school seniors in the country. In his hand was a brand new physics textbook and as he addressed the group he promised to offer a college scholarship if anyone of the 300 selected bright students could tell the audience what was the first letter of the first word, as the book was opened. Since nobody, besides a student who was the professor‘s son, had read the book and knew about the scheme before the exercise, providing the mystery letter seemed impossible for the class. After a five-minute interval, one of the students‘ stood up and provided the answer that eluded his comrades. The old professor with a grin on his face, then divulged the identity of the hoax recipient of the scholarship [his son], and proceeded with an elucidation of the meaning of the exercise. ―In order to know‖ he said, ―you must have read or have been informed.‖

Based on the aforementioned illustration, we present a formula, “The Standard of Correction” for assessing the standardization of knowledge [see the formula in the section below]. The first equation (formula #1) demonstrates that when there is a system of unstandardized inputs, as in the case of the exposure of the 299 students who never read the book, we cannot have a system of standardized outputs, as none of the 299 students were able to disclose the mystery letter. In other words, we cannot have a system of unstandardized input, meaning unequal access to high quality education and resources, and expect a system of standardized outputs, or similar student outcomes. Mathematically therefore, unstandardized input is unequal to standardized output. The second equation (formula #2) denotes that standardized input is equal to standardized or similar output. Correspondingly as it pertains to the ‗Open Book,‘ 1 out of 1 is 100% since only one student was exposed to the information, and therefore only one student could answer correctly, the professor‘s son. Mathematically, standardized input is equal to standardized or similar output (student performance). The third equation (formula #3) demonstrates that standardized input is equal or greater than standardized output. As in the ‗Open Book‘ illustration, standardized input can be equal, that is 1 of 1 which is 100% (that means the student actually studies, learns the information and provides the right answer) or standardized input can be greater than standardized output, that is 0 of 1 or 0% (that means the student was exposed to the information and for whatever reason could not respond correctly). As such, mathematically standardized input (meaning

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access to high quality schools and instruction and information) is equal or greater than standardized outputs (student performance). The fourth equation (formula #4) represents the fact that unstandardized output is equal to or less than unstandardized input. If there are minimal school inputs then we should expect low student performance. As with the ‗Open Book,‘ because there was only 1 out of 299 students that was exposed, it is only likely that 1 student (equal) or no student (less because for any number of reasons that one student could not recall the answer) will be able to answer correctly. Therefore, mathematically unstandardized output is equal or less than unstandardized input. That is, we cannot expect students to have high school performance if they are not being given an equal opportunity to learn, but we should expect them to perform poorly when they are not receiving equal access. And those with the worst access (poor minority students) should have the worst school performance.

The Standard of Correction (Ighodaro, 2007)

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Formula #1 Unstandardized inputs ≠ Standardized Outputs. Formula #2 Standardized inputs = Standardized Outputs Formula #3 Standardized inputs ≥ Standardized Outputs Formula #4 Unstandardized outputs ≤ Unstandardized inputs

Value of Meaning The dynamics of school dropout is related to unstandardized school inputs. The phenomenon of some students dropping out of school because they find schools to be irrelevant to their lives has been extensively documented (Fine, 1991; Hansen, 2001; Hilliard, 1995a, 2004; Moses-Snipes, 2005). The issue of relevance is very important especially considering that we live in a highly multicultural society. The U.S. population projections and estimates

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depict that by 2050 the nation‘s minorities will become the majority, there ought to be serious educational reform created to accommodate these changes. When we examine the value of meaning, we speak of the three elements of content, identity, and instrumentality. The application of innovative strategies that addresses the emersion and inclusion of diversity in the design and implementation of curriculum relates to the element of content. Woodson (1933) wrote the Mis-Education of the Negro almost a century ago to decry the lack of African American content in education. In that vein, in 2007, we conducted research in Miami Dade County Public Schools. As a part of the study, 30 elementary school principals were asked about the level of infusion of African/African American content in schools, and even though all the principals agreed that the material was important, an overwhelming number, 28 principals attested that their schools are not teaching it. This omission, which is addressed in detail in later chapters, is ongoing in spite of a state mandate that requires the teaching of African/African American history. And these same omissions are characteristic of schools across the nation. The value of helping students develop positive identities cannot be overstated, as a part of their identity formation. A curriculum should not only be rich in its meaning, it should also be rich in its content, and this content should be developed by educators, administrators, policy makers, and community stakeholders (with input from parents, students, community activists, social workers, etc.). This diversity helps to enrich the curriculum and it accounts for the various perspectives and issues that arise in the curriculum development process. In the case of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, there has been only one African American Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. And in almost a century of public education in Miami-Dade County, the fourth largest school district in the nation, there have been three African American Superintendents and five elected School Board Members. In such a large diverse district, the fact that there are few African American board members and policy makers undermines the rich perspectives and insights that each community member brings to the school reform process.

Value of Reward In the course of human civilization and development, we have been able to study the psychology and motivation of people in ways that allows us to influence, manage, and control their behaviors. If Pavlov has been able to master this and understand that dogs can be trained or conditioned to emit a

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certain predetermined response, then how about humans? If we can train the elephant to dance in a circus, a dolphin to flip and meander to human direction, what are the issues with getting Imani or John to pass the FCAT? Reward is one of the many reinforcement strategies that include praise, feedback, critique, punishment, etc. Almost every educator knows the value of reward, in fact we know of many who go out of their way to purchase personal items to motivate students to excel. The problem is that there are too many children who receive more negative rather than positive school reinforcement (criticism, humiliation, punishment vs. praise, compliments, field trips, gifts, and awards). A good way to get a child to repeat a desired behavior is to praise or lead the child to believe that he or she has done the most important thing in the world. The opposite is true, a good way to discourage a child‘s effort is to demean and chide his or her efforts. Even for adult professionals, we know what it means when we get a raise, a bonus, or promotion. A reward like a gift is not only valuable for its substantive or utilitarian value, but also for the meaning and symbolism that actual reward represent. We acknowledge the work of Harvard University economist Dr. Roland Fryer, who has done some important work to motivate and inspire a generation of children in a manner that speaks to the value of reward (Fryer 2006). In the framework of mind development and the stage of formation, any type of reinforcement - be it reward or punishment, is magnified in its potential during a child‘s formative years. A child whose mother or teacher is constantly saying ‗you won‘t amount to anything,‘ ‗you‘ll just be as no good as your no good daddy‘ or ‗you come from a people who have not contributed anything to civilization,‘ would have to have a tremendous countervailing force to mediate the influence of this negative reinforcement. In the history of the U.S., African Americans were told they do not belong. They were told they came from a barbaric and uncivilized people. In fact, they were never allowed to go to school and would be beaten and punished for learning to read. In this system, any child who would not resist the institution of slavery was actually a well-trained child. The very best child in a slave indoctrination system was the child who stayed in his place. In that sense, acting against the interest of the group (other slaves) was a part of becoming an ideal person. In a healthy democratic system, there should be no place for this type of negative indoctrination. However, in America today there is evidence of curriculum violence, as we detail in the next chapter. There is a problem when we fail to provide equal educational opportunities to our children, and when

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‗the village‘ decides that only some children will be offered the required chance at survival in a hostile and inherently competitive environment. As such, in the process of mind development, the training that a child receives determines their status when we talk about formation. In expounding on the theory of mind development, Ingram (2003a,b) drew on Apostle Paul‘s admonition in his letter to the Romans: ―And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind‖ (Romans 8:28). The text seems profoundly relevant in analyzing the concept of curriculum violence because all that we think we know is determined by that which has been socially constructed for us, in schools and through our socialization. From the perspective of curriculum violence, the FCAT is a present day manifestation of a historical pattern of cultural dominance. Standardized tests are a corollary of the ‗literacy test‘ given to Blacks, even after the voting rights legislation was passed in the U.S., in order to deny Blacks voting privileges. The voter-rights testing scheme was established even though Blacks were denied the benefits of the necessary educational experiences. Minority culture and experiences were ever at the mercy of the dominant culture. In regards to testing and the notion of intelligence, many thought of this as an ―objective‖ human quality, instead of the accumulated understanding of a particular group or people. Even the American Heritage Dictionary (1994) defines intelligence as the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge. This definition properly qualifies the negotiated, rather than innate, nature of intelligence. But,we must quantify: What knowledge? And how does this relate to culture? The same dictionary defines culture as the social behaviors, aesthetics, beliefs, institutions, and other products of human work and thought. There are unique cultural patterns that are associated with each social group, which distinguishes them from other groups. The concern that dominant groups generally use their power to undermine minority groups, by using their norms (culture) as the standard for measuring others, constitutes the basis and beginning of curriculum violence.

CHAPTER SUMMARY In this chapter, we introduced and defined the stage of formation as the basis for socialization and the conceptual foundation for curriculum violence. In that effort, we examined how value is defined, by whom and for what purpose. We considered the elements of exposure, relevance, and reinforcement as important pedagogical considerations for implementing

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meaningful reform. We introduce the stage of Deformation, the subject of the next chapter, as a pivotal consideration in the framework of curriculum violence, and as a central issue in the education of African Americans.

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Chapter 5

DEFORMATION: STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

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Mentally, the Negro is inferior to the white…The Negro children were sharp, intelligent, and full of vivacity, but on approaching the adult period a gradual change set it. The intellect seemed to become clouded, animation giving place to a sort of lethargy, briskness yielding to indolence. We necessarily suppose that the development of the Negro and whites proceeds on different paths. Cross, 1984, p. 159-162

The second stage in the theoretical model and the seat of curriculum violence, Deformation is described as a process of negative indoctrination whereby an individual or group looses initiative and is conditioned to be intellectually and psychologically dependent on others. The pattern of indoctrination that we refer to as deformation, is a part of a two-dimensional process. The first dimension is characterized by a condition of force or ideological indoctrination as in the case of slavery, where African Americans were prohibited from reading or taught to relinquish all forms of intellectual freedoms and African practices. In the second dimension, indoctrination takes the form of voluntary dependence or internalized domination. For example, even after emancipation some slaves preferred to stay with their masters rather than to live a new life of freedom. Ingram (2003a) expressed concern that although African Americans struggled for the right to attend schools and to learn to read, today some would rather skip school (deformation) rather than attend class and have to read.

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There are many ways in which deformation presents itself. For instance, as a part of the condition of being dependent on technology, students who learn to rely on a calculator for math class instead of using their brain to do the math; are susceptible to the element of ingenious compromise (see the section later in this chapter on ingenious triangulation). Regardless of how one arrives at this condition of doing less thinking, we consider it a dangerous and necessary basis of deformation. In the case of African Americans, the brutality and force in the institution of slavery was a destructive event that took the lives of many, and established a legacy that time is yet to eradicate. Many Africans died in the many years since their forebears arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, but the physical death has long been accompanied by social-psychological toils whose true costs may never be quantified. Many of these issues are seen in public schools in terms of students who lose school motivation overtime. In regards to the African American educational experience, the evidence of a persisting legacy of omission in relevant African/African American content is quite apparent (Woodson, 1933). Too many children, and disproportionately African Americans, are failing and this limits the life opportunities of future generations of children. In the following pages, we examine the dominant discourse in early America and the prevailing commentaries on people‘s perceptions of the African intellectual acuity. We assess how African Americans were taught and made to think about their educational potential. For instance, President Abraham Lincoln who is widely regarded as ‗the great emancipator,‘ is attributed with remarks, which suggest that he believed Blacks were intellectually inferior to Whites (Browder, 1992). The review furnished here suggests that the discourse on testing and the general questioning regarding African American‘s intellectual ability, parallels the development of racist assessments and the existing narrative on achievement gap based on standardized tests results (Guthrie, 1998/2003). It also concerns the limited focus on African American content, and other marginalized groups in the mainstream curriculum. This problem has been compounded by the fact that school administrators limit the focus on African/African American content, especially as it is not part of the tested curriculum (Ighodaro, 2003). We present the stage of Deformation as it relates to the curriculum and high-stakes testing that are both based on dominant cultural perspectives. The established research supports the notion that some students dropout of school because they perceive the mainstream curriculum as being irrelevant to their lives (Fine, 1991). These students also encounter a school climate that fails to

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validate and affirm their identity (Hansen, 2001). Deformation, the second stage of the model for understanding mind development, is in essence a core part of curriculum violence. As mentioned, curriculum violence has been defined as the deliberate manipulation of academic programming in a manner that ignores or compromises the intellectual and psychological well-being of learners.

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VIOLENCE As we mentioned in chapter one, although there are varying definitions of violence, the term violence denotes the action of an individual or entity that causes physical or psychological injury on another person or entity. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines violence as the intentional use of physical force or power, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation. As one of the three recognized forms of violence (Self-Inflicted, Interpersonal, Organized), UNESCO defines organized violence as the violent behavior of a social or political group motivated by specific political, economic, or social objectives (UNESCO, 2010).

CURRICULUM VIOLENCE Tyranny over the mind is the most complete and most brutal type of tyranny: every other tyranny begins and ends with it. Milovan Djilas The New Class (1957)

If Milovan Djilas would allow for a slight modification to his assessment of tyranny, we contend that violence on the mind (trauma) is the most complete and most brutal form of violence. Every other violence begins and ends with it. There is a common saying that ‗sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.‘ This is one of the most fallacious and erroneous phrases that many people have come to accept as a form of coping mechanism for dealing with the reality of emotional and psychological injury.

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Every child who has been bullied, harassed, and beaten knows that the actual act of physical abuse is in every instance, preempted by words of intimidation and utterances that are intended to denigrate the character of the abused. Depicted as a broken-inverted triangle, curriculum violence is explained as part of a diagram that articulates the concept of ingenious triangulation (figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1. Ingenious Triangulation.

Within the context of a slave indoctrination system, ingenious triangulation graphically represents a state of skewed mental reality. Instead of a healthy and proper mental state represented by a solid triangle with the accompanying elements of ingenious affirmation, ingenious enrichment, and liberated genius (angles C, B, A), we have a distorted perception of mental capacity represented by a broken and inverted triangle with accompanying elements of arrested ingenuity, ingenious compromise, and ingenious paralysis (angles X, Y, Z). The unhealthy state of the inverted triangle represents the affects of curriculum violence, while the healthy solid triangle refers to a nonviolent curriculum. The inverted and broken triangle (XYZ) suggests that just as slaves were denied the benefit of education (arrested ingenuity), trained to accept western

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thought as preferable normative frames (ingenious compromise), and as a result they lost their capacity for claiming or reclaiming their authentic traditions and spirituality i.e. the lost of history, culture, names, identity etc. (ingenious paralysis), there are similar tendencies in curriculum violence. The standing solid triangle thus represent a healthy state where an African American child is born free and intellectually validated (ingenious affirmation), exposed to a curriculum that is culturally responsive (ingenious enrichment), and as a result the child demonstrates academic excellence as it is in the case reported by Moses-Snipes (2005), where African American students excelled in mathematics through exposure to African concepts (liberated genius). In order to describe how the established definitions of violence fit into the framework of curriculum violence, and as a means of describing the dimensions of ingenious triangulation, we provide the following definitions (figure 5.4): Ingenious Triangulation – an inverted and broken triangle that graphically depicts the framework of diminished human intellectual capacity. Arrested Ingenuity – the abrupt interruption in the process of human intellectual development [i.e., a child who has long been regarded as brilliant and is later convinced that he/she is not as smart because of current academic struggles]. Ingenious Compromise – the situation whereby an individual relinquishes intellectual independence or consciously participates in self-disempowerment [i.e., the student who knows and has access and can do the work, but pays another student to do the work]. Ingenious Paralysis - the state of intellectual and psychological breakdown that emanates from a condition of complete abdication of initiative, discretion and freewill [i.e., the student that is dependent on a classmate to do all the work, suddenly discovers that the helper has transferred to another school, and decides that it is impossible to do the work]. Ingenious Affirmation – a condition that validates the initiative and intellectual prowess of a child [i.e., a student is taught a subject, masters it and is recognized for the accomplishment]. Ingenious Enrichment – the act of receiving encouragement, support and enrichments for initiatives and intellectual exploration [i.e., a student receives instruction on how to do Geometry and receives

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support and enrichments until mastery is achieved, and is awarded for the accomplishment]. Liberated Genius – the pinnacle of critical thinking and mental excellence that emanates from empowerment, acknowledgment and application [i.e., a student is able to apply their education to relevant life issues, and for the betterment of self and society].

Figure 5.2. Process of Curriculum Violence Angle X: Arrested Ingenuity and the Birth of Malformation.

Arrested ingenuity represents a stage in cognitive development that denotes a constrained state of mental awareness and self-concept. It is a condition that emanates from and naturally follows the stage of Formation. For a child whose formative years are designed to be complemented with nurturing, praise, and adulation (ingenious affirmation), for some children who have negative school experiences, they are left in a state of neglect, abuse and maltreatment. Due to the lack of positive reinforcement, arrested ingenuity emanates from negative socialization and traumatic school experiences that deny the initiative and genius that is evident in every child. Most often, the child or student internalizes the terms of containment, ―you cannot do this,‖ ―you can never do this.‖ And in an extreme case of malicious benevolence, intended or non-intended, the controller uses phrase like ―It is better if you try this, may be studying education, because that (science and or mathematics) might be too difficult for you.‖ According to Ingram (2003a), for some African Americans the condition of intellectual malevolence is a residual of the destruction to the self-concept, culture, and identity of African slaves. Other writers have written extensively about how American leaders and

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researchers have attempted to denigrate the intellectual and mental capacities of African Americans (Asante, 2003, Browder, 1992; Clarke, 1993; Cross, 1984; Hilliard, 2004; James, 1954). Regarding the abilities of African Americans, the following observations were made: The cranial sutures…close much earlier in the Negro than in other races. To this premature ossification of the skull, preventing all further development of the brain, many pathologists have attributed the inherent mental inferiority which is even more masked than their physical differences. Nearly all observers admit that the Negro child is on the whole quite as intelligent as those of other human varieties, but that on arriving at puberty all further progress seems to be arrested. No one has more carefully studied this point than Filippo Manetta, who during a long residence on the plantations of the Southern States of America noted that ‗the Negro children were sharp, intelligent and full of vivacity, but on approaching the adult period a gradual change set in. The intellect seemed to become clouded, animation giving place to a sort of lethargy, briskness yielding to indolence. We must necessarily suppose that the development of the Negro and White proceeds on different lines. While with the later the volume of the brain grows with the expansion of the brain-pan, in the former the growth of the brain is on the contrary arrested by the premature closing of the cranial sutures and lateral pressure of the frontal bone. Encyclopedia Britannica Browder, 1992, p. 33 The Negro‘s head shows the archaic form. The front of the Negro‘s skull is much smaller than the white man‘s, thus giving the Negro less room for the higher faculties, such as affection, self control, will power, reason, judgment, apperception, orientation, and a feeling for the relationship of personality to the environment. Handbill distributed in the US Cross, 1984, p. 160 The Negro‘s whole skull capacity is much undersize so that the black brain weighs 35 ounces as against 45 ounces for the Caucasian brain. Handbill distributed in the US Cross, 1984, p. 160

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Erhabor Ighodaro and Greg Wiggan When we classify mankind by color, the only one of the primary races…which has not made a creative contribution to any of our twenty-one civilizations is the black race. Historian Arnold Toynbee Browder, 1992, p. 17 I am apt to suspect the Negroes…to be naturally inferior to the white. There never was a civilized nation of any other complexion than white, nor even any individual eminent either in action or speculation, no ingenious manufacturers amongst them, no arts, or sciences. Philosopher David Hume Browder, 1992, p. 18 A black skin means membership in a race of man which has never created a civilization of any kind. There is something natural in the subordination of an inferior race even to the point of enslavement of the inferior race…

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Scholar John Burgess Browder, 1992 , p. 18 I advance it, therefore, as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race or made distinct by time or circumstance, are inferior to the whites in the endowments of both body and mind. President Thomas Jefferson Browder, 1992, p.18 There is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together…while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. President Abraham Lincoln Browder, 1992, p.18

The commentary on the abilities and expectations for African Americans helps us to understand why there were such limited opportunities for learning and advancements afforded to the group. The documented evidence on how a Curriculum Violence: America's New Civil Rights Issue : America's New Civil Rights Issue, Nova Science Publishers,

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society that is supposed to be the custodians of children‘s futures has manipulated education to favor some children at the expense of others is a key element for unraveling the crisis in America‘s educational system. There is established evidence of a hidden curriculum in American education (Anderson, 2001). Under the tenets of curriculum violence, it is argued that the processes that created arrested ingenuity during slavery influences the condition in the post-slavery era. Browder (1992) cites the Encyclopedia Britannica as stating, ―…nearly all observers admit that the Negro child is on the whole quite as intelligent as those of other human varieties, but that on arriving at puberty all further progress seems to be arrested‖ (p. 33). Even though no free-thinking human being, let alone intellectual, would adhere to the supposition cited for the difference between Black and White intellectual capacities, there is an inherent contradiction with the evaluation regarding cognitive abilities. On the one hand, thinkers like Filippo Manetta admit that Black children are as intellectually sound as White children, and in the same breath argues that at some point in young adulthood everything about the intellectual capacity evaporates. If there is something innate about the races‘ intelligence, which some people claim, then there cannot be a reasonable explanation for modification of the same through maturation and experience, unless socialization, environment, and schools have a major effect. The later assumption is a point of agreement and one upon which we buttress our discussion on arrested ingenuity. Like the individual whose intellectual capacity has been arrested by the harsh realities of the legacies of slavery, in the year 2010, a child in Florida or anywhere across the nation, who has been denied the opportunity for ingenious affirmation (angle C), denied equal access to education and labeled a failure, has been subjugated to a type of mental arrest, evidenced by a restricted and constrained psychological imagination. In 2003 in the state of Florida, because of a statewide mandated standardized exam (FCAT), over 40,000 students, mostly minorities and disproportionately African Americans, were on the state‘s retention list for failing the mandated test. Are these students failing or is the educational system failing these students? In the domain of arrested ingenuity (angle X), is there something of an intellectual dysfunction in these children or are there school process that validate some children at the expense of others? The more systemic school concerns and the lack of opportunities for marginalized students, forms the basis for a quintessential civil rights issue.

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ANGLE Y: INGENIOUS COMPROMISE AND THE LEGACY OF OMISSION The process involved in ingenious compromise (angle Y), is similar but fundamentally different from arrested ingenuity (angle X) (see figures 5.1 and 5.2). Although both are debilitating realities for the intellectual well-being and prowess of oppressed people and are pivotal concerns for curriculum violence, the major difference between both is that the case of arrest emanates from direct assault by the oppressor, while compromise is often achieved with the acquiescence and participation of the oppressed. A historic and symbolic example of this condition is the case of the political strategist Booker T. Washington. Although Washington is to be praised for his work in being a public politician, and using White philanthropic donations to provide educational opportunities for African Americans, he was often forced into compromising positions in privileging vocational training for Blacks, and even remaining silent on lynching in order to maintain favorable relationships with White donors. Cross (1984) cited Washington as an example of many Black leaders who for political and economical reasons were forced to make difficult decisions as a response to the White power structure. Cross, in buttressing his argument, he cited the following excerpt from Washington‘s famous Atlanta Compromise speech: No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities. To those of the white race…were I permitted I would repeat what I say to my own race. ‗Cast down your bucket where you are.‘ Cast it down among eight millions of Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous meant the ruin of your firesides. Cast down your bucket among those people who have, without strikes and labor wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, build your railways and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth. …Cast down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and un-resentful people

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that the world has ever seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick-bed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense of yours, interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both races one. In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress. (Cross, 1984, p. 172)

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Cross (1984) also cited the seemingly compromising commentaries of other influential Blacks who wanted nothing to do with the agitation and struggle for equal economic and political rights: ―As a Negro, I am strongly in favor of a poll tax and property ownership as preconditions to voting as these requirements will encourage Negroes to work hard and to be thrifty.‖ ―Negroes should encourage the use of the multiple-ballot box system as this ensures that only intelligent people will be able to vote and this will result in the election of responsible officials who will look after the interests of the black man.‖ ―I am opposed to agitation for the rights of citizenship as the only answer for the colored man is to be patient, make himself competent, and give no occasion for anyone to find fault with him.‖ ―I am opposed to enacting a federal antilynching law as that would intrude on states‘ rights and only encourage whites to take further reprisals against blacks.‖ ―I am against affirmative action pressures for admission of blacks to elite educational institutions since most blacks will be better off in settings where academic pressures are not so great.‖ ―We blacks should be opposed to legislation forcing racial integration in schools and neighborhoods because history has repeatedly shown the folly and futility of government tampering with local folks way and habits.‖ (Cross, 1984, p. 174).

It is unclear whether these Black leaders were speaking out of duress or latent self-interest. Notwithstanding, the damaging implications of their ideological rhetoric speak volume as we consider the reality of the African American experience in the 21st century. It is obvious today that if it were not for the advocacy and struggle for civil rights, there would not have been a Brown vs. Board of Education, voting rights legislation, and to a greater extent

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the election of Barack Obama, an African American president in the first decade of this new century. The damaging effect of the legacy of ingenious compromise as documented by Cross (1984), has far reaching implications for our current educational policy. A phenomenon that we refer to here as the ‗Armstrong Effect,‘ suggests that there is a subtle manifestation of socio-political shenanigans in regards to American educational policy, especially as we highlight Armstrong Williams, the African American conservative pundit who was under fire in 2005 for taking $240,000.00, for his vocal cheerleading of President Bush‘s NCLB educational policy. Although self-interest may be one of the most apparent motivations for those mired in a state of ingenious compromise, there are a variety of circumstances that underscore the many-nuanced dimension of this condition. In the following paragraphs, we present some personal illustrations of ingenious compromise.

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Illustration VI: Naira for Vernacular Growing up in native Nigeria, I (Erhabor) never thought it problematic when in primary school, as part of the British educational system; we were reprimanded for speaking our native language in school. In fact, children were taught to celebrate this punitive and ludicrous educational policy. Anyone who had a propensity for speaking his or her mother tongue was considered a recluse, degenerate, and mentally incompetent. Everyone, student, and teacher alike, welcomed this type of mental humiliation and accepted a classroom policy that anyone found speaking Edo (the native language) was fined naira (Nigerian currency) for the violation.

Illustration VII: Dollar for Vernacular Having gained some level of maturity, I (Erhabor) thought of how insidious the implication of the neo-colonial educational policy just cited might have been. I figured we were children and did not know any better to raise objections. However, in 2008 I joined a group of Nigerians to form a Nigerian organization in the U.S and to my surprise, this group with a sizeable number of intellectuals and professionals, enacted a policy that exacted a $5 fine for anyone that spoke their native Nigerian language. Although English

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was rationalized as a viable medium of communication among a group with varying dialects, the fact that as a group they were perpetuating the same colonial aspersions that they abhorred, struck me as quite fascinating.

Illustration VIII: Fela‟s Yellow Fever Lyric

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Growing up I (Erhabor) was influenced, like most people my generation, with the radical and thought provoking lyrics of Fela Kuti, one of Africa‘s most influential singers. Addressing the impact and ravages of colonial influence on African peoples‘ identity (formation), Fela said ―...na your money to do am for you. You go yellow pass yellow, you go get mustache for face, you go get your double color... you sef go think say you dey fine, who say you fine? Na lie you no fine at all at all, na lie...Yellow fever you dey bleach oh you dey bleach!!!‖ Fela was basically calling out young Africans who have bleached their skin to look like Europeans. A similar phenomenon is seen in Jamaica, where skin bleaching is common, and some people seek social promotion by adopting European culture, thoughts and esthetics. The Rastafarian movement has been instrumental in creating social and global consciousnesses in the Caribbean and around the world, which has helped to reaffirm the African esthetics, spirituality,cultural perspectives and contributions. In the case of Fela Kuti in Africa, in his message, he said, ―na your money go do am for you,‖ meaning that individuals have spent their own money to do [bleach their skin] what the colonizer did not do to them. In other words, this condition of self-mutilation is troublesome not only for the nature of the act itself, but also in that the victims have paid with their own money to have their skin desecrated. This evidence of ingenious compromise is apparent in most urban centers in Africa and the Caribbean, and illustrates the vestiges of the condition of western influence. The American corollary and example of this phenomenon is the skin color evolution of the late pop icon Michael Jackson. Although there is some debate as to the reason for Jackson‘s skin transformation, most people agree that the pop star had some issues with his identity, especially considering the other apparent physical ‗make-over‘ i.e., the nose job. In his book Ingenuity Gap, Homer-Dixon (2000) develops an elaborate discussion on how people‘s dependence on technology and secondary information can diminish their cognition and foster a condition of ‗mental

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exhaustion.‘ As long as we continue to let others do that which we ought to do, we abdicate our capacity and power for freethinking and individual liberty. The last example we provide to underscore how this state of ingenious compromise has permeated education and eroded students‘ learning, comes from the case study conducted in Miami Dade County Public Schools. As mentioned, in the study we aimed to examine how the emphasis on standardized testing has affected the teaching of African/African-American history. Based on a 1994 State of Florida mandate to infuse the teaching of African/African American history throughout the state‘s k-12 curriculum, we asked a group of thirty elementary school principals about the implementation of the mandate. Even though all the principals admitted that there is value in teaching African/African American history, the evidence suggests that all of the schools, with the exception of two, were ignoring the emphasis of the mandate. As a part of what we call a legacy of omission, we present elementary school principals‘ responses to the question of whether it is important to teach African/African-American history. These responses are connected to a follow up question regarding whether these principals were actually following the mandate to teach African/African American content. The principals‘ narratives help to provide some meaningful perspectives on school reform. For instance, even though they all agreed that it is important to teach African American history (ingenious affirmation), they decided not to focus on that content partly because it is not tested on the FCAT (ingenious compromise). As a result, this limits what students learn in school (ingenious paralysis). In fact, a majority of the principals interviewed attest that their students lacked any reasonable amount of information on African American history, and they also report that their African American students do not understand their connection to Africa. In exploring the issue of the principals‘ support for the state mandate to teach African/African American history, principals were asked to discuss the relative importance of teaching the content. As stated, the principals agreed that they support the mandate, but the implementation was a concern (see table 3.5). The following responses are from the principals:

Question: Do you support the state’s mandate for infusing African/ African American content in the school curriculum? David: I think it helps. Because if you give them pride in their heritage…I think a lot of African Americans, if we are to depend on what society shows us who we are, that doesn‘t make us feel too good. Teach them

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about their roots and everything. I grew up in Central Florida…mostly Caucasian, I didn‘t know until I went to Florida A & M, a historically black college, that the first blood transfusion was done by a black person [Daniel Hale Williams]…This is a way of getting students connected with their ancestors and being proud of that. Today I just had a conversation with a little boy. He said I didn‘t want to be in the sun. I said what are you talking about? You have beautiful complexion. No it‘s ugly. I said excuse me! It‘s sad to say, but I was struggling with that today. Even now, 2007, we have that…The more they see the connection to their African roots... the better. You came from Doctors, you came from Kings, you came from builders, that would give you that pride and you know that…strength. But again, we cannot rely on what the media tells us…honey you are more than a jail cell. You are more than a drug dealer on that corner. So I think it is very important. Fran: I think it is very important. In order to know where you are going, it is important to know where you‘ve come from. Everyone knows about their history, we have to know about our history. As far as I know my ancestors were slaves. We have to go deeper than that. As far as I know my last name is Smith, there are no Smiths‘ in Africa [meaning that Smith is not an indigenous African name], my forefathers where dropped of in the Bahamas from the West Coast because of the slave trade. So we need to go to the base to find out from whence we come. Our history goes back to biblical times and before biblical times, and we need to know that stuff…in order to know it we have to study it. If I start following the history from the curriculum that was given by Miami Dade County Public Schools…if it wasn‘t for my father and my uncle, I would not know how far my lineage goes back. My father and my uncle sat me down and said no, no, no, let‘s get it right! You have to know that three or four generations that‘s where your name Smith comes from, but before when you were brought over here you could have had a brother in Brazil, you could have a brother in Carolina. If you had three brothers, one of them could have stopped in the Caribbean …that‘s why we‘ve got a strong Caribbean link… because the Caribbean was a training ground before slaves were brought to America. Some went to South America, North America, and some went to Central America. You‘ve got to know that…and that‘s what a lot of the children don‘t realize. Sandra: I think it is critical…I think it is critical to teach…they have to know their (cultural) richness, we‘ve done such a poor job in this country…I mean, I was educated in this system, when we study African American history here, and we celebrate it, we do a multicultural celebration…I was raised in this system, yet I don‘t know some of these things, so I‘m thinking if we as educators don‘t teach our kids, and grown ups, then there is going to be a whole culture that‘s lost, or may be denied, what they are entitled to.

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It is important to mention here that even in the process to highlight the relevance of teaching African/African American content, these principals were acknowledging both the failure of the system and their own limitations in terms of their individual knowledge base. Fran admits that she was never taught African/African American history in school. She explains that had it not been for the influence of her dad and uncle, she would know very little history. In other words, by the standard of the curriculum as presented by the district, and in regards to African American history, Fran was placed in a state of arrested ingenuity. For we know that if she did not know the history, there is no way she could teach it. In essence, she would not only have limited knowledge, but she would transfer those limitations to her students. In spite of the stated curriculum challenges, Fran, like the rest of her cohort, she agreed that teaching African/African American history was important. The theme highlighting the importance of teaching African/African American history was evident and supported by all the principals interviewed in this project. And this sentiment came from principals who were from diverse backgrounds. As we stated in the previous chapter, the participants included 19 African Americans, 7 Whites and 4 Latino/Latina Principals. Out of the 30 principals, 27 were female and 3 male, and 9 had an Ed.D. or a Ph.D. and 21 had a Master‘s degrees (see table 3.5). The most revealing outcome from this investigation was the finding that in spite of the positive appraisals of the need for the new content (mandate to teach African and African American content), there was little evidence that the mandate was been followed as apparent from the responses to the following question:

Question: How well does your school incorporate the teaching of African/African American history in your lesson plan and teach strategies? Akeela: That‘s hard for me to answer because I came on board later…I didn‘t start off the school year, so as far as the mandate, from my feeling and what I see, I don‘t see a great deal of that happening in the classroom. Roberta: Not very well…not very well. I am not going to pretend. And it is all because of the pressure (FCAT)…it‘s too overwhelming. Like I said no one tends to come to my school‘s.. presentation for Black history month.. Calester: Unfortunately, I think that many times, they (teachers and students) think that the only time we need to talk about African American history, is in the month of February…that we don‘t go beyond that, we look

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Deformation: Stages of Development at it…we celebrate it in the month of February as Black history month, but from there on, not much is really done…and I speak sincerely.

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Vera: We do it…but we do it in a certain month of the year, and it is not an all year round thing, and it is not really infused, this is a separate booklet that they asked us to ask teachers to infuse that into the curriculum, but the practice is not solid, structured enough to make sure that we‘re doing something valuable for the students. Helen: Not well at all because I see so much more that can be done. But what happens, to be very honest with you, we‘ll dedicate the month to it, we have the curriculum and we give it to the teachers or we have different activities. I don‘t think that‘s the approach to it…I think it is something that should go on all throughout the year, by the time we start and end the school year, there is a way we can talk about the school systems, the different African countries, we can talk about education, we can talk about the cultural arts, we can talk about the politicians. We can talk about all the different parts of learning so by the time you finish the school year, you have been exposed to all aspects, not some digging in a month and when it goes away we don‘t think about it until the next year…it doesn‘t work. And if we took our time and spread it out so the kids really have to process, and you know what, incorporate all these…benchmarks that we need to accomplish, I think our children would be much better off, I think they‘ll enjoy learning, I think they‘ll be able to think and process, and I think that would impact the scores and we really would have addressed the need of the total child and make the learning fun… something they want to do when they walk within the walls of the school…but we don‘t do it that way. David: I think a lot has been lost…the richness of teaching. Because we are under such a time crunch…from the time we start school to the time the FCAT is given. We start school in August, but the test is given in February, we still have March, April, May, three months. So all that… the curriculum has to be pushed forward if we are going to cover it, cover it well. If we are going to push it forward, something is going to be lost. The music…instead of the kids going to music, we have to take them out and put them in reading. And honestly, the area or content that is not tested…is left out… If you have a hundred and eighty days, and my test (FCAT) is on one hundred and whatever day, you don‘t have a full year to teach the kids… So, do you know what I‘m saying, you don‘t have a full year to prepare the kids. So you‘ve got to accelerate as much as you can. So now we‘ve gone to this March to March calendar, which you know makes sense. So we have to capitalize on when the test is over in March, so from March to May we need to really push and make sure our kids are learning…we go over the curriculum for next year, while

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The principals were all working to improve their students‘ performance on the FCAT and improve their schools overall grade. However, addressing the new content on African/African American history added an additional layer of things for them to accomplish. Due to the pressures of the FCAT, most principals rationalized emphasizing the content that is on the test during the school day. Thus, while they were in favor of infusing African American history, they focused on improving test scores. The following narratives explore the principals‘ dilemma, the test vs. content: Irene: Well the FCAT itself does not allow for time to do that (laugh) [teach African/African American content]. Unless you find passages that are about those individuals and teach students…you can do that. Then they‘ll get an opportunity to read about their heritage, but in terms of the passages that come to us and are provided to us by the state, I have not seen very many where there was a particular emphasis on the African American culture and using the knowledge from that passage to prepare students for the test. Olivia: Very limited…because you‘re so busy teaching what is supposed to be skill, that you really do not have the time, nor do you invest in purchasing or bringing in the resources, because you know it‘s not going to be touched on in the test…so it is neglected. David: If it ain‘t on the Sunshine State Standards, it‘s not emphasized…But I think now they‘re trying to get Social Studies in there. And that‘s supposed to be added. However, you need to look at it, History is His Story. So whose story are you telling? I know we have in Dade County African American Voices, we‘ve got a curriculum…but I don‘t know. I know it‘s there…What do we do with it? I know we don‘t try to just have African American history celebration in February, we try to celebrate our accomplishments everyday.

As we mentioned, as a state mandate to teach African/African American content, the initiative should not be ignored by principals, but because the administrators understand that it is an unregulated mandate. Consequently, Curriculum Violence: America's New Civil Rights Issue : America's New Civil Rights Issue, Nova Science Publishers,

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they calculate quite rationally to do that which is administratively expedient, since as everyone knows in Florida; when it comes to our children‘s public schools experience, it is all about the FCAT. A second but related concern is that in spite of embracing the mandate to teach African/African content, these administrators were forced to become accomplices in an educational policy that has reduced education to a narrow emphasis on standardized testing (deformation).

CHAPTER SUMMARY

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In this chapter, we have presented Deformation, the second stage in the theoretical framework related to curriculum violence. We introduced the principals‘ narratives about their challenges in juggling the demands of the FCAT and the mandate to teach African/African American content. The narratives helped to illustrate how high-stakes testing was undermining the new content. In the next chapter, we present Conformation, the third stage in the model of curriculum violence.

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Chapter 6

CONFORMATION AND STUDENT DEVELOPMENT

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When you control a man‘s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him to stand here or go yonder. He will find his ‗proper place‘ and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary. Carter G. Woodson (1933, p. xiii) The Mis-Education of the Negro

Conformation embodies the condition of paralysis in which individuals lose control of initiative, discretion, and free-will. In the third stage of the theoretical model and depth of curriculum violence, we now explore the dimensions of conformation by describing the impact of the legacy of negative indoctrination on the social-psychological well being of some African Americans.

Figure 5.2. Process of Curriculum Violence Angle X: Arrested Ingenuity and the Birth of Malformation. Curriculum Violence: America's New Civil Rights Issue : America's New Civil Rights Issue, Nova Science Publishers,

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ANGLE Z: INGENIOUS PARALYSIS AND THE DEATH OF INITIATIVE The third angle in the framework of ingenious triangulation and the height of curriculum violence (see figure 5.2, discussed in chapter 5), ingenious paralysis refers to the state of intellectual and psychological breakdown that emanates from a condition of complete abdication of initiative, discretion, and freewill. The antithesis of a free thinker is an indoctrinated non-thinker, someone who follows rules and avoids critical thinking. The apex of curriculum violence is a condition of psycho-intellectual paralysis. In his book the Mis-Education of the Negro, Woodson (1933) asserted that no matter how many credentials an African American has, as long as he/she has been trained and educated without a proper social and cultural context, he/she has been mis-educated. Citing himself as a Harvard educated Ph.D., Woodson was concerned that his educational experiences mirrored those of individuals who were trained without cultural relevance, and he argues that it took him at least twenty years to undo the intellectual and emotional trauma he experienced in academy. In the context of curriculum violence, ingenious paralysis takes place in the parlance of Woodson in a situation where there is very little initiative and individuals unconsciously develop limitations that we refer to as ―class ceiling.‖ The fact that too many African Americans come from homes where they are first generation high school graduates underscore the challenge to their school experience. Children whose parents are highly educated are more likely to receive help with their homework than those whose parents have low educational attainment. For instance, if Malik goes home with an algebra assignment and he has a mom at home who never went to high school, he would be less likely than Jeremy, whose mom is a high school teacher, to receive assistance with his math homework. This condition is what we refer to in this work as ―class ceiling,‖ meaning the perceived sense of limited social and psychological capabilities that emanates from the denial of educational opportunities and social class mobility. In his remark before the NAACP, President Barack Obama referred to this perceived sense of limitation by suggesting that because of the legacy of slavery and discrimination, some African Americans have internalized low expectations of themselves (Salomon, 2009). What the President knows and what most Americans can understand, is the reality that in most oppressed groups, there persist an intergenerational condition of internalized domination, which should be

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treated as a matter requiring urgent attention if we are to shatter the perceived ―class ceiling.‖

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CURRICULUM VIOLENCE AND THE CLASS CEILING Anyone who has studied the nature of oppression, discrimination and the various forms of class conflicts knows that there is persistence on the part of those in power to maintain a perpetual sense of advantage, even in the face of legal challenges and social opposition. In America, especially as it relates to the experience of gender discrimination and women‘s rights, the ―class ceiling‖ parallels a condition of domination that has been referred to as the glass ceiling. In the United States, it is known that most women earn only .75 cents on the dollar earned by their White male counterparts. For African Americans, especially considering the legacy of slavery and discrimination, there are considerably many challenges that they face within the community. Unfortunately, one of these is the sense of limitation in regards to educational aspirations and material conditions associated with being lower class. Class ceiling is the perceived sense of limitation that emanates from the denial of educational and social opportunities. Class in this sense is used to refer to a social or educational class. Because Black children have been in a historically disadvantaged position, due to the legacy of omission, there are unique conditions and challenges that the group faces. We believe these conditions are both real and perceived. It is a reality that there are fewer graduates (high school and collegiate) in individual Black families compared to White families. A child who has a family member who has received a college degree is more likely to go to college than one who has no family members who are college graduates. This phenomenon benefits the school experiences of some students while limiting others. For those students who have less home resources and enrichments, school effects is even more important to their academic and social development. Teachers must be sensitive to these issues and their preparation must also address these student differences. For some students who have less exposure, their school experiences fail to enrich or improve their school performance. The problems with school inequalities and the differences in the treatment of students compound this issue. We contend that the consequence of this reality of domination and inequality in school leads to a perceived sense of constraints for some students, and many teachers who do not bother to teach these students because

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they expect very little from them. However, just because a child does not have a family member who has a high school or college degree does not mean that he or she lacks capacity and intelligence. According to Ingram (2003a), because of the historical denial of educational opportunities, it became common for people to question the intelligence of minorities. The support from academics and political leaders will combat the negative perceptions about minorities and begin discourse about educational and cultural deficits. Research by Fordham and Ogbu (1986) suggest that some African American students develop an oppositional school identity due to their perception that achievement is a part of a White experience. Even though other scholars (Ainsworth & Wiggan, 2006; Harpalani, 2001; Horvat & Lewis, 2003; Horvat & O‘Connor, 2006; Wiggan, 2007, 2008) have found that school disengagement is not unique to African Americans (MacLeod, 1987), and that the acting White epithet signals that a student has not mastered code-switching or is not proficient in subculture ethos, rather than being sanctioned for having high performance in school; the implications of the historical legacy of omission and marginalization of African Americans is a matter of unquestionable consequence. The fact that in the first half of the 21st century, we still have many African Americans who are first generation high school graduates is quite telling even as we are celebrating the election of Barack Obama as President. Only those who have had a brother, sister, or parents or even grandparents to be privileged to have a college education, could afford to take for granted the impact that social modeling has on the social-psychology and aspirations of a young boy or girl. As youths growing up in post-colonial Nigeria and Jamaica with parents who had very little formal education, children developed as sense of appreciation for education, seeing that it was systemically denied to their parents. Anyone that would not read has no better advantage than someone that cannot read. Ingram (2003a)

Whether forced or self–conceived, the ―class ceiling‖ has serious implications for the life world of today‘s students. The question of why some students fail to tap into the relative presence of educational opportunities is legitimate and contemplative. Some students make calculated and rational decisions about the ‗real‘ benefit of education, because school is not a positive

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experience for them and they see very few people in their communities who are educated. Although this is not a legitimate reason to abandon education, which is important for improving a child‘s prospects in life, one can understand the disavowal among some students who are not doing well in school and do not have the support to improve their school performance.

Illustration X: I Believe I can Fly

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There is a line in the song ―I believe I can fly,‖ by the African American R & B singer R. Kelly, in which he states ―…if I can see it, then I can do. If I just believe it, then I can do it…I believe I can fly…I believe I can touch the sky. I think about it every night and day. Take my wings and fly away…I believe I can fly.

The point to underscore here is where the songwriter contends that ―if I can see it, then I can do it.‖ The ―class ceiling‖ is essentially the inability of a child to see role models of excellence and achievement, and therefore an inability to see his/her self as being capable. If by the nature of one‘s upbringing and socialization, the hallmark of academic excellence is a high school graduate, then the most radical achievement would be for this person to graduate at the top of his/her class. This is not to say that one cannot think outside the scope of one‘s limited purview, but that would be the exception, not the norm. The process of developing a sense of limitation due to lack of educational and social opportunities, whether voluntary or otherwise, is a central basis for the stage of conformation, the lost of initiative, in the framework of curriculum violence.

CURRICULUM VIOLENCE AND CHILD ABUSE The American Heritage Dictionary (1994) provides a definition for violence as an action that is of “detriment to meaning, content, or intent” (p. 898). The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines violence as the intentional use of physical force or power, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that either results in or has a likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation. On the subject of abuse, according to the

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American Heritage Dictionary (1994), abuse can be defined as “to hurt or injure by maltreatment” or the use of “insulting and coarse language” (p 4). Based on the definition by UNESCO and the clause relevant to “…psychological harm, maldevelopment and deprivation,” the issue of curriculum violence speaks to the content and programming of students‘ learning and educational experiences that ignores and compromises the intellectual and social-psychological well-being of learners. It is sometimes quite easy for us to understand the abuse of a child by a parent or trusted guardian, especially when there is evidence of physical injury or gross manifestation of neglect and abandonment, but our understanding and treatment of subtle, psychological harm is far less conspicuous. Educators who have studied the role of hegemonic school processes in the experiences of students have documented the social-psychological trauma and arrests that emanates from oppressive academic programs (Freire, 1970; Hilliard, 1995a,b). Indeed, Freire (1970) in his seminal work, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, contends that, ―One cannot expect positive results from an educational or political action program which fails to respect the particular view of the world held by the people. Such a program constitute cultural invasion, good intentions notwithstanding‖ (p.95). In light of Freire‘s position, we present evidence from the case study conducted in Miami-Dade County, regarding the consequences of a hegemonic school experience.

Question: What do your students think and know about their African American history and cultural backgrounds? Roberta: They don‘t come in knowing, they get a little bit depending on who their teacher is, honestly, I don‘t feel they are greatly exposed and part of that is my fault, and I take responsibility for that point. Again we have to focus on what‘s important and everyone‘s got a month now, you‘ve got women‘s history month, you‘ve got Hispanic heritage month, you got African American history month, you got Holocaust Recognition & Awareness, AIDS Awareness…you got so many months and things and people to acknowledge…its difficult to cover everything you are expected to cover. Olivia: Very limited…because you‘re so busy teaching what is supposed to be skill, that you really do not have the time, nor do you invest in purchasing or bringing in the resources, because, you know it‘s not going to be touched on in the test…so it is neglected.

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Young: Well…I hear a lot…when you use the word African-American, some of them would say I‘m Black, what does that mean? Now does that mean I was never taught the relationship between the two…(laugh).

Even though all the principals spoke about the importance of teaching African/African American history, they determined that their students had limited exposure and understanding of the content. The lack of culturally relevant content that Woodson (1933) decried almost a century ago is still a problem for African American students. The diminishing sense of self and self-esteem is invariably related to the intellectual maldevelopment and deprivation that emanates from internalized attributions of curriculum violence. In the following narratives, the principals reflect on the FCAT‘s impact on African American students:

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Sandra: That‘s what I studied, that‘s the topic of my dissertation, the effects of many different variables of test performance on Title 1 Schools…it has a negative impact on them…I honestly believe it may be doing some of our children some harm. Irene: Overall I think it has given a very negative taste in the mouth of children and in their families, part of which the third grade retention…that is a very young age for a child to feel that they are experiencing something negative and failure, when they have so many years before them that they need to go to school…high school I know there are middle-class students and students from affluent homes who have not done well on the FCAT who have had to retake it…I am surprised at the professionals in the field that their children have had to retake the test in order to graduate from high school… or parents have to seek alternative ways. And kids are in an environment in a community where they talk, they all know that this is happening, so I think that - that is a negative impact. Everybody is not going to Harvard or UM or Yale, I think we need to look at that …and I know under the Jamaican culture, may be kids need different tracks, if you don‘t want to go in the academic track.. because many people are successful in life, they don‘t necessarily have the degrees, the piece of paper, but again they are quite successful in what they do. Roberta: I have seen so many of our students retained, held back year after year, and in a lot of cases to no fault of their own, this can breed students who are hostile, angry, because they feel their peers in fifth grade are… getting ready for middle school and they are still in third grade. So it is negatively impacting our students …… If they failed the FCAT, they (parents) may pull them out afterwards and take them to a private school,

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Kim: Many of them have gained self-confidence…those who are learning to pass it and are passing it, those who can‘t, it‘s making them feel inadequate, and I‘m certain that it is going to have a negative impact on their self-esteem. Like I say…with the grading of schools, it makes the child who goes to school… and gets a low grade, feel low.. If it is a high grade they feel good…so I am afraid especially for our kids who are being retained in grade three…for so long, I‘m concerned about the kind of impact it is going to have on the children eventually. We have children in our school who can‘t pass third grade and they‘re getting bigger and bigger, and they look awkward in the school and I‘m sure they feel awkward. Trae: Well, if you take a look at the results, if you take a look at the group that might be underperforming, the African American students fit those categories, so how does that impact them? Obviously, we go back to the school success identity versus a failure identity, the notion that I‘m not going to be able to do it because I‘m Black, okay some of these kids are automatically feeling inferior or made to feel inferior as a result of this test. We‘ve created the need in our society to break things down, you see the Asian kids are doing better, the White kids are doing better, the Hispanic kids are not doing well, and the Black kids are doing worse than the others, and before you know it, we‘ve…on the one hand, we try to integrate schools and we say ‗No Child Left Behind,‘ but in the process of doing things we are separating people… we can‘t get away from that, we can‘t get away from that…I happen to know a lot of engaging children from all backgrounds that have been hurt by this, that have intelligence that may not be measured by this (FCAT), and in some cases they are being denied their future…I can talk about some athletes that I knew from my previous assignment, that lost scholarships as a result of that…those boys can stand up and do some great extemporaneous speaking, they have excellent personalities, they could sell you cans if they wanted, but because of the other thing (test score), and in some cases they don‘t get the opportunity. Queen: I think it has brought down their self-esteem. I think it has not allowed them to go out in the workforce and get a fair salary, position, and employment…and I think until they change the way it is presented, the FCAT the way it is presented in the district, you are still going to get decline in scores from African Americans, you‘re going to get less African Americans to get jobs, well paying jobs so that they can support themselves and their families, and some of these young men and women are seventeen and

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Conformation and Student Development eighteen, some of them have children already, and they need to support those children…and the way they could do it is to further their education. And the FCAT is stopping them from furthering their education.

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Lena: I personally think the FCAT is designed for African American students to fail…we get to the point where we are doing well as a Black school, and they change the test…so that‘s my opinion. Helen: The only thing that I can say and I‘m sure that it is personal in nature, our African American children are extremely bright, they really are. I think they have been placed in a position where they may be feeling…you are not fitting within the standards, you are not valued. And I feel even stronger about my African American males. Our boys and young men have such a difficult time just trying to fit in, they have to walk a certain way or respond a certain way. They‘re just trying to be accepted. And then they get hit with something that says you are not worthy. And it makes them make poor choices and give up. We‘re loosing too many of them…we are loosing them so early on and they have so much more to offer when they are given the opportunity to offer. So I think unless an African American child has the benefit of a family that‘s going to give you the experiences and the vocabulary, and expose you to a lot of things, we‘re behind the A-ball. And the more they fight to the top, the bar gets higher, so it‘s just like pulling them down…so it‘s very hard to encourage them when they do try and they do give their best…and still try to survive and say, look beyond this.. and schools are not necessarily centered around African American people. Emily: I think the FCAT has been…probably one of the worst tests for African American students…in the regard of the students having penalties, such as being retained. But in terms of students actually taking the test and using that information to get them at grade level, that‘s a good thing. But when students remain in one grade for three years, I‘ve seen students grow mustache and I have seen these kids self-esteem plummet, and I see parents‘ frustration, not knowing what to do with these students…students behaviorally have become bullies, I‘ve seen terrible things happen to African American students…I think that more of that happens to them than any other students. But I think some of that happens to the other students…with their self-esteem. Fran: Well…it is always my belief that in some way or some how we lynch children in effect. I really feel that deep down there is still a support culture that strives to keep the African American race down. I am not racist at all. If you listen to Mr. (Don) Imus making that comment and this morning Mr. Rush Limbaugh making that comment about Obama running for President, it says a lot... There is something called Obama the magic Negro.

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There is still a racist culture…. A subliminal culture that continues to strive to keep not only African Americans, but minorities down…like a Willy Lynch syndrome…the Arian nation and the Supreme race... And I do feel that initially this was a mechanism to deter the African American and Latino and minority communities. Since then we have overcome it and we‘ve put ourselves in a position where we‘re not allowing that to happen. But I do feel that somehow, someway, if you nip something at the bud, if you cut an Oak tree down at the bud, it‘ll never grow up to be a tree. Again that‘s my personal opinion… Let me give you another scenario, the State of Florida Department of Education utilizes the FCAT result for third grade, they sell that data to the Department of Corrections. Whatever number of children failed the FCAT third grade now, that‘s the projection of individuals that would be incarcerated. This is information that is not known. Secondly, the company that provides and produces the FCAT is owned and operated by one of the family members of our former Governor that also has ties with the Department of Corrections that builds jails not only in the state of Florida, but in Texas. I am not calling any names because I‘ll be liable for anything I say and you also would be a part of the slander or whatever…I just say that again to say that the FCAT has more than one purpose. Roberta: It makes them ill…and I mean literary, they (students) vomit on the morning of the test, after the test they are exhausted because so much rides on a test score, more so than ever before. They are stressed…they are truly stressed and they‘ve come to really resent the FCAT. And not only do they take the FCAT, depending on the type of student, whether you‘re a LEP (Limited English Proficient) student, depending on your grade level, you may be tested on five, six, seven different tests, we have Dibbles which are given three times a year, the Oral Language proficiency test for students with limited English proficiency, which is given twice a year, so already…they‘ve got five, six tests, outside the FCAT, which tests over a two weeks time period, because you have the Sunshine State Standards one week, then the NRT (Norm Reference Test), then we have the monthly writing assessment, and if you are in the second grade, you have the S.A.T., we are a reading first school so our first graders are even assessed, it‘s just too much, its overwhelming. Now we are doing a Pee-Body picture vocabulary test and on top of that STELLAR for our ESOL students. ESOL students get the STELLAR, they get the Pee-Body…the FCAT and Dibbles…so what are we testing?

The principals suggest that due to the high-stakes nature of the FCAT, it was having a negative impact on African American students. Principals like Emily and Fran argued that because of the FCAT, teachers focused on test

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taking drills and this does limit what students learn. As educators are concerned about frequently cited poor school performances, it is difficult to separate that issue from why they focus on the test yearlong. According to the principals, the FCAT has compromised the nature of public education and traumatized teachers and students who are forced to respond to its requirements. Aside from the issue regarding the assertion of the intended and unintended consequences of the FCAT, for some students, school has become a painful experience. Some of us adults can fondly remember our formative years and the pleasures of going to school and having the opportunity to try on a new school uniform, open a new textbook, and experience the nostalgia of meeting new friends. However, this is not the case for many students. In light of the evidence of curriculum violence and high-stakes testing, school has become an unpleasant place for many students, and even some teachers.

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CURRICULUM VIOLENCE AND THE LEGACY OF OMISSION Mental bondage is invisible violence. Formal physical slavery has ended in the United States. Mental slavery continues to this present day. This slavery affects the minds of all people and, in one way, it is worse than physical slavery alone. That is, the person who is in mental bondage will be ―self-contained.‖ Not only will that person fail to challenge beliefs and patterns of thought which control him, he will defend and protect those beliefs and patterns of thought virtually with his last dying effort. Asa G. Hilliard, III (Browder, 1992, p. 235)

The legacy of cultural omission in school dovetails Woodson‘s (1933) treatise on the mis-education of African Americans, and its evolution as a lasting tribute to the menace and dominance of the institution of slavery. As the primary institution accountable to the public for the education of school age children, public schools have an important and sacred obligation to maintain the sanctity and innocence of children. To the extent that some school systems are repeating the errors of the past, whether deliberately or otherwise, constitutes a major student achievement problem that speaks to curriculum violence. As noted by the principals, there is still a lack of emphasis on African/African American content in schools. This omission is related to mis-education and conformation, a condition of paralysis in which

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individuals lose control of initiative, discretion, and free-will. The process of omission, as evidenced by the principals‘ narratives, serves as a constraining force in the education, self-esteem, and intellectual development of African American students. The responses from these principals demonstrate that in spite of the recognition regarding the need for an emphasis on relevant content on African/African American history, as supported by the passage in the state of Florida‘s legislation, to mandate the infusion of its content in the k-12 curriculum, there is still a culture of omission in schools.

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CURRICULUM VIOLENCE AND THE GENERAL ASSAULT Education has long been considered as an important social equalizing force. Citing the power and potential of education for social mobility and for improving the democratic process, President Barack Obama argues that there is no greater intervention that can destroy the stronghold of inequality, which can unleash a child‘s God given talent (Salomon, 2009). African Americans‘ struggle for equal educational opportunity may be as old as the historical battles that date back to the anti-slavery revolts and radical uprisings of Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey. Building on the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans have continued to struggle for educational equality and greater social opportunities. Clearly, education has helped to improve race relations and the general appreciation for diversity. Education for African Americans has not only provided important opportunities for meeting the promise of the ‗unalienable rights…,‘ but it has also allowed the nation to advance the journey towards its democratic destiny. In other words, both the subjugator and the subjugated have benefited from agitation and social progress. However, we have not arrived. Scholars like Kozol (1991, 2005) have documented the ‗savage inequality‘ and ‗restoration of apartheid‘ in America‘s schools. As the world‘s leading nation, there are still many improvements that are needed in public schools. While school reform has emphasized high-stakes testing, there has not been a systemic attempt to address school inequalities and to provide high quality instruction to all students. In spite of children‘s social class, race, gender or the neighborhood they live in, they all deserve equal access to high quality education. If a baker wants to make a better quality cake, but does not improve the ingredients that go into the cake, even if she constantly tastes the

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cake, she will not improve the quality of the cake. The issue of the recipe and ingredients has to be addressed in order for the cake to taste any differently. Similarly, in education, NCLB and FCAT have mostly focused on assessment, yet there has been very little effort to improve school quality and instruction. In the following examples, we highlight narratives from principals‘ response on the question of whether they think the FCAT measures what students know:

Question: Do You Think the FCAT Measures What Students Know?

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Manny: I think there is a lot more that children need than what‘s on the FCAT, and what happens with that, is that teachers, because of all the pressure…and the things that they are thinking, they just teach the FCAT. But there is a whole realm of things out there that they may not teach. But if they use the CBC (Competency Based Curriculum) and they teach the things in there, it does cover a lot of things. It does touch on most things, but I think we all get caught up in that FCAT, FCAT, FCAT, and I don‘t know how to fix that… Diana: No, it doesn‘t…because you know, you have to look at the actual test itself, you have to look at the makers of the tests, the make-up of the tests, who makes this test? The students in South Florida are different from students in North Florida, so…its tough…it‘s tough for youngsters here. Calester: Again, who‘s making the decisions of what should be…what should be taught, or what students should learn…is it our society? Is it the same here in South Florida, compared to a person that is actually living somewhere else…who is making the decision? Who says…who says that? Angel: Well…I would have to say minimally, because they give you the minimum standards. That‘s why the global education…global awareness is so important because there are so many other important things students need to know, other than just the basic Sunshine State Standards. Because there are many kids who are gifted…they are in AP classes…they are ready to go to college…just the FCAT by itself is not enough…just knowing minimally the FCAT standards is not enough. So I think more needs to be added. I know a lot of schools are adding more than just FCAT. But a lot are struggling with the FCAT, sometimes you can‘t add all the other enrichment things you need to give kids…because students need to be well-rounded in order to survive in this society and we need to give them a lot more (laugh).

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The narratives reflect the fact that there is often disconnections between what teachers want students to know, and what is actually tested and measured. Angel comments that there are many important things that students must know in order to be successful in life, but teachers have to negotiate how much time they spend on things that are not measured by the FCAT. This phenomenon exemplifies how educators are forced to ‗dumb down‘ education and teach to the test, which speaks to the assault on the teaching profession and curriculum violence.

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CURRICULUM VIOLENCE AND UNEQUAL PROTECTION The assumption that everyone has an equal opportunity and equal protection under the law is a general belief that has been connected to the American democratic process. However, the reality of the American democracy is far more elusive for some children than for others. Within the context of standardized testing and curriculum violence, the premise of equal protection under the law is violated by two important considerations. Assuming we accept the notion that access to a quality education can be a great equalizing force, then any attempt by an individual state to deny a citizen the right to education, constitutes a breach of the democratic process. The first concern, especially as it relates to the FCAT, is that a child who is in a Florida public school and is unable to pass the FCAT, cannot graduate, but a child who is in a private school and did not have to take the FCAT, has a better chance at graduation. This is a source of concern for many teachers. Another problematic issue is the fact that the same state government that requires public school students to take the test also allows families to take public monies from public schools to private schools, where the test may not be required. In addition, a student could potentially move from one state to another and not be required to take a graduation test based on different state requirements. The notion that a child in one state has an advantage of securing a high school diploma and its accompanying benefits, than another child in a different part of the country is unnecessary and an encumbrance that speaks to the issue of inequity and injustice. The social political implications of the standardized testing movement and the ‗unequal protection‘ of students have far reaching implications for curriculum violence.

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CHAPTER SUMMARY

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In this chapter, we presented conformation, the third stage of the theoretical framework of mind development and the zenith of negative indoctrination. We attempted to bring attention to the problem of the ―class ceiling,‖ and with vivid illustrations and narratives from several principals, we made a case for the general and specific assault in public education and the unequal protection of students under the law. In summary, we believe that this pattern and collection of injurious elements are a consequence of curriculum violence. In the next chapter, we present Reformation, the fourth stage in the theoretical model and the beginning of a corrective instructional program.

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Chapter 7

REFORMATION AND STUDENT IDENTITY We must educate children in order not to punish Adults.

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Jose Marti (Cuban Revolutionary, Educator and Philosopher)

The fourth stage in the theoretical model and the beginning of a nonviolent curriculum, Reformation denotes a process of affirming and enriching the intellectual, psychological, social health and well-being of learners. In a graphical sense, reformation is depicted as a standing and unbroken triangle (figure 7.1), and represents the antithesis of curriculum violence.

Figure 7.1. (Angle C) Ingenious Affirmation and the Birth of Promise. Curriculum Violence: America's New Civil Rights Issue : America's New Civil Rights Issue, Nova Science Publishers,

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In essence, reformation is a term that conceptualizes on the one hand, the belief in the affirmation of a child‘s natural genius and on the other, a model that attempts to reverse the state of intellectual and psychological impairment that is characteristic of ingenious paralysis. Conceptually speaking, while the conditions of arrested development and the subsequent paralysis are imperatives for understanding the theory of curriculum violence, the social contexts of affirmation and student liberation are a part of developing nonviolent curricula. Moses-Snipes (2005) and Moses and Cobb (2001), provide evidence that teaching mathematical concepts through the medium of African history while providing relevant cultural examples and problem solving, leads to greater math engagement and student performance. At its core, reformation represents a change in an individual‘s perspective. A child who thinks Africans are savages has little motivation to study African history or mathematics. Introducing positive lessons about the history of African people can play a corrective role in mis-education, which can empower and engage the learner in quite meaningful ways (Moses-Snipes, 2005). Symbolized geometrically as a vertical, standing and straight triangle, the concept of a non-violent curriculum is the inverse of curriculum violence, which is geometrically represented by an inverted, broken, and simulated triangle. According to Ingram (2003a), the stages of cognitive development are initiated with formation (discussed in chapter 4), which in essence is the beginning of life. In other words, at birth the child learns by seeing, feeling, and hearing all that is going on in its immediate environment. The learning that takes place in this developmental context is referred to as the formation, and the particular care by parents (guardians) to ensure a healthy state of mental development is referred to as ingenious affirmation. Instead of penalizing the child‘s initial explorative instincts, the parents are careful to guide, encourage and promote the natural sense of the child‘s intellect (Njoku, 2003). This orientation is based on the assumption that the family, which is the primordial orchestrators of children‘s divine destiny, is sound, properly constituted and totally engaged in the growth and development of the child (figure 7.2). The child taps into the potential of his or her destiny by the sustaining forces of its parents and extended family. The parents (guardians) are invariably the child‘s first teachers. Ingram (2003a) suggests that we should not substitute affirmation for deformation. In essence, Ingram‘s concern was that we should not undermine the importance of teaching children positive social and cultural values. Instead of teaching a child what he or she ‗cannot do,‘ we should empower the child to believe in their natural intelligence.

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Ingram contends that in regards to the Black family unit, we cannot substitute the aberration for the norm. He suggests that although the Black family has been affected by the institution of slavery, and contemporary issues of unemployment, gentrification of neighborhoods, and low educational attainment, African American families must reclaim a commitment to family in order to nurture the natural process of ingenious affirmation in black children (Ainsworth & Wiggan, 2006; Wilson, 1992).

Figure 7.2. Man, Woman and Child.

In an experience reflecting ingenious affirmation (figure 7.1, Angle C), a child has love and support, and through positive reinforcement, the child develops a psychology that is positive and wholesome (Ebohon, 2008; Njoku, 2003). In an affirming environment, there is no competition or antagonism among parents in matters concerning the development and well-being of the child. To the trusted guardians, the child becomes the manifestation of the highest potential of their own-being. As such to the world, the child ‗is‘ because the parents or guardians ‗are.‘ Researchers have documented the value of family context and its relationship to schools and educational outcomes (Coleman, 1990; Horvat & O‘Connor, 2006). The notion of reclaiming the values of family, school, and community support is essential for attaining the benefits of reformation. Reformation in this sense is to make whole that which has been broken, both in schools and in families. Literally, reformation in the context of African American education, involves the introduction of relevant content in instances where there has been a legacy of omission (Ebohon, 2008; Woodson, 1933). Researchers have documented the African intellectual heritage and suppressed contributions

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(Asante, 1991; Asante & Abarry, 1996; Browder, 1992; Ebohon, 2008; Hilliard, 1995b, 2003; Njoku, 2003; Tedla, 1995). However, there is a need for more systematic introduction and use of this content in public schools. The perception of school administrators that African American students have limited understanding of African/African American content, underscores the need and significance of reformation.

Figure 7.3. ―It takes the whole village to raise a child.‖

As affirmed by the African proverb that, “it takes the whole village to raise a child,” the parents play the role of anchor to the larger community. In this sense when the child asserts his/her own vision of being and identity, the parents affirm and the community upholds that very developmental necessity. As such, when the child declares I am going to be a doctor, lawyer, teacher, the world around her holds her to the standard. And where there is such a pronouncement, it is accompanied by ownership and the community has a stake in nurturing the child towards achieving that goal. In such an environment, everyone plays an important role in seeing that the child‘s dreams are realized, because if she fails, the community fails. Therefore, the successful child is the jewel of her community. Speaking on the importance of the networth of family and community in the creation of successful educational outcomes, President Obama remarked during his speech before the NAACP, that there used to be a time in the Black community when every adult had a sense of obligation with raising the youth

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of the community. President Obama rightly suggested that there is a fundamental value in the communal tradition that ought to be reclaimed (Salomon, 2009). ―Until Lions Have their Own Historian the Tales of the Hunt will always glorify the Hunter‖ African Proverb

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In schools, the condition of intellectual, psychological, and social reformation takes place in the context of a non-violent curriculum. A nonviolent curriculum is an inclusive learning process that affirms, recognizes and enhances the intellectual and psychological well-being of learners. The main thrust of reformation is taken from Afrocentricity (Asante, 1991) and the concept of a non-violence curriculum. Both frameworks have their roots in the seminal work of Woodson‘s (1933) Mis-Education of the Negro. As mentioned, Woodson (1933) argued that in American education, there was a gross attempt to deny, undermine and suppress African contributions and intellectual heritage. Woodson states: In history, of course, the Negro had no place in this curriculum. He was pictured as a human being of lower order, unable to subject passion to reason, and therefore useful only when made the hewer of wood and the drawer of water for others. No thought was given to the history of Africa except so far as it had been a field of exploitation for the Caucasian. You might study the history as it was offered in our system from elementary school throughout the university, and you would never hear Africa mentioned except in the negative. You would never thereby learn that Africans first domesticated the sheep, goat, and cow, developed the idea of trial by jury, produced the first stringed instruments, and gave the world its greatest boom in the discovery of iron. You would never know that prior to the Mohammedan invasion about 1000 A.D. these natives in the heart of Africa had developed powerful kingdoms which were later organized as the Songhay Empire on the order of that of the Romans and boasting of similar grandeur. (pp. 21-22)

Other scholars who have written extensively on the contributions of Africans to the development of world civilization, affirms Woodson‘s contention that the omission of relevant content has been pervasive and deliberate (Browder, 1992; Clarke, 1993; Diop, 1974, 1989; James, 1954; Williams, 1987). The impact of the African influence on our modern scientific

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tradition, particularly in the fields of mathematics, physics and medicine has been far reaching (Diop, 1974). For example, Imhotep, the famous Egyptian scholar and statesman has been cited as the world‘s first recognized multigenius and ‗real‘ father of medicine (Browder, 1992; James, 1954). In underscoring the importance of recognizing the African intellectual heritage, James (1954) argues in the Stolen Legacy, that:

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This is the legacy of the African continent to the nations of the world. She has laid the cultural foundations of modern progress and therefore she and her people deserve the honor and praise which for centuries have been falsely given to the Greeks. And likewise, it is the purpose of this book to make this revelation the beginning of a universal reformation in race relations, which I believe would be the beginning of the solution of the problem of universal unrest. (p. 151)

In the tradition of Woodson, Asante (1991) developed the theory of Afrocentricity in response to the oppression of Africans, and the suppression of African and African American contributions. In the Afrocentric perspective, the main objective is to relocate the African to the center of his or her historical and cultural context. The centrist paradigm, in other words, is a mediating process to the identified problem of mis-education (Woodson, 1933). According to Obenga (1995), ―Afrocentricity is not merely an intellectual work of negation [against western thought], but, as is always the case with every critical endeavor that cares to be firm or constructive, it is a principle that rests on the human capability of self-understanding‖ (p.10). Asante (1991) contends that instead of teaching African American children from a European perspective, their instructional program should be developed, designed, orchestrated, and tailored to be responsive to the cultural needs of these and other students. Although critics of Afrocentricity have argued that it provides a limited framework on global issues (Adeleke, 2002; Oyebade, 1990), downplays more structurally based problems (Williams, 2005), and presents no real political solutions (Appiah, 1998; Hytten, 1997; Lefkowitz, 1996; Palermo, 1997), other scholars have reported on the value of the Afrocentric ideals in advancing academic achievement in African Americans (Ladson-Billings, 1994; Moses-Snipes, 2005; Suleiman & Moore, 1995). Afrocentricity does not aim to simply invert the Eurocentric curriculum by only focusing on Africa. Rather, it begins with the continent of Africa as the origin of the human family, and as a proper historical contextualization of the human experience (human Diaspora). It explores Africa‘s contributions and relationship to the emergence of other civilizations and continents. As

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such, it also highlights the study of other regions and cultural groups as an extension of a common human family, which later emerged into diverse cultures and civilizations. Therefore, the Afrocentric approach emphasizes African and world contributions and perspectives as a broad global multicultural approach to students‘ educational needs. Even others, who have reviewed the tenets of Afrocentricity, acquiesce and recognize the value of the Afrocentric idea as a paradigm shift and a methodological challenge to the negation of oppressed groups (Cokely & Williams, 2005; Karenga, 1998). As such, the inherent value of utilizing Afrocentricity as a theoretical base for reformation rests on the fact that it is a useful paradigm for critiquing the prevailing discourse on standardized testing, and it supports the school achievement of African American students (MosesSnipes, 2005). Furthermore, the use of Afrocentricity as a framework for buttressing the reformative agenda is warranted and validated by the state of Florida statute 233.061, which mandates the teaching of African/African American content in the k-12 curriculum (State of Florida‘s Task Force on African American History, 2010).

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REFORMATION AND STUDENT SUCCESS ―Free and critical minds can emerge only by a return to the source – the primary sources. A free and critical mind takes nothing for granted and is not intimidated by ―authorities‖ who frequently may be more confused than the general public. Free and critical minds seek truth without chauvinism or shame.‖ Dr. Asa G. Hilliard, III From Nile Valley Contribution to Civilization, Browder, 1992, p. 21

The noted African scholar, historian, professor and human rights advocate, John Henrik Clarke once said, ―you cannot consciously oppress a consciously historical people.‖ At the heart of reformation is the issue of creating emancipatory education. This type of education is not only concerned with analysis, but it is even more concerned with liberation and self-actualization. Emancipatory knowledge provides information that is new, and that emanates from an empowering, meaningful, insightful and critical perspective (Freire, 1970). The main purpose of the reformation phase is to create an alternative model to the negative and disempowering aspects of schooling. An example of

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this is a child who has been told ‗he is dumb‘ and ‗has come from a people who have contributed nothing to civilization.‘ In a reformative model, this child is provided with knowledge that validates his/her cultural significance and intelligence. According to the African adage that ―until lions have their own historians, the tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter,‖ the purpose of a reformist scholar and educator is to ―give voice‖ to the lion and allow the lion to take its rightful place in the society. The following writing is taken from a sixth dynasty (2300-2150 B.C.) Egyptian inscription, which illuminates some of the untold mysteries of classical African civilization: I have come from my town I have descended from my home I have done justice for its King, I have satisfied him with what he loves, I spoke truly, I did right, I spoke fairly, I respected fairly, I seized the right moment, So as to stand well with people. I judged between two so as to contend them, I rescued the weak from one stronger than he As much as was in my power, I gave bread to the hungry, clothes to the naked, I brought the boatless to land. I buried him who had no son, I made a boat for him who lacked one. I respected my father, I pleased my mother, I raised their children. So says he whose nickname is Sheshi. Asante & Abarry, 1986, p. 21

This inscription speaks to the moral, political, and literary thought of ancient Africans. These and other examination of relevant content could help put to rest the racism surrounding the myth that Africans have contributed nothing of significance to civilization. To reformists, the absurdity of such an assertion would be challenged by the statements of ancient African scholars and even classical Greek scholars who referred to the Africans as their teachers and the fathers of mathematics, chemistry, medicine, astronomy, and the other natural sciences (Diop, 1974, 1989; Jackson, 2002; James, 1954; Obenga, 1995). As we mentioned earlier, the noted Egyptian statesman

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Imhotep, a scientist, mathematician, and architect of the Step Pyramid, has been heralded by African and European scholars alike, as the ―real‖ father of medicine and world first recognized genius (Diop, 1974, 1989). Gabriel Oyibo, a world renowned mathematician, astrophysicist, professor and 2003 nominee for the Nobel Prize in Physics; explained in an African intellectual heritage lecture in Miami, Florida that the word chemistry is derived from ancient Kemetic (African) people. The importance of this type of historical memory in the development of students‘ sense of self cannot be overemphasized. The process of reframing the curriculum is necessary for the social-psychological well-being of all students, for all those who have been misinformed are victims of curriculum violence. It is not only important that African Americans know about their culture, but all groups, for this is a part of cultural sharing that is good for all people. In schools, students mostly study great Europeans, and minority students may know more about Europeans than anything else. Equally so, it is important for White students to learn about other cultural groups and civilizations that pre-date Europe. Therefore, they too would benefit from a culturally enriched curriculum. From the ancient civilizations to our modern societies, the ubiquity of the African presence is profoundly undeniable. Regarding African American education, a curriculum agenda that properly addresses African/African American intellectual and cultural contributions is paramount for a relevant reformative program. In closing the discussion on ingenious affirmation as the foundational concept in the process of reformation, we present three illustrations.

Illustration X: Language: A Coded Phenomenon In an illustration made by Dr. Barbara Sizemore, the late African American educator, historian and humanitarian, she explained that she was asked to work with a group of African American college athletes to assist them with passing an English course. Sizemore states that on their first encounter she asked the group to give her an example of a metaphor and no one was able to give a response. She then proceeded to ask them what in their own parlance is the word for ‗house,‘ and everyone raised their hands and someone immediately yelled ‗crib.‘ Sizemore proceeded to make the point that the students had known all along what a metaphor is, and that in essence African Americans have preferred cultural frames that are not validated and used the same way in the dominant culture. She stated that these students‘ prior

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knowledge should be validated and used as a tool for introducing new information. In the illustration, Sizemore was not undermining the need for African Americans to learn the discourse of the dominant culture, she was explaining that students already have a rich culture and they have prior experiences that teachers can tap into as pedagogical tools. The aforementioned underscores the point that the students had the intellectual capacity to conceptualize and ascribe meaning to the exercise. The problem was that their meaning or interpretation of the subject matter was not validated by mainstream culture. The type of validation that Dr. Sizemore provided exemplifies ingenious affirmation, an important part of reformation.

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Illustration XI: The Brilliance of “acting Black” Using as a critique on the assertion of ―the burden of acting White‖ (the claim and assumption that Black students form subcultures that attribute school success to a White experience), ―the brilliance of acting Black‖ proposes that as a function of reformation, if an African American student knows that the trunk of western civilization is rooted in the African intellectual heritage, he or she would be hard pressed to fall for the insidious propaganda of ―acting White.‖

Illustration XII: Dr. Bob “From GED to Ph. D.” This is a biographical account of Erhabor‘s mentor and late Miami-Dade County School Board Member, Dr. Robert B. Ingram. A prolific speaker, professor, pastor, political leader, educator and public administrator, Ingram the individual from which the theory of curriculum violence is developed, was always quick to remind audiences (especially children) that he was the last person one might consider as a traditional success story. He explained, ―I am a high school drop-out who went from a GED to a Ph. D.‖ He would say, ―I came from working at the back of the municipal garbage truck as a maverick to the front of a municipal government as its mayor‖ (Referring to his long tenure as mayor of the city of Opa-Locka, Florida). He would say, ―I went from running from the police to running the police force‖ (Referring to a long career as Chief of Police in Opa-Locka, and a stellar distinction as the first African American Police Officer to be assigned to the prestigious motorcycle

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unit in the city of Miami). He would say, ―I went from a board room in public housing to the School Board of Miami Dade County (Referring to his progress from the ‗Pork & Bean Projects‘ housing development to his position as School Board Member of the fourth largest school district in the nation). He would say, ―I came from misery to the Ministry‖ (Referring to an experience that began with his humble beginnings and led him to become a renowned African Methodist Episcopal Church Preacher) [Ingram, 2003b/Sermon]. The most important transformation in the life of this great man, especially as it relates to non-violent curricula and reformation, has to do with the very many personal accounts of the intellectual development that he shared. Dr. Ingram would say he was mis-educated until he read important works of Black thinkers like Marcus Garvey, Carter G. Woodson, and W. E. B. Du Bois. Dr. Ingram would explain that he used to watch Tarzan movies and would cheer for the imposter movie character over the indigenous Africans. It was one of his favorite saying that you must ―know yourself, like yourself and be yourself,‖ and he said ―anyone who would not read has no better advantage than someone that cannot read.‖ The brief biographical sketch and illustration of Dr. Robert Ingram is an important example of the value of reformation. As we mentioned, Ingram, like many African American children, was considered a ‗problem case.‘ Dr. Ingram was able to transcend the challenges of psychological marginalization, and this in our estimation is characteristic of reformation. Reformation refers to the process of affirming and enriching the intellectual and psychological health and well-being of an individual.

Illustration XIII: Michael Johnson “I Don‟t Want to Be „No African‟” This last example is from a personal account from a student Erhabor had in his school district‘s ―rites of passage‖ program. When the program was started in 2001, group members created African attires that inductees would wear as part of their induction ceremony. There was this bright young fellow who said he was not wearing his attire because he was not going to look like an African. As the site coordinator brought this to Erhabor‘s attention, he called the young man who told him his name is Michael Johnson (pseudonym) and asked him why he did not want to wear his outfit. He said because ―I don‘t want to look like no African.‖ Erhabor called Michael‘s dad who was in the auditorium for the ceremony and eventually they were able to talk him into

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wearing his outfit. The major point here is that regardless of the reason why Michael did not want to look like an African, eight years later Michael is still a part of the African Rites of Passage Program, and more importantly, he has become one of the model students in the program. Michael is called the ‗poster child‘ of the program, he is currently one of the students from the cohorts of elementary students who started the program and have maintained a passing score on the FCAT. Michael is one of the first students to come to the after school program events, and he always volunteers to provide demonstration of African drums and dances. As a result of his involvement, Michael is one of the students being considered for the annual ‗rites of passage‘ and visit to Africa, which is an annual event for qualified high school students involved in the program. The point underscored by Michael Johnson as an example, is that reformation occurred through re-education and involvement in the rites of passage program (this program is further discussed in chapter nine). Michael came into the program not wanting to be associated with anything African, but has since gained an appreciation for the value of being African – howbeit through a process of ‗positive‘ reinforcement. The recurring theme in all of these very personal and important stories is based on the power of change. The assertion that individuals who were once mis-educated can benefit from emancipatory knowledge, is the basic underpinning of the reformation stage of a non-violent curriculum.

ANGLE B: INGENIOUS ENRICHMENT AND EMANCIPATOR PEDAGOGY The next phase of development in the reformation stage is conceptualized by Ingenious Enrichment (see figure 7.1, angle B). As we highlighted in chapter five, ingenious enrichment refers to the act of receiving encouragement and support for initiative and intellectual exploration. Whereas ingenious compromise was an embellishment of the state of mental arrest in the development of curriculum violence, ingenious enrichment builds on the intellectual affirmation associated with a non-violent curriculum. For instance, the type of support a child gets from parents and teachers and the larger community is an affirming experience. Although important, ingenious enrichment does not merely refer to the symbolic and physical presence of a

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child‘s parents, but the engagement of the community‘s material resources for the growth and development of the child. The emergence of African centered learning is an important model for proving enrichments for students. Similarly, the culture of pride and the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s helped to change the psychology of people in America and around the world. Even the era of de-colonization and the independence movement of Caribbean and African states were significantly influenced by the process of ingenious enrichment. In fact, one of Nigeria‘s most important political figures and first Prime Minister, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe ―Zik,‖ suggested that he received his intellectual and political inspiration from his college experiences at Howard and Lincoln, two prominent historically Black universities. The following illustration is a case in Miami, Florida that involves the decision by the School Board to ban the use of the book Vamos a Cuba. The book was banned based on protest from a parent group claiming that the content portrayed a favorable picture of conditions in Cuba (Varga, 2009). Even though the objective here is not to decide the constitutionality or the legal questions surrounding the Board‘s action, the point here is to illustrate the power of constituents in shaping a curriculum.

Illustration XIV: The Political imperative of the Curriculum, “Vamos a Cuba” In 2006, the book ―Vamos a Cuba‖ (A visit to Cuba) used by second and third graders at an elementary school in Florida, was pulled off the shelves because a parent complained that the book misrepresented the ―real‖ social conditions in the Island country. School officials contend that the book includes images of smiling children wearing uniforms of a Communist youth group, and a carnival celebrating the Cuban revolution of 1959. In a letter to the school board, the superintendent suggested that the book painted events in a benign way and he called for the removal of the book from all schools. We are told that in leadership and management, the three characteristics needed to advance in the world are ability, skills, and knowledge. However, Ingram (2003a) contends that there is a fourth characteristic that those in power would rather have people not know, and that is support. He proposes that if you have support, you perhaps do not need the other three. Support was what ultimately led to the decision to ban the book from schools.

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The last evidence we present to buttress the argument that support is necessary and that it is lacking, comes from the case study of Florida school principals. On the question of whether the principles believed African Americans have the support necessary to do well in school, the following observations were made: Referring to the problem of parental involvement, Akeela contends: We do everything in our efforts to help them get prepared, but again it falls on the parents who…are not consistent in making sure that they (children) attend tutoring when we have Saturday Academy…as long as they are here during the time of what we can offer during the school day…. they (students) need to really attend on a regular basis and be consistent with coming to the classes in order to help prepare them, but we definitely provide them with every opportunity to help them to become successful.

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Lena raises a parental involvement issue within the context of parent/student attendance: When they come to school, yes... But we have…a huge attendance problem across the district, especially in our schools, and a lot of our students are not prepared to take the test…so we can‘t leave it up to the schools, if we have more parent/student involvement, we‘ll have more students passing.

On the need for professional development, curriculum support, and pedagogical enrichments, some of the related narratives emanated from the question of whether the FCAT provides support for teaching African/African American history and culture. In underscoring the need for curriculum support, Beauty asserts: I think that the standards would allow for that, I think it would accommodate it, I just would like to see more curriculum written into our textbooks and into our stories… that would include African American perspectives… I know that our teachers do a very good job at looking at those resources, of bringing them in…but it is not like you have them (African American content) in your curriculum… this is an additional, supplemental content… it shouldn‘t even be a supplemental, it should be a part of what‘s taught…in history, even in the elementary level…kids get to the secondary level, they don‘t know who their historical African American achievers are. You see my whole point is the Black history month is great, we should celebrate it, but black history should be the ten months of the (school)

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year…it shouldn‘t be…February…it should be part of the curriculum and being an urban school district, I think it is essential.

David explains what he thinks is needed: We have great teachers. I think we‘re doing the best with what we have. But give me some trained personnel that I can put in to work with my students. But it is funny that I don‘t get it based on the number of kids I have. And this is based on your Full Teacher Equivalent (FTE) and this is all connected, because schools that needed improvement are Title 1, and the parents have the option of taking their kids out. So if we don‘t do well on the FCAT, parents take their kids out, FTE enrollment drops, I need teachers. You see it is just like a vicious cycle. Everything relies on how we do on that FCAT.

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Girline addresses the question of teacher quality and the dynamics of language immersion: We have to look at teacher caliber. The types of teachers that are in schools that are predominantly African American. We look at some of our high schools that are struggling, then one need to look at who are the teachers, what are they doing? So from that point of view, they could be handicapped…. Learning materials, some people who have second languages, they need additional support. Are they assessing learning based on their understanding of the principal language, which is English? So people who are second language learners, that‘s a problem and I‘m speaking specifically of the Haitian students who may not be able to speak English… because of the language spoken at home, or they might not grasp the full dynamic of the primary language (Queen‘s English) and so that alone, not being able to read, write, articulate, and matriculate in the primary language, that sets them back. Not so much the test that sets them back, but their inability to cope with what‘s been asked of them. So may be one need to go back and look at why they are not prepared to deal with the tasks set for them in the primary language.

Emanating from the lack of support through the school system and at times, individual families, the need for resources and capacity building was quite evident throughout the study. In order to have a non-violent curriculum, support is crucial for ingenious enrichment. Ingenious affirmation and enrichment activities are interconnected principles and values that are essential for enabling the process of liberated genius (angle A) and transformation of the mind.

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CHAPTER SUMMARY

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In this chapter, we presented Reformation, the fourth stage in the theoretical model, and we explained its connection to a non-violent curriculum. Using the aid of vivid illustrations and relevant thematic references to the case study, we suggested that growth and development is possible for all students. In the next chapter, we introduce Transformation, the fifth and final stage in the conceptual framework, as the apex of a non-violent curriculum.

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Chapter 8

TRANSFORMATION: CURRICULUM AND STUDENT IDENTITY ―Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.‖

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Romans 12:2

The fifth stage in the theoretical model and the ideal condition in a corrective instructional program, Transformation refer to a shift in an individual‘s intellectual and psychological acuity, which represents a wholesome evolution in patterns of speech, thought, and action. Transformation in the context of African American history and experience is described in relation to systems of ‗deliberate‘ and ‗natural‘ struggle for social progress. Deliberate transformation relates to the change that occurs in an individual through direct and systematic interventions from others. Natural transformation on the other hand, refers to change that occurs in the individual based on self-awareness and personal development. The interaction between deliberate and natural transformation creates a dynamic process for individual and social progress. In this chapter, we highlight two popular examples that illustrate the elements of deliberate and natural transformation. In our first illustration, we discuss the type of transformation that occurred in the case of the civil rights icon and Black Nationalist Malcolm X. Malcolm grew up as a troubled youth and was once considered a social misfit who had some troubles with the law. Quite early in his life, he was incarcerated and it was in the period of his confinement that his ideological transformation

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occurred. Influenced by the teachings of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm was transformed from a petty thief and juvenile delinquent, into a clergyman and one of the most brilliant articulators of the Black experience in America. Just like Malcolm, there are many in America who have been abandoned and left to wallow in the streets or in prison. Most of these individuals are trapped in debilitating environments and they later become a part of the prison industrial complex. Without meaningful intervention, Malcolm was headed for a negative path of destruction. The information he received in prison was based fundamentally on the philosophy of Black pride and self-help. Malcolm X‘s transformation created a change in his spiritual, intellectual, and psychological well-being. In regards to African American education, we have suggested (see chapter five) that schools generally err in providing students with meaningful education in the areas of exposure, relevance, and reinforcement. In light of the Malcolm X example, we pose that deliberate transformation can occur if children are exposed to high quality instruction, and curricular and extracurricular activities that are enriching and allows them to perform on a level playing field. For instance, if students are tested on a particular content, they must all be exposed to that content (see illustration: Open Book Exposed – in chapter 4). If students are going to be tested on a content that pertains to the experience of living in ‗snow,‘ ‗flying on an airplane‘ and ‗playing the game of ice-hockey,‘ then we must provide opportunities for them to experience snow, being flown on an airplane, and playing ice hockey. The curriculum must be made relevant to the experience of students. We cannot effectively teach African American students without the students having a proper understanding of African/African American history and cultural contributions. In terms of African American education, Woodson (1933) called the type of schooling that is un-centered in the cultural and historical context of students‘ backgrounds, mis-education. Africans generally considered the purpose of education to mean an individuals‘ understanding of their relationship to others and to the universe (Browder, 1992). Similarly, Garvey & Garvey (1986) argued that education should underscore the process of self-discovery. Garvey‘s position was not peculiar to Blacks alone. Rather, his educational philosophy reflected a universal belief grounded in self-determination, independent thought, human discovery, and the idea of locating one‘s self culturally. For instance, Barbara Sizemore argued that for the teacher who teaches a predominantly Latino/Latina student population, they must become competent in that culture and must understand and know how to speak Spanish. A teacher cannot

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effectively teach without a proper understanding of the historical and cultural perspective of his/her students. The value of reward in behavior modification is another important aspect of promoting school achievement. As adults, we understand this principle. Most people work primarily because they expect to be paid for what they do. Animals are trained to mimic human behaviors and directions based on the ability to reinforce desired behaviors. However, for many students school is not a very positive experience. Some students do not see the benefit of going to school. They see many who go to school and cannot find work or are paid comparatively less than they expect. Although considered controversial, the Harvard economist and scholar, Dr. Roland Fryer has proposed an incentive program where students get paid for their academic achievement. We note that reinforcement is not only important for its monetary value. A simple praise, and positive feedback and support can go a long way to engage a student. While some students have parents who can buy them a car as a gift for high school graduation, pay for their piano lessons, and attend their tennis games, many students, especially minorities, lack school support. The second illustration we reference is based on the transformative actions and ideas of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The transformative example that King provided is considered ‗natural‘ based on his own self-discovery and the impact he had on people‘s thoughts, beliefs, and actions. King, who grew up in a family grounded in faith, had a vision for America that was based on complete social integration and restorative justice. Although King was critical of the country and its contradictory constitutional position, he seemed to have transcended the type of hate and animosity that is characteristic of some thinkers. King was able to dream and imagine a future in which Blacks and Whites could unite to formulate a strategy to rid America of the ills of slavery, segregation, and inequality. Although unconventional in its day, the idea of integration and group harmony was championed even at the expense of his own life. King lived a life that was a global example of reconciliation and the power of human imagination. His message of ‗loving‘ the ‗sinner‘ and ‗hating‘ the ‗sin‘ resonated with many who understood that it was impossible to lead a perpetual existence of anger, resentment, and group isolation. In fact, it was King‘s central concern that an eye for an eye would soon make the whole world blind. For indeed, as the Edos explains, if you blind one eye because you refuse to see your enemies, you would not have two eyes to see your friends. In their analysis of the African intellectual heritage, Asante and Abarry (1996) noted that the ancient Africans had a system of education, socialization

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and spirituality that enabled members of the society to develop a moral consciousness that was collective and nurturing. In affirming the values of the ancient Egyptian thoughts and influences on the world‘s dominant religions, Browder (1992) provides the following account of the perspective (confessions) that served as the basis of African societies: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

I have not done iniquity I have not robbed with violence I have not stolen I have not done no murder; I have done no harm I have not defrauded offerings I have not diminished obligations I have not plundered the Netcher I have not spoken lies I have not snatched away food I have not caused pain I have not committed fornication I have not caused the shedding of tears I have not dealt deceitfully I have not transgressed I have not acted guilefully I have not laid waste the ploughed land I have not been an eavesdropper I have not set my lips in motion (against any man) I have not been angry and wrathful except for a just cause I have not defiled the wife of any man I have not defiled the wife of any man (repeated twice) I have not polluted myself I have not caused terror I have not transgressed (repeated twice) I have not burned with rage I have not stopped my ears against the words of Right and Truth (Maat) I have not worked grief I have not acted with insolence I have not stirred up strife I have not judged hastily I have not been an eavesdropper (repeated twice) I have not multiplied words exceedingly

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33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41.

I have not done neither harm nor ill I have never cursed the King I have never fouled the water I have not spoken scornfully I have never cursed the Netcher I have not stolen I have not defrauded the offerings of the Netcher I have not plundered the offerings of the blessed dead I have not filched the food of the infant, neither have I sinned against the Netcher of my native town 42. I have not slaughtered with evil intent the cattle of the Netcher

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Browder, 1992, p. 91 Necessitated by a desire to maintain a sense of purity and the goal of entering the ‗after-life,‘ Browder (1992) noted that the extracted text known as the Declaration of Innocence or Admonitions of Maat, was applied to everyday life as part of the ancient Egyptian symbol of spiritual maturation. In this sense, the capacity to inform and change the behaviors of self and others has been referred to in this chapter as natural transformation. And from a general perspective, transformation has been used to denote a shift in an individual‘s intellectual and psychological acuity that represents a wholesome evolution in patterns of speech, thought, and action. In the concluding section of this chapter, we focus our attention on the stage of transformation by examining the component of natural transformation, which we believe is based on love, the love of self, and the love of others. On the other hand, the essence of deliberate transformation rests on the belief that meaningful change can occur in others through the action or intervention of an individual. Although some may argue that the content of the following section is idealistic and impracticable, but the attempt here is to create a condition and environment where we can begin to imagine a future for America like Martin Luther King, Jr. did (with the pragmatism of Malcolm X), one that is fundamentally rooted in the cited African spiritual foundations. Rather than prescribing pragmatic approaches to addressing the problem of curriculum violence and the American educational challenge (subject of the next chapter), in this section we address how natural transformative discourse can provide a space where we can continue to imagine a future that allows for the development of a non-violent curriculum and a more democratic society. This

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vision we contend is based on love. The love that is characterized by the following scriptural proposition: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not [love], I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not [love], it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind, Love envieth not; Love vaunteth not itself, it is not puffed up. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh not evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth………. And now abideth faith, hope, [love]; but the greatest of these is love.

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I Corinthians 13: 1-13

The text ascribed to the Apostle Paul is generally referred to as the hymn of love. Paul who himself was an example of ‗deliberate transformation,‘ became a powerful force for promoting faith. Although we use the example of Paul, this is not an endorsement of any particular religion or belief system, because we know that the worship of Isis (Aset) and her virgin born son, Horus (Heru), influenced western theology and its sacred writings (benJochannan, 1991; Jackson, 2002) [also see Wallis Budge‘s translation of the Egyptian‘s Book of the Coming Forth by Day and Night, also called the Egyptian Book of the Dead; and Budge‘s Osiris; The Egyptian Religion of Resurrection (Budge, 1961;1967)]. Rather, we only intend to illustrate how transformation, moral and social, can help to shape people‘s social actions. Paul spent most of his life prosecuting people until he experienced an epiphany and personal transformation. Paul was transformed from being an antagonist to becoming one of the most important voices of the New Testament tradition. The hymn of love prescribe a standard for love that is relevant for assessing the characteristics of natural transformation, and a method for helping us imagine the process of developing a non-violence curriculum. In the cited scriptural text, it is suggested that love does no wrong and keeps account of no wrong. Can we indeed imagine an American society or world grounded in such values? It is said, ‗when I was a child, I spoke, thought and acted like a child, but when I became an adult, I put away childish

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things.‘ Although the U.S. is still a young nation, it still has not completely laid to rest all of its racist and discriminatory practices. In the parlance of transformation, the metaphor of growing from a child to adulthood symbolically denotes intellectual and spiritual maturity. In the traditions of the ancient African thought, can we imagine a world where we can transcend the selfish inclination of ‗me, myself, and I‘? This condition, in our estimation, could only be transformed by the ancient African dictum of love as reflected in the „declaration of innocence‟ and the „hymn of love.‟ The prospect for transformation is determined by an individual‘s capacity for love. We cannot earnestly teach students we do not love. The enormity of trying to change a world immersed in hate, injustice and inhumanity cannot be overstated. We have to create a new world of possibilities and envision a future where racism and color prejudice are diminished. Ingram (2003b) cited the book of Romans Chapter 12 verse 2, to underscore his belief that the answer to the proverbial race question is love that will allow for protest against inequality, and actions to create structural change aimed at equal rights and justice for all (see figure 8.1). In education, this might begin in school reform that allows students access to high quality schools and enrichments, regardless of their race, social class, gender, or other individual characteristics. The scriptural admonition calls for the love of God and the love of our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Figure 8.1. Love: The highest virtue.

We can indeed profess our love for God, but it is the act of loving that gives evidence of that love. And we cannot say we love God who is invisible and disregard our downtrodden brothers and sisters who are the visible objects Curriculum Violence: America's New Civil Rights Issue : America's New Civil Rights Issue, Nova Science Publishers,

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of professed love for God. The primordial test of love is and has always been, ‗do you treat others the way you would want to be treated?‘ For indeed, in West Africa, Africans who hosted European and Arab explores (showed them love) received colonization and enslavement in turn (hatred). As a function of cognitive development, transformation is never possible without love. And for those who have been taught to despise themselves and despise Africa and African spirituality, self-love is an important starting point. In the course of human history we have had prominentindividuals like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Ida B. Wells, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela who have been model examples of human potential for possessing virtues of transformative force for love and revolution. It is through this model of love and social action that we can commence the process of developing a truly nonviolent curriculum, which includes a process of inclusive, respectful, and engaging program design (figure 8.2).

Figure 8.2. Transformative Learning.

The goal of the transformed individual is to acquire a new height of insight. The transformed teacher is both empowered by his/her level of content mastery, as well as an acknowledgment of his/her own limitations. In this circumstance, a teacher should begin to utilize a students‘ prior knowledge and experiences as a bridge for exposing students to new information and materials. Because the teacher has limitations, he/she must view students as having knowledge, and as having a culture that is worthy of inclusion (Wiggan, 2007). And on two levels the teacher recognizes his/her limitation and the power of his/her capacity to transform the students by acknowledging them as ‗knowers.‘ On the one hand, the teacher knows that he/she does not

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have all the answers, because no one does, but recognizes that everyone has something to contribute. The teacher acknowledges that his/her students come to the classroom with rich experiences and insights. As such, the teacher investigates the perspectives students bring to the learning enterprise. The teacher asks about students‘ perspectives and specifically asks for their opinions on various issues. In order to investigate the perspectives and nuanced understanding that students have and which may not be readily apparent to the teacher, there needs to be some level of honest inquiry. This is characteristic of a transformed individual. It applies to everyone who seeks growth and development. We must have love and compassion in order to be confident, and yet humble to be the persons we are, and to help the many students who come to school with the baggage of negative self-esteem and issues of fear, shame and confusion. For in order for us to change the condition we are in, we must first change the condition in us. As we stated earlier in the chapter, in order to transform the classroom and engage insight, we must do the following: 1) Assess the level of exposure of students, 2) Make class content relevant to them, and 3) Provide reinforcement and feedback for students. Assessing the level of exposure is an essential component of acknowledgment, and the goal of making the curriculum relevant to students‘ interest is also a way of empowering them. In essence, ‗transformative learning‘ emanates from the delicate balance of empowerment and acknowledgement.

ANGLE A: LIBERATED GENIUS AND A DREAM FULFILLED As the last stage in the model of cognitive development, transformation provides human agency and opens the door to the prospects of creating a true democracy. The hallmark of this phase is the realization that we as human beings live an interdependent and interconnected existence. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who personifies all that is possible for a transformed mind, once said that we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. By love, we can develop a holistic educational program that will liberate the God given genius in each child. Using a non-violent curriculum, we can tap into the multiple geniuses that Gardner (2006) referred to as multiple intelligence, a condition that allows us to develop holistically the creative energy in each child and unleash the cognitive, physical, and spiritual capacities they possess. This is what Dr. King referred to as the ‗full-life.‘ We need to make the child

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whole in order to make the community whole. One of the features of transformation is to rise above hate, injustice, and social inequity. A transformed society is not concerned with ‗settling scores,‘ because there is no score to be settled. Instead, the society develops ways to correct injustice and oppressive institutions within its social system. In the next chapter, we provide a context for implementing a corrective reformatory program. While this chapter aimed to imagine a future that is possible for a natural transformative order, the corrective agenda is designed to provide relief and practical solutions to the substantive problems we face in education and society. In essence, although the natural transformative program provides an ideological framework for addressing the problem of curriculum violence, a transformative education (next chapter) furnishes practical solutions to the stated pedagogical challenges (figure 8.3).

Figure 8.3. Holistic Learning.

In spite of the evolution and history of cultural wars, we have been called to hold on to the vehicle of the transformed mind: Love. The only way for a person to endure and transcend the politics and divisions of a troubled world is through love and action aimed at structural change for equality, the kind of love that undergirds the African belief that “it takes the whole village to raise a child.‖ Only this type of love can bring about a true and lasting social change, eliminating the boundaries that separate people. People are called to love others as they love themselves, and only through the love of self can one truly begin to understand how to love others. Through love, minds can be transformed and all vestiges of curriculum violence can be eliminated to truly

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bring about a change in our educational system that allows the public to invest in every child as they would their own. Instead of swallowing or being forced to swallow the bitter pill of hegemonic schooling, with a transformative curricula design children will find the joy, pleasure, and wisdom of consuming knowledge. Where there is hate, prejudice, and apathy, teachers neglect and maliciously instruct those they categorize as ―unfit,‖ and the powerful design curricula and assessment in a manner that authenticates their own hegemony. But for individuals, educators, and a society transformed with the consciousness of collective edification, there is a higher calling to develop non-violent curricula: inclusive program designs that affirm, recognize, and enhance the intellectual and psychological well-being of learners.

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CHAPTER SUMMARY In this chapter, we presented Transformation, the fifth stage in the theoretical model and height of a non-violent curriculum. We highlighted love as a pedagogical necessity in this corrective program. By empowerment and acknowledgment, we suggest that we can unleash each child‘s God given talents. We closed the chapter by restating the social context of a non-violent curriculum. In the concluding chapter, we provide some reflections and practical suggestions for transforming the challenges of the American educational program.

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Chapter 9

REFLECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

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Young, gifted and black Oh what a lovely precious dream To be young, gifted and black Open your heart to what I mean In the whole world you know There was a billion boys and girls Who are young, gifted and black And that's a fact! You are young, gifted and black We must begin to tell our young There's a world waiting for you Your's is the quest that's just begun When you feel really low Yeah, there's a great truth that you should know When you're young, gifted and black Your soul's intact To be young, gifted and black Oh how I long to know the truth There are times when I look back And I am haunted by my youth Oh but my joy of today Is that we can all be proud to say To be young, gifted and black Curriculum Violence: America's New Civil Rights Issue : America's New Civil Rights Issue, Nova Science Publishers,

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Lyrics of Nina Simone‘s classic song, Young Gifted and Black

In the period of recorded human history, we have for the most part lived a competitive and stratified existence and our present generation has not been exempted from this phenomenon. The question regarding the merit of a competitive system is not one we sought to answer in this work. However, we argued that the fact that we have educational and social systems that were created for social exclusion, which allows for the waste and underdevelopment of human talent, is counterproductive and unjust. The history surrounding the creation of the American Constitution is marked by the complex forces of idealism, progress, and enduring injustices. As naturalized citizens of the U.S., we appreciate the prospects that as a foreigner, one can dream to inherit the idealism of the founding principles of freedom and equality before the law, upon which the nation has its beginning. And it is fascinating to see that - that idealism is personified in the forebears of those whose ancestors were held in the most vicious form of bondage ever known to humanity. Indeed, as we celebrate the Presidency of Barack Obama as the first African American president of the United States, we must not forget how far we have come. Notwithstanding, we must not forget the many people for whom the dream seems elusive. This work is born out of the trepidation that many seem to have benefited from the dream of ‗freedom and equality for all,‘ but for too many the dream deferred is still their reality. In the context of the American educational experience, the issue of whether inequality is designed or an unintended phenomenon has been vigorously debated (Gould, 1996; Hilliard, 2003; Lomoley, 2010; National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). And through this body of work, we have demonstrated that the result of unequal access to educational opportunities is tantamount to hegemony and violence. As such, curriculum violence provided a framework for assessing the level and dynamics of indoctrination resulting from oppressive systems that perpetuate power and privilege. The evidence from established literature and corroborated by the case study of the school principals in Miami-Dade County, suggests the following: (1) there is a documented history of denial of educational opportunities for African Americans; (2) there is a continued pattern of curriculum violence,

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and as such this perpetuates a legacy of oppression and superiority claims; and (3) the standardized test movement, and particularly the FCAT, is a modernized scheme for continuing practices of social exclusion. The fact that historically African Americans were never permitted to be educated, has been proven by an abundance of evidence, and that trend continued even after slavery was abolished. Although this is not a panacea, this body of work with the framework of non-violent curricula (see chapter 8), has provided a model for correcting the problem of curriculum violence. Taking the theme of Nina Simone‘s song, ―Young Gifted and Black,‖ with the idea that all human beings are endowed with aptitude and gifts and talents bestowed upon us by the Creator and the ancestors, and based on the findings of our study, we offer the following recommendations: Support for early exposure to schooling. Support the call for a moratorium on testing, and address the unequal protection of students under current laws. Emphasize global education. School finance reform. Public-private partnership for education. Development of culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy. Oversight of programs designed to correct the legacy of omission.

1. SUPPORT FOR EARLY EXPOSURE TO SCHOOLING Acknowledging that a major flaw in our education system is its failure to provide high quality education to all children, we must endeavor to improve schools and teacher training (see chapter eight‘s discussion on exposure, relevance and reinforcement). Although parents have a very vital role to play as we have previously demonstrated, school effect is most important for students from marginalized groups who may have fewer home resources. Therefore, teachers should not use students‘ home environment as legitimation for teaching them less, and as a justification for poor instruction. Notwithstanding, the role and primary function of an educational institution is to educate, regardless of each individual student‘s background and or social class. As school reform advocates we understand the evidence of this reality, especially considering the historical baggage of injustice, we must put forth

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the effort to provide quality learning experiences for students. Improvements in school readiness and student education are one attempt at reformation. As Njoku (2003) suggests, children learn quite earlier than previously suggested. For we know that learning takes place from the womb and throughout the lifespan. Therefore, we must put the very best resources at the frontend (early schooling) rather than at the backend (incarceration) of the life cycle. We should not have more Black men in prison than we have in colleges in the U.S. This is evidence of a dysfunctional system. We must invest in early learning centers, and for parents this ingenious enrichment begins prenatally. A child who is malnourished and abused as a preschooler is the child that later develops psycho-social challenges. In order to improve the democratic process, we must invest in childcare, health care and early childhood programs.

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2. CALL FOR MORATORIUM ON TESTING In support of other scholars (Burnett, 2002; Nichols & Berliner, 2007; Perrone, 1991) who have called for a moratorium on testing, we argue that the psychological and physiological harm that has been documented from students‘ response to the stress of high-stakes testing outweighs whatever marginal gains attributed to such adverse methodologies. We should not test in the paradigm of high-stakes and end-of-grades evaluation. In the traditional parlance of testing, students were provided remediation for any observable deficiencies. However, in the new paradigm of high-stakes-testing which benefits lucrative business interest, teachers and students are subjected to teaching to the test, and academic exercises that are viewed as punishment rather than enrichment. We must assess school needs for the purpose of providing students with assistance, rather than denying them quality instruction and enrichments. If a person is sick, to deny him or her assistance is synonymous with demanding the person‘s death. The current practice through NCLB and FCAT of taking public monies and giving to private schools is a scheme that is not only dubious, but also damaging to public schools and the children it purports to serve. Therefore, until there is clear and unquestionable evidence regarding the impact of high-stakes testing, there should be no reason why the performance on one test alone should be used to decide the life and educational opportunities of students.

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3. EMPHASIZE GLOBAL EDUCATION One of the many critiques of a high-stakes standardized testing culture is that it places very little emphasis on untested content, so most teachers ignore relevant materials. The fact that programs in the arts, physical education, and music have been sidelined is a major concern for many educators. As a nation, we should take pride in developing a well-rounded student. Just because a person can properly articulate the English language, and can memorize the multiplication table, does not make this person an intelligent human being. This person can indeed do all those things and is still a child molester, and would just be an educated pervert. According to Nelson Mandela, a good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. A transformative educational program calls for the development of the cognitive, social, physical and spiritual aspects of the child. We do not want to train a scientist that is overweight and dies from obesity because he/she has overlooked the importance of personal health. Furthermore, in our global interdependent village, we do not want to train children so myopically in their worldview that they lack the cultural competence to interact with their counterparts from China, Australia, Ethiopia, or South Africa. The world is a vast reserve of opportunities and we must not deny children these opportunities even before they have a chance at life.

4. SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM We address the issue of education financing from the following perspectives: (a) the paradigm of unfunded mandates, (b) the funding formula for public schools, (c) the political economy of education, and (d) the practice of divesting public monies to private schools. The fact that as a nation our fiscal priorities do not match our political rhetoric has been decried by many observers of the American educational system. As the world‘s leading economic superpower, America still does not match other major developed nations like Sweden in providing quality educational experiences for all its citizens. The challenge of legislation and polices like NCLB has been a part of the many unfunded mandates. We cannot talk about making education a priority and do not put the money in the budget to fund our educational programs. In the state of Florida for instance, policymakers have for the past decade touted their rhetoric on education being a priority (utilizing the FCAT

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to drive this priority), and yet in 2008 Florida was number 48th out of 50 states in per pupil spending. The second issue pertains to the financing of public schools. While we have historically used the property tax system as the major educational funding scheme for school districts across the nation, it is evident that this formula creates ―ghetto‖ and substandard schooling, since affluent communities automatically generate more resources for their schools than less affluent communities do. There must be a concerted effort to ensure that those school districts that possess less resources are provided with School Improvement Funds (SIF) that can offset the structural inequalities in education. Another issue is revising the tax system in a manner that would allow for the creation of a General Education Fund (GEF), where each person contributes a proportional percentage of their income towards the state or national education budget. The third issue relates to the political economy of education, and it is part of the political machinations for making public policy at the local school level. At the local level school policy is created by elected school board officials who are influenced by special interests groups, whose priorities in most cases are incongruent with those of the students who the boards represent. Although the school board is designed to represent the interest of students and school communities, a board that is being supported by ‗big business,‘ often serves its donors at the expense of important educational priorities. Public transparency is important for school boards. Finally, we argue that the practice of divesting public monies for private schools is counterintuitive and disingenuous and should be discontinued. The premise that schools will improve if we punish them by letting students from failing schools take public monies to private schools is problematic. The transferral of public funding for public schools – to private schools, based on accountable is at issue; yet the private schools that students are being directed to are not required to take the same standardized test that public schools are required to use. Is this simply about accountability, or are hegemonic cultural and economic practices at work?

5. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS FOR EDUCATION The suggestion that public monies should not be divested for private use is not a disavowal of the prospects of public-private partnerships. After all, we live in an interconnected world and many public school children will someday

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work in the private sector or with a public employer. The problem is the disingenuous donations and use of resources. On a different but related issue, the African American community must coalesce with the Latino/Latina community as a matter of historic and strategic importance. This is another partnership that is important. As the fastest growing minority group, the Latino/Latina community has an important stake in the educational outcomes of school age children, and the concept of curriculum violence has social and political implications for that population as well. For African Americans, an alliance with the Latino/Latina community is historically, symbolically, and politically, warranted.

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6. DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE CURRICULUM There is evidence that African American students excel on selected topics in mathematics and other content areas when the information is taught in a culturally responsive manner (Ladson-Billings, 1994; Moses & Cobb, 2001; Moses-Snipes, 2005; Williams, 1972). Because of the nature of the diversity apparent in the American social landscape, there ought to be serious programmatic enrichments that demonstrate the philosophy of inclusivity, engagement, and respect. It is not sufficient to develop programs and enrich curricula on paper, for as the case of the Florida mandate for infusing African/African American content suggests; if the material is not being tested, it is not being taught. As stated in the previous chapter, in order to transform the curriculum, we must expose children to the same content, make the content relevant, and provide meaningful reinforcement. The point here is not to simply teach and test African/African American content, but for states and districts to provide curriculum support, professional development, teacher aide, textbooks, and instructional materials to support the initiative. And this should be followed by comprehensive monitoring to ensure that instruction is taking place and assistance and support is being provided.

7. SUPPORT THE MANDATE The findings from the research in Miami-Dade county suggests that there remains a legacy of omission and a failure to infuse African/African American

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content in schools, even though it was mandated by the Florida legislature. The findings revealed that there is a need for state, district, and school site intervention, and support for the implementation of this important legislation. The resources from the state for the districts to carry out such an initiative must be particularly delineated. This should not be another unfunded mandate. The narrative from Lena in responding to the question of whether she supports the state‘s mandate for infusing African/African American history in school curriculum, suggests that there is a need for professional development and support from the district. Lena states: Only, if they‘re going to give the teachers training on how to teach it. If they got any subject in there that teachers aren‘t trained on how to provide students with the instruction…then it is detrimental.

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At the school level, principals need to devise a mechanism for ensuring that they assess and evaluate the implementation of the policy. The response of Diana to the question of what her students know about their African American history and cultural background, suggests that principals needs to be attuned to the issue of implementation. Diana explains: Again, I would like to find out what they know, and of course like I said if the teachers have infused that curriculum, and…it would probably be interesting to find out.

The evidence from the referenced study corroborates the need to respond to a historical pattern of omission in order to secure the demonstrated benefits of emancipatory pedagogy (Asante, 1991, Hilliard & Middleton, 1988; Woodson, 1933). The findings of this work have implications for education across the nation.

THE CONFLICT RESOLUTION MODEL We introduce this part of the reflexive discussion to highlight some suggestions not necessarily based on the narratives from the cited study.Insights from our professional experiences are corroborated with conflict resolution practices and research. While we contend that there is no panacea for the educational crisis we face, we introduced the concept of curriculum

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violence as a framework for analyzing and addressing the problems of educating African American students. The conflict resolution model recommended to address the crisis we face is one based on a holistic method and multi-leveled intervention strategy (Bush & Folger, 1994; Byrne & Irving, 2000; Diamond & McDonald, 1996; Lederach, 1996). In fact, we think it is imperative that we bring the global resources of the community to address our educational dilemma. The perspectives we propose are based on the principles of conflict management on the one hand, and conflict resolution on the other. Although this example is from the case study of Florida, these strategies can be extended to other communities. The proposal for achieving the goal of conflict management in this specific case, mediating tensions between teachers, students, parents, and policy makers, is one that incorporates the interests of all parties and stakeholders in the FCAT dilemma (Ury et al., 1993). There must be a comprehensive strategy to bring in all the parties in the conversation on education, in a manner that reflects a resolve to provide the soundest educational policy that ultimately benefit the academic enrichment of students. Under the conflict management scheme, there would be an agreement to the following recommendations: an agreement from the state to discontinue the labeling of schools and a commitment to adequately fund public schools; an agreement that school systems establish cultural centers that meet the particular curricula and socio-cultural needs of its diverse student population; an agreement that private schools be held to the same standards as public schools; an agreement that students who are not meeting established benchmarks are given individualized instructional attention, and mandated to attend after school and summer tutorial programs; and finally there should be an agreement with parents (guardians), particularly those with children having difficulties in school, to be encouraged to attend monthly students/teacher/parent development training. The rational for the aforementioned recommendations is to help create a solution to the immediate problem of school engagement with the most concentrated and available community resources. We close this chapter by providing some suggestions for developing corrective action in a reformative instructional program. Used as a guide, the items on this list are taken from an African rites of passage program developed in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Although it is not covered in a comprehensive manner, the Miami-Dade County Public Schools‘ Ingram Africa School Alliance (IASA) initiative is introduced as a program that was

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created out of a need to provide culturally sound education. The following items provide some general suggestions for school reformers and education stakeholders.

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CORRECTIVE LIST FOR THE REFORMATIVE PROGRAM  Ask the tough questions – a question is the only thing that demands an answer and the most basic and profound inventions begin with a question.  Assess the dimensions of the issue - use the framework for ingenious triangulation to determine the nature of the information/ misinformation or indoctrination.  Build Alliances – engaging important stakeholders facilitates discovery, solutions, and support.  Imagine the outcome that you seek – there are multiple ways to arrive at the same destination, create your own vision and perspective.  Invent your options – intent without action is meaningless. Do not be trapped in decision paralysis. Planning is good but at some point you must execute.  Share your results – you cannot do it all by yourself…devise mutually beneficial ways to meet established objectives.  Evaluate the impact of intervention strategies – examination is an opportunity for growth, not an act of condemnation. This last section, we provide an example of a Rites of Passage Project based on a non-violent curriculum that infuses students‘ culture.

THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS‟ INGRAM AFRICA SCHOOL ALLIANCE (IASA) RITES OF PASSAGE PROJECT Background An initiative of the late Honorable Dr. Robert B. Ingram, member of Miami-Dade County School Board, the IASA program began in 2001 as a partnership between the Miami-Dade County School Board and the

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Foundation for Democracy in Africa. As a School Board Member, Ingram saw the opportunities students had in the school district to travel around the world. In accordance with the school district‘s motto of “giving our students the world,” children would travel to places like South America, Israel, Europe, and Asia. Ingram had a personal and political interest in ensuring that all children have the opportunity to benefit from a global and cross-cultural education. Therefore, he asked the question ―why not Africa?‖ This was perhaps a question that has been asked before, but not at the same level of policymaking and political influence.

Figure 9.1. School Board Member Dr. Ingram with IASA inductees.

Support is Necessary Although there were some who asked the question ―why Africa,‖ it was a foregone conclusion since the district had already established a priority for international exposure by allowing students to travel to many parts of the world. The initial School Board vote to allow the first group of students to travel to Africa passed with a 5-3 vote. Evidently a very politically contentious idea at inception, the Board has however unanimously voted to support the annual exchange program.

Selection Criteria The program was initiated in Miami-Dade County Public Schools in 2001. Robert Ingram identified three schools from district 1. The students entered the

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program by choice, with the condition that a parent or guardian commit to the pledge and remain involved in the rites of passage project.

Figure 9.2. IASA Rites of Passage.

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Implementation In education, building partnership is paramount! Having gained the support of the School Board, a group of stakeholders, including teachers, district‘s social studies curriculum support staffs, parents, business leaders, clergy, and students, were assembled to design a rites of passage program. Out of this effort a program was developed that included the following: Identification of a pilot group that included three feeder schools. Design of an African rites of passage curriculum developed by a committee of important stakeholders, including the district‘s social studies department. This committee was chaired by Erhabor Ighodaro who also serves as the Administrator of the program.

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Establishment of an after school mentoring and tutorial program. Designation of a rites of passage ―village triangle‖ where students in identified schools, gathered with teachers, parents, and mentors from various African organizations. The group gathered once a month to share cultural perspectives in narratives, songs, dance, food, praise, and ritual.

Program Updates

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Since the inception of the program, approximately 600 students and their families have been involved in the rites of passage project. The following highlights some of the key components and accomplishments of the program: At Jones City Elementary School, the initial home of the rites of passage program, the beginning cohort that includes a group of twenty students, have scored at level three or better on the FCAT. Each year students are required to write an essay on important topics and their involvement and participation in the program. Students participate in an annual educational excursion to identified Black history sites in Florida. Students have visited the following: o Lincolnville, formerly ―Little Africa,‖ in St. Augustine, Florida (the oldest city in the United States and site of Fort Mose, a renowned slave fort). o Rosewood and witness to the infamous massacre o Eatonville, the home of Zora Neale Hurston o Mims, Florida the home of Harry T. Moore, the first civil rights leader to be assassinated in the line of duty. o The annual 2 day, 1 night tour includes fun trips to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventures, Animal Kingdom, and Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay. o The tours colloquium involves a requirement that students keep a rites of passage journal as a part of their experience on the tour. Selected students, teachers and parents partake in annual rites of passage to Africa. o 15 students, 3 teachers and 5 parents have partaken in the annual visit to Rwanda, East Africa.

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Figure 9.4. Erhabor Ighodaro leader of a student delegation at the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda, East Africa.

o o

The exchange component has been supported by a public-private partnership led by the Foundation for Democracy in Africa. Funds for the initial exchange opportunity provided by a grant from the United States Agency for International Development and the Kellogg Foundation.

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The program has been successful in creating meaningful educational opportunities for students, and creating great school engagements. We believe that students across the nation would benefit from similar projects.

CHAPTER SUMMARY In this final chapter, we attempted to provide some personal reflections in order to put the issue of education, testing, and African American education in context. Based on historical documentation and evidence from an established case study we suggest that: (1) there is a documented history of denial of educational opportunities for African Americans; (2) there is a continued pattern of curriculum violence; and (3) the standardized test movement, and particularly NCLB and the FCAT, are modernized schemes for continuing this historical practice. Considering the preponderance of evidence that supports the claims of curriculum violence, we made the following policy recommendations as a part of an education reform agenda:

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Support for early exposure to schooling Support the call for a moratorium on testing and address the unequal protection of students under the law Emphasize global education School finance reform Public-private partnership for education Development of culturally responsive curriculum Oversight of programs designed to correct the legacy of omission We provided a conflict resolution strategy for addressing the educational challenges we face as a nation. The suggested conflict resolution model includes both a conflict management scheme to address the immediate problem presented by a high-stakes testing culture, and a conflict resolution plan that is designed to address lingering social justice concerns. Although the ideal conflict transformation process is effective when stakeholders are engaged to create viable and sustainable solutions; as experts create options that may not reflect the perspectives of important stakeholders, we closed the chapter by offering a seven-point checklist for effecting change. While Miami Dade County Public School and the established IASA rites of passage program were highlighted as a model for school reform, in an effort to address the legacy of omission and as a basis for a non-violent curriculum, we believe that the project is useful for infusing culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy across the nation (Woodson, 1933).

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Erhabor Ighodaro is an educator, mediator, and public administrator. Erhabor serves as Lead Teacher in the Academy of Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security in Miami Dade County Public Schools. He received his Ph. D. in Conflict Resolution from Nova Southeastern University, M.S. in Justice Administration from St. Thomas University and B.S. in Criminal Justice from Florida Memorial University. He was former Chief of Staff to Miami-Dade County School Board, Member Honorable Robert B. Ingram, Ph. D. He serves as an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice and he is an often herald speaker on youth and non-violent engagement. His areas of interest include School Violence Prevention, Urban Justice, Multicultural Education, and Race Relations. Greg Wiggan is an Assistant Professor of Urban Education, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Sociology, and Affiliate Faculty Member of Africana Studies at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His research addresses urban education and urban sociology in the context of school processes that promote high achievement among African American students, and other underserved minority student populations. In doing so, his research also examines the broader connections between urban school districts, globalization processes and the internationalization of education in urban schools.

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APPENDICES

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APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

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The following questions will focus on your own perception of your students‘ school experiences, especially as it pertains to standardized tests and the FCAT. They will address the following: (1) Perception of standardized tests, (2) perceptions of the impact of the FCAT on African American students, and (3) Perceptions of the importance of African/African-American centered learning.

1. Perception of Standardized Tests How do you think standardized tests reflect students‘ intelligence levels? How well do you think standardized test reflect the perspectives of students from various cultural backgrounds?

Probes Describe your personal experience with standardized exams. How well were you prepared and how well did you do on standardized exams? How well did your standardized exams prepare you for your profession? Do you think a standardized test is a valid measure of intelligence? How well do schools prepare students for standardized exams? How well do your students do on standardized exams? How do your students feel about standardized exams?

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2. Perception of the Impact of the FCAT on African American Students How do you feel about the FCAT? How do you feel the FCAT has affected African American students?

Probes

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Do you think the FCAT measures what students know? Do you think the FCAT measures what students should know? Do you think your African American students are prepared for the FCAT? Do you think your African American students are properly equipped with the tools and resources to pass the FCAT? How do your students feel about taking the FCAT? What is your students‘ opinion about the FCAT?

3. Perception of the Level of Immersion in African Centered Learning What do you think is the importance of teaching African American students about their African intellectual and cultural heritage? How well do you think the FCAT enables the teaching and learning of history and culture for African American students?

Probes Do you support the states mandate for infusing African/African American content in the school curriculum? How well does your school incorporate the teaching of African/African American history in your lesson plan and teaching strategies? How well does the FCAT reflect the importance of teaching African/African American history and culture? How much do you think your African American students know about Africa?

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What do your African American students think about their relationship with Africa? What do your students think and know about their African American history and cultural backgrounds?

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APPENDIX B: DEMOGRAPHICAL DATA FORM 1. Age: 20-30______ 30-40_____ 40-50_____ 50-60______ 60 or older______ 2. Gender: Male _______ or Female_______

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3. Race: Black_______White_______ Hispanic _________ Other________ 4. Level of Education: Bachelors Degree_____Masters Degree______ Ph. D___ 5. How long have you been in this profession? Less than 5yrs____ Less than 10yrs____ Less than 15yrs______ Less than 20yrs_____ More than 20yrs___ 6. How long have you been in your current position? Less than 2yrs___ Less than 5yrs____ Less than 10yrs____ More than 10yrs_____

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APPENDIX C: THEMATIC STATEMENT FOR VALIDATION “2ND INTERVIEW” SCHEDULE To: Participant

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From: interviewer Re: Report of findings and validation for the study “how standardization impacts the academic achievement of African American students.”

I want to use this opportunity to thank you once again for participating in this study. Based on the reviewed transcript of my initial interview with you and a subsequent analysis of the combined interviews with all District 1 elementary school principals, the grand narrative reveals that amongst other things, the FCAT as a standardized exam has to date had a limiting effect on the potential of African American students. This finding is derived from the following thematic categories: 1. The Negative Consequences of the FCAT: (i) 24/30 principals attest that the FCAT has had a negative impact on African Americans, (ii) African American students are disproportionately affected by the FCAT, (iii) the policy of grade retention disproportionately affects African American students, (iv) high school seniors denied diplomas due to performance on FCAT are disproportionately African Africans, (v) the concern about the physiological, sociological (behavioral/dropout), psychological, and emotional stress on students

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Erhabor Ighodaro and Greg Wiggan

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has a detrimental effect on African Americans, (vi) the preeminence of culture as a cornerstone of the language and content upon which standardized tests instruments are built, limits the potential of African American students as a minority group, (vii) the propensity of school labels to fuel the socio-psychological stigma and complex is a compounding factor for African American students, and (viii) the consequence of the no diploma policy has limiting implications for on future opportunities (jobs, higher education, quality of life) for African American students. 2. The Absence of Relevant content on the FCAT: (1) Even though there is a unanimous support for the importance of teaching African American content, there is little evidence that it is been taught, (2) the emphasis on teaching to the test means that other relevant content like social studies, music, the arts; and most importantly for this study, African centered content, which although is a state mandate but not a standard measured by the FCAT, is undermined; and (3) the countervailing and corrective role played by an African centered curriculum in promoting historical memory, cultural pride, and self esteem for African American students is compromised by a historical pattern of omission in the immersion of students in relevant content.

QUESTIONS (ANSWERS/THEMES) 1. Opinion of Standardized Tests Do you think standardized tests reflect student‘s intelligence levels? (Relative intelligence). 23/30 How well do you think standardized test reflect the perspectives of students from various cultural backgrounds? (Culturally Biased)25/30 Describe your personal experience with standardized exams. (Exposure is key)14/30 How well were you prepared and how well did you do on standardized exams? (Exposure is key)9/30 How well did your standardized exams prepare you for your profession? (Disconnect between pedagogy & Pragmatism)21/30 Do you think a standardized exam is a valid measure of intelligence? (Relative Assessment)24/30

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Appendix C: Thematic Statement for Validation ―2nd Interview‖... 171 How well does your school curricula prepare students for standardized exams? (From Alignment to Teaching to Test) 26/30 How well do your students do on standardized exams? (From Achievement Gap to Achievement Gain)17/30 How do your students feel about standardized exams? (From Fright to Fight)5/30

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2. Impact of the FCAT on African American Students How do you feel about the FCAT? (Accountability with Impunity)20/30 How do you feel the FCAT has affected African American students? (Negative Impact/Limiting the potential)25/30 Do you think the FCAT measures what students know? (Need for Multiple Assessments)25/30 Do you think the FCAT measures what students should know? (Need for Multiple Assessments)22/30 Do you think your African American students are prepared for the FCAT? (Necessary But Insufficient/It takes a Village)25/30 Do you think your African American students are properly equipped with the tools and resources to pass the FCAT? (Necessary But Insufficient/It takes a Village)24/30 How do your students feel about taking the FCAT? (Fright But Fight)10/30 What are your students‘ opinions about the FCAT? (Varies)6/30.

3. Level of Immersion in African Centered Learning What do you think is the importance of teaching African American students about their African intellectual and cultural heritage? (Very Important)30/30 How well do you think the FCAT enables the teaching and learning of history and culture for African American students? (No Connection/If you want it taught, test it!)29/30 Do you support the state‘s mandate for infusing African/African American content in school curriculum? (Affirmative Support)30/30

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Erhabor Ighodaro and Greg Wiggan How well does your school incorporate the teaching of African/African American history in your lesson plan and teaching strategy? (Beyond Black History Month/Issues of Timing)22/30 How well does the FCAT reflect the importance of teaching African/African American history and culture? (Not Tested/Limited Content) 29/30 How much do you think your African American students know about Africa? (Legacy of Omission)28/30 What do your African American students think about their relationship with Africa? (Legacy of Omission)29/30 What do your students think and know about their African American history and cultural backgrounds? (Legacy of Omission) 28/30 CONFIRM __ ________

DISCONFIRM __________

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Any Statements/Questions?

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APPENDIX D: CODED MATRIX FROM 1ST INTERVIEW

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Qu esti on # 1

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

A A

B B

C C

D D

R I C B -

G R -

R I C B -

R I C B E X

R I C B E X

R I C B E X

R I C B E X

R I C B E X

R I C B E X

R I C B E X

R I C B D W

R I -

R I C B E X

R I C B E X

R I R I N W

R I C B -

Y

Y

Y

C B E X

-

D W

R I C B E X

R I C B N V

R I C B E X

R I C B H I

R I C B N G

V

-

V

B

S

-

P

D C R A A

D C R A A

C

D C R A -

T P D C R A N W

N W D C R A A

D C R A A

D C R A A

-

E X C

R A A

N

R A A

R A A

A G F

A G N V

A G S T R

A G N V

A G N V

A G A P P

A G N V

A G A X

A G F / F

A G -

A G N V

G

G

G

N W N G

N G O K

A G O K

G

P

Q S A G

A T T V

A X

D W A I

R A A T T G

N G D C N

-

N G D C R A A

A G F

E X D C R A A T T A G S T R

N G C

A

V W D C R A A T T A G H I

D W C

A

E X D C R A A

E X C

N

T P D C N

S

C

E X C

P

D C R A A

E X D C R A A

-

D C R A A

E X D C R A A

P

5

E X D C R A T A I A G F

G T T Y

R I C B F

4

R I C B T T T N P D C R A A T T V W A G

N

-

R I C B B

N

3

R I C B V

O K

H I

2

6 7

8 9

R A A

R A A T T A G F/ F

S G N V

C B E X

N A

E X

E X D C R A A T T N G S T R

C B T P

A

O K

C

P

C

cID=3020915.

Appendix D. (Continued) Qu esti on # 10

A B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

A A

B B

C C

D D

W A I N T

A C C P T

A W I N T

A W I N T

A W I N T

A C C T A I

A W I N T

A W I N T

A W I N T

A W I N T

A W I N T

A W I N T

A W I N T

R A

N T

A W I N T

A W I -

A W I N T

-

P T

A W I N T

A W I N T

A W I N T

P

N T

A C C P T

-

N T

F / F N T

F

N T

A W I N T

A W I N T

N

R A Y

R A R A N B I N B I S T R V

R A R A N B I N B I N V

R A -

R A R A N B I N B I F

R A R A N B I Y

N

R A -

R A R A N B I N B I F

-

R A N B I Y

Y

Y

-

Y

Y

Y

R A R A N B I Y

P

R A R A N B I N B I O K

F

B

P T

P

S T R E X C

R A R A N B I N B I -

F / F

E X C P T

R A R A N B I N B I O K

N

N B I N B I S T R S T R

R A R A N B I N B I E X C P

Y

N B I N B I S T R S T R

R A R A N B I N B I C S

Y

Y

R A Y

F / F

R A R A N B I N B I A P P A P P

R A R A N

V V

R A R A N B I N B I S T R F / F

R A R A N B I N B I F

17

R A R A N B I N B I S T R F

R A R A Y

16

A W I P T / N T R A R A N B I N B I F

O K

V

V

E X C

R A R A N B I N B I F / F O K

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11

12 13 14

15

R A N B I N B I F

N B I N B I F

F

Y

F

F

N B I F / F V

N B I -

O K O K

M

R

N B I N B I F / F F

N N B I N B I N V

N T

O K E X C

N T

R A N N B I N B I S T R O K

cID=3020915.

Appendix D. (Continued) Qu esti on # 18

A B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

A A

B B

C C

D D

V I P T A I Y

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

V I P N C

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

N T S N T S L O

N T S N T S L O

N T S N T S L O

N T S N T S L O

Y R

Y R

T A I N T S L O

N T S N T S L O

I N F N T S L O

L T

L T

L T

L T

L T

L T

I N F L T

L T

L T

I N F L T

L T

L T

L T

L T

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

I N F I N F K B

L T

L T

N T S L T

L T

N T S L O

N T S N T S L O

L T

N T S L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

24

L L O O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

K B

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

25

L L O O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

I N F I N F I N F I N F I N F

L T

N T S L O

N T S N T S L O

L T

N T S L O

N T S N T S L O

L T

N T S L O

N T S N T S L O

T T N T S N T S L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

K B

L O

L O

L O

L O

L O

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19

20 21

22

23

Questions (Vertical axis) Participants (Horizontal axis)

cID=3020915.

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CORRESPONDING CODES Question 1 Relative intelligence (RI) A,B,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,M,N,O,P,Q,R,T,U,Y,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD Grade (GR) = C No (N) = L,S Yes (Y) = V,W,X

Question 2

Cultural Bias (CB) A,B,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,P,Q,R,S,U,V,Y,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD Not Clear (-) = C,O,W,X Relative Intelligence (RI) = T

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Question 3 Varies (V) = A Not Clear (-) = B,C,E,U Background (B) = D Exposure (EX) = F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,O,P,R,V,Z,BB Did Well (DW) = N,X Teaching to Test (TTT) = Q Test Phobia (TP) = S Not Well (NW) = T Good Test Taker (GTT) = W Fear (F) = Y Nervous (NV) = AA Hate It (HI) = CC Not Good (NG) = DD

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=

Appendix D: Coded Matrix From 1st Interview

177

Question 4 Varies (V) = A,C Not Clear (-) = B,F,V Background (B) = D Support (S) = E,CC Prepared (P) = G,U,Y Exposure (EX) = H,I,J,K,M,N,P,R,BB Test Phobia (TP) = L,S, Very Well (VW) = O Not Prepared (NP) = Q Not Well (NW) = T Yes (Y) = W Did Well (DW) = X Not Good (NG) = Z,AA,DD

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Question 5 Disconnect (DC) = A,B,D,E,G,H,I,J,L,M,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,Z,DD Connect (C) = C,F,K,N,X,Y,AA,BB,CC Not Clear (-) = W

Question 6 Relative Assessment (RA) A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,M,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,X,Z,AA,BB,CC No (N) = K,L,N,Y,DD Not Clear (-) = W

Question 7 Alignment (A) = A,B,C,D,E,I,J,K,L,M,N,T,U,V,W,X,Z,BB,CC Alignment to Teaching to Test (ATT) = F,O,P,Q,R,AA,DD Not Clear (-) = G,Y Teacher as Instrument (TAI) = H Not Well (NW) = S

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Question 8 Achievement Gap to Achievement A,B,C,D,E,F,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,R,S.BB School Grade (SG) = G Not Good (NG) = P,Z Very Well (VW) = Q Good (G) = T,U,X,AA,CC Do Well (DW) = V Quite Successful (QS) = W Not Well (NW) Y Varies (V) = DD

Gain

(AG)

=

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Question 9 Fear (F) = A,B,H Nervous (NV) = C,E,G,I,K,S Stressed (STR) = D,P,R Freight to Fight (F/F) = F,M Apprehensive (APP) = J Anxious (AX) = L,T Not Clear (-) = N Hate It (HI) = O,DD Achievement Gain (AG) =Q,W Pressure (P) = U,AA Accept It (AI) = V Okay with It (OK) = X,Z,BB,CC Not Good (NG) = Y

Question 10 Accountability with Impunity A,B,D,E,F,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,Q,S,T,U,Y,AA,BB,DD Accountability (ACC) = C,G,X Relative Assessment (RA) = O Negative (NT) = P Freight to Fight (F/F) = R

(AWI)

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Appendix D: Coded Matrix From 1st Interview

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Fear (F) = V Not Clear (-) = W,Z Pressure (P) = CC

Question 11 Negative (NT) B,D,E,F,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,U,V,Y,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD Positive & Negative (PT/NT) = A Positive (PT) = C,W,X Teacher as Instrument (TAI) = G Not Clear (-) = T

=

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Question 12 Relative Assessment (RA) A,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,P,Q,R,S,T,X,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD No (N) = B,O,Y Yes (Y) = U,V Not Clear (-) = W

=

Question 13 Relative Assessment (RA) A,B,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,M,N,Q,S,T,U,X,Z,AA,BB,CC Yes (Y) = C,O,P,V,W Not Clear (-) = L,R No (N) = Y,DD

=

Question 14 Necessary but Insufficient (NBI) A,B,C,D,E,G,H,I,J,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,X,Y,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD Yes (Y) = F,W No (N) = K

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Not Clear (-) = V

Question 15 Necessary but Insufficient (NBI) A,B,C,D,E,G,H,I,J,K,M,O,P,Q,R,S,T,X,Y,AA,BB,CC,DD Yes (Y) = F,N,U,V,W,Z Not Clear (-) = L

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Question 16 Fear (F) = A,B,C,F,H,M,T Stressed (STR) = D,E,G,O,P,W,DD Nervous (NV) = I,Y Apprehensive (APP) = J Freight to Fight (F/F) = K,R,CC Okay with It (OK) = L,X,Z,BB Motivated (M) = N Concerned (CS) = Q Excited (EXC) = S,V Pressured (P) = U Not Clear (-) = AA

Question 17 Varies (V) = A,B,G,K,Y,AA Fear (F) = C,D,F,M,R Freight to Fight (F/F) = E,H,I Apprehensive (APP) = J Okay with It (OK) = L,X,CC,DD Background (B) = N Stressed (STR) = O,P Ready (R) = Q Pressured (P) = S,U Positive (PT) = T,V Excited (EXC) = W,Z,BB

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Appendix D: Coded Matrix From 1st Interview

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Question 18 Very Important (VIP) = A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z,AA,BB,C C,DD

Question 19 No

Connection (NC) = B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z,AA,BB,CC, DD Teacher as Instrument (TAI) = A

Question 20

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Yes

(Y) = A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z,AA,BB,C C,DD

Question 21 Not Tested (NTS) = A,B,C,D,G,H,J,L,N,R,U Need Year Round (YR) = E,F Teacher As Instrument (TAI) = I Infused (INF) = K,Q,Y,AA,BB Limited (LT) = M,O,P,S,T,V,W,X,Z,CC,DD

Questions 22 Not Tested (NTS) = A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,R Infused (INF) = Q,Y Limited (LT) = S,T,U,V,W,X,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD

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Question 23 Legacy of Omission (LO) = A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD Infused (INF) = Q Limited Knowledge Base (KB) = Y

Question 24 Legacy of Omission (LO) = A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD Infused (INF) = Q Limited Knowledge Base (KB) Y

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Question 25 Legacy of Omission (LO) = A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD Infused (INF) = Q Limited Knowledge Base (KB) Y

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APPENDIX E: AGGREGATING THE CODES BY INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

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The purpose of this section is to delineate the characteristics of the principals in relation to the identifiable codes extracted from the transcripts of their responses to the interview schedule. The following highlight each question and the representation of principals corresponding to identified codes: 1. Do you think standardized tests reflect student‘s intelligence levels? The code that refers to it reflects ―Relative Intelligence‖ correspond to the following principals, A,B,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,M,N,O,P,Q,R,T,U, Y,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD. The code that refers to it reflects the ―Grade‖ corresponds to Principal C. The code that refers to ―No‖ corresponds to Principals L and S. The code that refers to ―Yes‖ corresponds to Principals V,W, and X. 2. How well do you think standardized test reflect the perspectives of students from various cultural backgrounds? The code that refers to standardized tests instruments are inherently ―Culturally Biased‖ correspond to the following principals A,B,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K ,L,M,N,P,Q,R,S,U,V,Y,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD. The code that refers to responses that were ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principals C,O,W and X. The code that refers to it reflects ―Relative Intelligence‖ correspond to Principal T. 3. Describe your personal experience with standardized exams. The code that refers to the ―Exposure‖ I received made the difference correspond to the following Principals F,G,H,I,J,K,L ,M,O,P,R,V,Z,BB. The code that refers to it ―Varies‖ on the type of test corresponds to Principal A. The code that refers to responses that

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Erhabor Ighodaro and Greg Wiggan were ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principals B,C E, and U. The code that refers to my ―Background‖ was instrumental corresponds to Principal D. The code that refers to I ―Did Well‖ corresponds to Principals N and X. The code that refers to the concern about ―Teaching to the Test‖ corresponds to Principal Q. The code that refers to I have ―Test Phobia‖ corresponds to Principal S. The code that refers to performing ―Not Well‖ corresponds to Principal T. The code that refers to I was a ―Good Test Taker‖ correspond to Principal W. The code that refers to I had a ―Fear‖ of test correspond to Principal Y. The code that refers to it makes me ―Nervous‖ correspond to Principal AA. The code that refers to I ―Hate It‖ corresponds to Principal CC. The code that refers to my performance was ―Not Good‖ corresponds to Principal DD. 4. How well were you prepared and how well did you do on standardized exam? The code that refers to the ―Exposure‖ I received made the difference corresponds to the following Principals H,I,J,K,M,N,P,R,BB. The code that refers to it ―Varies‖ correspond to Principals A,C. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principals B,F and V. The code that refers to the importance of ―Background‖ corresponds to Principal D. The code that refers to the importance of ―Support‖ corresponds to Principals E and CC. The code that refers to I was ―Prepared‖ corresponds to Principals G,U and Y. The code that refers to I had ―Test Phobia‖ corresponds to Principals L and S. The code that refers to I did ―Very Well‖ corresponds to Principal O. The code that refers to I was ―Not Prepared‖ corresponds to Principals Q. The code that refers to my performance was ―Not Well‖ refers to Principal T. The code that refers to ―Yes‖ I was prepared corresponds to Principal W.The code that refers to I ―Did Well‖ corresponds to Principal X. The code that refers to my performance was ―Not Good‖ corresponds to the Principals Z,AA and DD. 5. How well did your standardized exams prepare you for your profession? The code that refers to there is a ―Disconnect between Pedagogy and Pragmatism‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,B,D,E,G,H,I,J,L,M,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,Z,DD. The code that refers to standardized exams ―Connect‖ with the preparation for my profession corresponds to the following Principals C,F,K,N,X,Y,AA,BB,CC. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principal W.

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6. Do you think a standardized test is a valid measure of intelligence? The code that refers to its only a reflection of ―Relative Assessment‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,M, |O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,X,Z,AA,BB,CC. The code that refers to ―No‖ corresponds to Principals K,L,N,Y,DD. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principal W. 7. How well does school curricula prepare students for standardized exams? The code that refers to there is an ―Alignment‖ refers to the following Principals A,B,C,D,E,I,J,K,L,M,N,T,U,V,W,X,Z,BB,CC. The code that refers to from ―Alignment to teaching to the Test‖ refers to the following Principals F,O,P,Q,R,AA,DD. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principal G and Y. The code that refers to ―Teacher as Instrument‖ corresponds to Principal H. The code that refers to ―Not Well‖ corresponds to Principal S. 8. How well do your students do on standardized exams? The code that refers to from ―Achievement Gap to Achievement Gain‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,B,C,D,E,F,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,R,S.BB. The code that refers to ―School Grade‖ corresponds to Principal G. The code that refers to ―Not Good‖ corresponds to Principals P and Z. The code that refers to ―Very Well‖ corresponds to Principal Q. The code that refers to ―Good‖ corresponds to Principals T,U,X,AA and CC. The code that refers to I ―Do Well‖ corresponds to Principal V. The code that refers to ―Quite Successful‖ refers to Principal W. The code that refers to ―Not Well‖ corresponds to Principal Y. The code that refers to it ―Varies‖ corresponds to Principal DD. 9. How do your students feel about standardized exams? The code that refers to ―Freight to Fight‖ corresponds to Principals F and M. The code that refers to ―Fear‖ corresponds to Principals A,B and H. The code that refers to they are ―Nervous‖ corresponds to Principals C,E,G,I,K and S. The code that refers to they are ―Stressed‖ corresponds to Principals D,P and R. The code that refers to they are ―Apprehensive‖ corresponds to Principal J. The code that refers to they are ―Anxious‖ about it corresponds to Principals L and T. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principal N. The code that corresponds to they ―Hate It‖ corresponds to Principals O and DD. The code that refers to ―Achievement Gain‖ corresponds to Principals Q and W. The code that refers to they feel ―Pressure‖ corresponds to Principals U and AA. The code that refers to they ―Accept It‖ corresponds to Principal V. The code that refers to they

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are ―Okay with It‖ corresponds to Principals X,Z,BB, and CC. The code that refers to ―Not Good‖ corresponds to Principal Y. How do you feel about the FCAT? The code that refers to I support some level of ―Accountability with Impunity‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,B,D,E,F,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,Q,S,T,U,Y,AA,BB, DD. The code that refers to it has brought some level of ―Accountability‖ corresponds to Principals C, G, and X. The code that refers to ―Relative Assessment‖ corresponds to Principal O. The code that refers to the ―Negative‖ impact corresponds to Principal P. The code that refers to ―Freight but Fight‖ corresponds to Principal R. The code that refers to ―Fear‖ corresponds to Principal V. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principals W and Z. The code that refers to the ―Pressure‖ corresponds to Principal CC. How do you feel the FCAT has affected African American students? The code that refers to the ―Negative‖ impact corresponds to the following Principals B,D,E,F,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,U,V,Y ,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD. The code that refers to a ―Positive & Negative‖ impact corresponds to Principal A. The code that refers to a ―Positive‖ impact corresponds to Principals C, W, and X. The code that refers to the ―Teacher as Instrument‖ corresponds to Principal G. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principal T. Do you think the FCAT measures what students know? The code that refers to it is a measure of ―Relative Assessment‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,P,Q,R,S,T,X ,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD. The code that refers to ―No‖ corresponds to Principals B,O and Y. The code that refers to ―Yes‖ corresponds to Principals U and V. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principal W. Do you think the FCAT measures what students should know? The code that refers to it is a measure of ―Relative Assessment‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,B,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,M ,N,Q,S,T,U,X,Z,AA,BB,CC. The code that refers to ―Yes‖ corresponds to Principals C,O,P,V, and W. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principals L and R. The code that refers to ―No‖ corresponds to Principals Y and DD. Do you think your African American students are prepared for the FCAT? The code that refers to what we have done and can do is ―Necessary But Insufficient‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,B,C,D,E,G,H,I,J,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,X,Y,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD.

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The code that refers to ―Yes‖ corresponds to Principals F and W. The code that refers to ―No‖ corresponds to Principal K. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principal V. 15. Do you think your African American students are properly equipped with the tools and resources to pass the FCAT? The code that refers to what we have done and can do is ―Necessary But Insufficient‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,B,C,D,E,G,H,I,J,K,M,O,P ,Q,R,S,T,X,Y,AA,BB,CC,DD. The code that refers to ―Yes‖ corresponds to Principals F,N,U,V,W, and Z. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principal L. 16. How do your students feel about taking the FCAT? The code that refers to they have a ―Fear‖ of the test corresponds to Principals A,B,C,F,H,M,T. The code that refers to they are ―Stressed‖ about it corresponds to Principals D,E,G,O,P,W,DD. They code that refers to it makes them ―Nervous‖ corresponds to Principals I and Y. The code that refers to they are ―Apprehensive‖ about it corresponds to Principal J. The code that refers to ―Freight but Fight‖ corresponds to Principals K,R,CC. The code that refers to they are ―Okay with It‖ corresponds to Principals L,X,Z,BB. The code that refers to they are ―Motivated‖ corresponds to principal N. The code that refers to they are ―Concerned‖ corresponds to Principal Q. The code that refers to they are ―Excited‖ about it corresponds to Principals S and V. The code that refers to it makes them feel ―Pressured‖ corresponds to Principal U. The code that refers to ―Not Clear‖ corresponds to Principal AA. 17. What are your students‘ opinions about the FCAT? The code that refers to their opinions ―Varies‖ corresponds to Principals A,B,G,K,Y,AA. The code that refers to they have a ―Fear‖ of the test corresponds to Principals C,D,F,M,R. The code that refers to from ―Freight but Fight‖ corresponds to Principals E,H,I. The code that refers to they feel ―Apprehensive‖ about it corresponds to Principal J. The code that refers to they are ―Okay with It‖ corresponds to Principals L,X,CC,DD. The code that refers to it depends on their ―Background‖ corresponds to Principal N. The code that refers to they are ―Stressed‖ about it corresponds to Principals O and P. The code that refers to they say they are ―Ready‖ corresponds to Principal Q. The code that refers to they feel ―Pressured‖ corresponds to Principals S and U. The code that refers to they feel ―Positive‖ corresponds to

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Principals T and V. The code that refers to they are ―Excited‖ about it corresponds to Principals W,Z, and BB. What do you think is the importance of teaching African American students about their intellectual and cultural heritage? The code that refers to it is ―Very Important‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z,AA,BB,C C,DD. How well do you think the FCAT enables the teaching and learning of history and culture for African American students? The code that refers there is ―No Connection‖ corresponds to the following Principals B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z,AA,BB,CC, DD. The code that refers to ―Teacher as Instrument‖ corresponds to Principal A. Do you support the state‘s mandate for infusing African/African American content in school curriculum? The code that refers to ―Yes‖ in the affirmative corresponds to the following Principals A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z,AA,BB,C C,DD How well does your school incorporate the teaching of African/African American history and culture? The code that refers to ―Not Tested‖ not taught corresponds to Principals A,B,C,D,G,H,J,L,N,R,U. The code that refers to it needs to be taught ―Year Round‖ corresponds to Principals E and F. The code that refers to ―Teacher as Instrument‖ corresponds to Principal I. The code that refers to it is ―Infused‖ across the curriculum corresponds to Principals K,Q,Y,AA,BB. The code that refers to ―Limited‖ infusion corresponds to Principals M,O,P,S,T,V,W,X,Z,CC,DD. How well does the FCAT reflect the importance of teaching African/African American history and culture? The code that refers to ―Not Tested‖ not taught corresponds to Principals A,B,C,D,E,F, G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,R. The code that refers to it is ―Infused‖ across the curriculum corresponds to Principals Q and Y. The code that refers to ―Limited‖ coverage corresponds to Principals S,T,U,V,W,X,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD. How much do you think your African American students know about Africa? The code that refers to perpetuating a ―Legacy of Omission‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,

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M,N,O,P,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD. The code that refers to it is ―Infused‖ across the curriculum corresponds to Principal Q. The code that refers to they have a limited ―Knowledge Base‖ corresponds to Principal Y. 24. What do your African American students think about their relationship with Africa? The code that refers to perpetuating a ―Legacy of Omission‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD . The code that refers to it is ―Infused‖ across the curriculum corresponds to Principal Q. The code that refers to they have a limited ―Knowledge Base‖ corresponds to Principal Y. 25. What do your students think and know about their African American history and cultural backgrounds? The code that refers to perpetuating a ―Legacy of Omission‖ corresponds to the following Principals A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Z,AA,BB,CC,DD . The code that refers to it is ―Infused‖ across the curriculum corresponds to Principal Q. The code that refers to they have a limited ―Knowledge Base‖ corresponds to Principal Y.

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INDEX

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A academic performance, 16 academics, 102 accommodation, 6 accountability, 1, 6, 14, 15, 54, 57, 148, 211 acculturation, 16 achievement, 4, 7, 16, 17, 19, 24, 49, 55, 62, 80, 102, 103, 120, 133, 159, 169, 195, 201, 202, 203, 204, 207, 212, 215 acquisition of knowledge, 4 administrators, 9, 52, 61, 75, 80, 97, 118 adolescents, 195 adulthood, 47, 87, 137 affirmative action, 89 affirming, 115, 117, 125, 127, 134 Africa, 21, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 34, 41, 42, 49, 68, 69, 91, 92, 93, 119, 121, 126, 138, 151, 152, 153, 155, 156, 164, 172, 188, 189, 197, 198, 199, 204, 205, 208, 210, 212, 215 African Americans, 2, 3, 5, 6, 16, 17, 18, 22, 24, 25, 26, 49, 52, 54, 58, 70, 76, 78, 79, 80, 84, 86, 87, 88, 92, 94, 99, 101, 102, 107, 108, 110, 111, 120, 123, 124, 128, 144, 149, 156, 169, 193, 203 African Education, 27 age, 7, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 59, 105, 110, 149, 199 AIDS, 105

Alaska, 10 American culture, 96 American Educational Research Association, 204, 211 American History, 52, 121, 213 anatomy, 196 antagonism, 117 antithesis, 100, 115 aptitude, 12, 145 arrest, 49, 87, 88, 126 Asia, 153 Asian Americans, 9 assault, 88, 112, 113 assessment, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 18, 24, 25, 53, 54, 57, 65, 73, 81, 109, 111, 141, 197, 199, 206, 210, 212 assignment, 101, 107 athletes, 107, 123 Australia, 147, 195 authority, 35, 42 authors, 22 autonomy, 44, 45, 46 avoidance, 24 awareness, 9, 17, 30, 41, 45, 84, 112

B background, 2, 18, 19, 22, 49, 50, 145, 150, 209 baggage, 139, 145 behavior, 44, 76, 81, 133

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Index

218

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behavior modification, 133 behavioral problems, 208 behaviorists, 13 beliefs, 5, 41, 77, 109, 133 benchmarks, 52, 95, 151 bias, 11, 14, 54, 69 Bible, 6, 49, 68 Binins, 32, 35 birth, 27, 44, 68, 116 Black students, 12, 17, 18, 49, 124, 198, 203 black tea, 204 Blacks, 9, 10, 59, 77, 80, 88, 89, 132, 133, 192, 193, 214 blood, 21, 93 blood transfusion, 93 board members, 75 boys, 42, 45, 46, 107, 143 brain, 80, 85 brass, 39, 136 Brazil, 93 breakdown, 83, 100 Britain, 210 brothers, 48, 93, 137

C Canada, 214 candidates, 28, 54 capacity building, 129 capitalism, 15, 195 caregivers, 44 Caribbean, 26, 91, 93, 127 case study, 2, 50, 53, 55, 65, 92, 104, 128, 130, 144, 151, 156, 197 Chief of Staff, 159 child abuse, 48 child development, 14 childcare, 146 childhood, 40, 146 China, 10, 147 Christianity, 194, 203 citizenship, 1, 89 City, 155, 197 civil rights, iv, 6, 23, 24, 87, 89, 131, 155, 207 civil society, 35

Civil War, 206 classes, 10, 11, 18, 112, 128 classroom, 7, 13, 24, 25, 26, 53, 90, 94, 139, 196, 198, 207, 210 classroom teacher, 53 classroom teachers, 53 classrooms, 192, 206 codes, 62, 65, 183 cognitive abilities, 87 cognitive development, 2, 13, 65, 70, 84, 116, 138, 139 cohort, 94, 155 Cold War, 5 College Entrance Examination, 200 colleges, 53, 146 colonization, 127, 138 communication, 91, 200 community, 8, 26, 44, 45, 46, 51, 52, 75, 81, 101, 104, 106, 118, 119, 127, 139, 149, 151, 198 community service, 46 community support, 118 compassion, 47, 48, 139 competence, 48, 147, 198, 210 compliance, 52 components, 47, 155 composition, 9, 10, 58, 59 confinement, 131 conflict, 16, 51, 150, 151, 157, 193, 194, 195, 196, 203, 214 conflict resolution, 150, 151, 157, 193 Conformation, 97, 99 Congress, 196 consciousness, 56, 134, 141 consensus, 4, 22, 26 Constitution, 70, 144 construction, 209 contextualization, 121 control, 76, 85, 99, 110, 211 cortex, 209 costs, 80, 214 creativity, 44 credentials, 100 credibility, 62, 193 critical thinking, 84, 100

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Index criticism, 76 cross-cultural education, 153 Cuba, 127, 214 cultural heritage, 164, 171, 188 cultural tradition, 27 cultural values, 2, 68, 117 culture, 3, 6, 14, 16, 17, 18, 25, 26, 32, 38, 44, 45, 46, 48, 69, 77, 83, 84, 91, 94, 108, 110, 123, 124, 127, 128, 132, 138, 147, 152, 157, 164, 170, 171, 172, 188, 191, 194, 196, 197, 198, 200, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 214, 215 currency, 90 curricula, 2, 8, 10, 14, 16, 21, 23, 24, 54, 55, 57, 116, 125, 141, 145, 149, 151, 163, 171, 185 curriculum development, 3, 6, 19, 23, 24, 25, 75 Curriculum violence, iv, 2, 24, 202

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D dance, 40, 76, 155 dances, 44, 126 data analysis, 65, 207 data collection, 57, 63, 64 David Hume, 86 death, 44, 80, 81, 104, 146 decisions, 15, 88, 103, 112 Declaration of Innocence, 135 deconstruction, 195 defense, 89, 215 definition, 4, 77, 104, 201 deformation, 2, 79, 80, 97, 117 Deformation, 78, 79, 80, 97 democracy, 112, 139 Democrat, 197 demographics, 54 denial, 24, 101, 102, 144, 156 Denmark, 110 deprivation, 81, 104, 105 destiny, 43, 111, 116, 117, 139 destruction, 84, 132, 198, 215 developed nations, 147 differential treatment, 23 discipline, 2, 44

219

discourse, 2, 3, 6, 8, 12, 14, 15, 17, 22, 27, 50, 69, 80, 102, 121, 124, 135, 191, 198 discrimination, 101 distance education, 192 diversity, 7, 30, 32, 36, 38, 75, 111, 149 dominance, 77, 110 donations, 88, 149 donors, 88, 148 dream, 1, 133, 143, 144, 208

E early labor, 13 earth, 31, 35, 38, 42, 47, 68, 88, 197 economic systems, 70 Education, 1, 2, iii, iv, vii, 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 14, 15, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27, 32, 36, 48, 53, 57, 89, 100, 108, 110, 111, 119, 144, 147, 148, 159, 167, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 204, 205, 207, 208, 209, 211, 212, 213 education reform, 7, 156, 199 educational attainment, 101, 117, 210 educational experience, 1, 2, 3, 8, 18, 19, 22, 27, 67, 77, 80, 100, 104, 144, 147 educational policy, 24, 90, 97, 151, 206 educational programs, 147 educational research, 14 educational system, 7, 10, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, 49, 67, 70, 87, 90, 140, 147, 207 Egypt, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 208 elders, 38, 41, 42, 44, 46, 48 election, 89, 90, 102, 214 elementary school, 19, 51, 57, 58, 61, 62, 75, 92, 119, 127, 169, 212 elementary students, 126 employment, 107 empowerment, 84, 139, 141, 194 encouragement, 83, 126 engagement, 24, 26, 116, 127, 149, 151, 159, 215 English Language, 11 enrollment, 129 enslavement, 26, 51, 86, 138

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Index

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environment, 77, 85, 87, 106, 116, 117, 119, 135, 145 environmental conditions, 4, 19 environmental protection, 9 equality, 1, 6, 70, 110, 140, 144 equity, 194, 201, 203, 211 ethnic groups, 1, 27, 28, 32 ethnicity, 55 Euro, 198 Europe, 27, 31, 34, 69, 123, 153, 210 evil, 40, 46, 135, 136 evolution, 8, 13, 91, 110, 131, 135, 140, 193 examinations, 206 exclusion, 6, 7, 11, 24, 72 excuse, 93, 205 exercise, 73, 124 exploitation, 119 exposure, 70, 71, 72, 73, 78, 83, 102, 105, 132, 139, 145, 153, 157

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F failure, 87, 94, 105, 106, 145, 149, 191, 201 faith, 49, 133, 136 family, 13, 18, 36, 38, 39, 42, 45, 47, 48, 68, 102, 107, 108, 116, 117, 118, 119, 121, 133, 205 family life, 42 family meals, 45 family members, 102, 108 feedback, 76, 139 Fela Kuti, 91 finance, 23, 145, 157 financing, 22, 147 first dimension, 79 first generation, 101, 102 food, 134, 135, 155 formal education, 103 Formation, vii, 65, 67, 84 freedom, 70, 79, 144 funding, 11, 54, 147, 148

G gender, 5, 38, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 50, 59, 101, 111, 137, 191, 208, 210

gender identity, 43, 45 gender inequality, 5 gender role, 42 general intelligence, 194 generalization, 204 generation, 47, 76, 91, 144 Georgia, 10, 198 gift, 76, 133, 136 gifted, 112, 143, 201 girls, 22, 42, 45, 143 global economy, 212 global education, 8, 112, 145, 157, 214 Global Instructional Paradigm, 8 globalization, 7, 159, 191 goals, 4, 40, 53, 193 God, v, 27, 35, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 110, 131, 137, 139, 141, 203 good behavior, 42, 46 government, iv, 29, 34, 35, 89, 113, 125 grades, 44, 54, 146, 191, 197 Greeks, 30, 120 groups, 3, 6, 11, 16, 22, 24, 25, 36, 42, 46, 51, 67, 77, 80, 101, 121, 123, 145, 148, 191 growth, v, 4, 8, 9, 43, 46, 47, 70, 85, 116, 127, 130, 139, 152 guardian, 45, 104, 154 guidance, 44, 46, 52 guiding principles, 70

H harm, 81, 104, 105, 133, 134, 146 hate, 133, 137, 139, 141 health, 115, 146, 147 health care, 146 hegemony, 14, 141, 144 height, 9, 100, 138, 141 Henry Ford, 5 herbal medicine, 191 hermeneutic inquiry, 204 hermeneutics, 195, 199, 202, 206, 215 high quality instruction, 8, 16, 111, 132 high school, 10, 17, 26, 53, 62, 73, 74, 101, 102, 103, 105, 113, 124, 126, 129, 133, 169, 197, 198

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Index higher education, 28, 29, 170 home culture, 17 homogeneity, 215 Horus, 27, 29, 136 House, 36, 208, 214 human agency, 139 human behavior, 13, 133 human experience, 56, 121 human rights, 121 human sciences, 210 humanitarianism, 13 hypothesis, 63, 64

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I icon, 91, 131 ideal, 1, 77, 131, 157 identity, 18, 38, 59, 67, 73, 75, 81, 83, 84, 91, 102, 106, 118, 201, 202, 212 Igbo, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 images, 29, 127 imagination, 87, 133, 212 immersion, 129, 170 implementation, 16, 23, 49, 65, 75, 92, 150 inclusion, 7, 24, 25, 75, 138 income, 18, 148, 206 independence, 83, 127 indicators, 63, 64 indigenous, 6, 19, 22, 26, 27, 49, 50, 93, 125 individual character, 137 individual characteristics, 137 individual students, 53 individualized instruction, 151 indoctrination, 67, 76, 77, 79, 82, 99, 113, 144, 152 industry, 11, 44 inequality, 6, 17, 18, 23, 102, 110, 111, 133, 137, 144, 196, 205, 208, 215 inequity, 113, 139 Ingenious Affirmation, 83, 115 Ingenious Enrichment, 83, 126 Ingenious Triangulation, 83 innocence, 110, 137 insight, 49, 69, 138, 139 institutions, 27, 48, 77, 89, 140

221

instruction, 10, 16, 19, 21, 25, 29, 71, 72, 74, 83, 111, 145, 146, 149, 150, 211, 212 instructional materials, 149 instruments, 54, 57, 119, 170, 183 integration, 89, 133 intellect, 79, 85, 116 intelligence, 11, 12, 13, 15, 22, 57, 62, 77, 87, 102, 107, 117, 122, 139, 163, 170, 176, 183, 185, 194, 212, 215 intentions, 104 interaction, 131 interactions, 7, 61 interest groups, 24 interference, 32 internationalization, 159 interval, 73 intervention, 110, 132, 135, 150, 151, 152, 196 intervention strategies, 152 interview, 61, 62, 63, 65, 169, 183 Isis, 27, 136 Islam, 28, 132, 194 Israel, 153

J Jamaica, v, 91, 103 Jamaican culture, 106 Jamestown, 68, 80 jobs, 7, 107, 170 judgment, 12, 85 justice, 5, 122, 133, 137 justification, 145

L labeling, 151 labor, 88, 212 lack of opportunities, 87 land, 31, 35, 36, 39, 43, 88, 122, 134 landscape, 27, 149, 208 landscapes, 216 language, 17, 18, 25, 29, 32, 38, 69, 90, 104, 129, 147, 170, 198, 202, 208, 213 laws, 39, 145 leadership, 52, 127, 198, 210

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Index

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222

learners, 2, 4, 5, 24, 25, 49, 81, 104, 115, 119, 129, 141, 199 learning, 3, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 50, 51, 62, 68, 71, 76, 86, 92, 95, 96, 104, 106, 116, 119, 127, 129, 139, 146, 163, 164, 171, 188, 192, 196, 197, 200, 204, 212 learning process, 119 learning styles, 200 Legacy of Omission, 182 legislation, 51, 77, 89, 110, 147, 150 lesson plan, 94, 164, 172 lethargy, 79, 85 Liberated Genius, 84, 139 liberation, 116, 122, 198 Liberia, 42 life cycle, 146 life experiences, 72 lifespan, 9, 13, 146 likelihood, 81, 104 limitation, 101, 104, 138 line, 5, 48, 103, 155, 215 literacy, 28, 77, 207 longevity, 42 Louisiana, 10 love, 41, 44, 47, 48, 88, 117, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 141

M males, 5, 50, 59, 107 maltreatment, 84, 104 management, 127, 151, 157, 200 mandates, 1, 121, 147 manipulation, 2, 24, 81 marginalization, 2, 16, 102, 125 market, 4, 7, 45, 200 Mars, 42, 200 mastery, 84, 138 material resources, 127 materialism, 215 mathematics, 5, 7, 31, 49, 53, 54, 83, 84, 116, 120, 123, 149, 192, 196, 198, 201, 203, 204, 207, 209, 211 mathematics education, 198, 211 maturation, 87, 135

meanings, 56 measurement, 10, 11, 201 measures, 9, 14, 53, 111, 164, 171, 186 membership, 86 memory, v, 123, 170, 213 men, 43, 45, 46, 47, 67, 70, 72, 107, 136, 146, 203 mental capacity, 82 mental development, 12, 116 mentoring, 48, 155 metaphor, 123, 137 Mexico, 10 Miami, 2, 51, 53, 54, 55, 58, 61, 65, 75, 92, 93, 104, 123, 124, 127, 144, 149, 151, 152, 153, 157, 159, 196, 207, 209, 214 military, 10, 35 minorities, 2, 6, 7, 75, 87, 102, 108, 133, 208 minority, 2, 7, 10, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 72, 74, 77, 108, 123, 149, 159, 170, 196, 198, 201, 205, 213, 215 minority groups, 25, 77 minority students, 7, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 72, 74, 123, 196, 201, 205 mobility, 101, 110 model, 2, 3, 19, 26, 40, 43, 49, 50, 79, 81, 97, 99, 113, 115, 116, 122, 126, 127, 130, 131, 138, 139, 141, 145, 151, 157 modeling, 103 models, 22, 26, 45, 103, 138, 204, 208 modern society, 42 money, 91, 147 moral standards, 45 moratorium, 145, 146, 157, 198 morning, 36, 38, 108 mother tongue, 90 mothers, 45, 89 motion, 134 motivation, 13, 76, 80, 116 movement, 25, 47, 91, 113, 127, 145, 156, 195, 199, 200, 211, 212 multicultural education, 67, 193, 194 multiculturalism, 198 multidimensional, 15 music, 29, 95, 147, 170

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Index

223

N

P

narratives, 7, 57, 63, 92, 96, 97, 105, 110, 111, 112, 113, 128, 150, 155 nation, 5, 7, 10, 16, 22, 23, 24, 53, 54, 70, 75, 86, 87, 108, 111, 125, 136, 144, 147, 150, 156, 157, 200, 204, 208 National Center for Education Statistics, 9, 207 national character, 6, 36 national identity, 1 Native Americans, 3, 9, 25, 69, 70 natural sciences, 123 navigation system, 69 NCES, 10 negative reinforcement, 76 neglect, 19, 84, 104, 141 Nelson Mandela, 138, 147 Netherlands, 202, 212 network, 18, 36, 52, 139 Nigeria, 30, 32, 69, 90, 103, 127, 197, 208 Nile, 22, 26, 29, 30, 31, 49, 50, 68, 121, 193, 194 No Child Left Behind, 3, 6, 11, 107, 203 Nobel Prize, 123 non-institutionalized, 21 North America, 26, 68, 93 nursing, 89, 191, 192, 204, 207

Pacific, 10, 212 paradigm shift, 121, 201 paralysis, 82, 83, 92, 99, 100, 110, 116, 152 parameters, 68 parental involvement, 128 parenting, 208, 209 parents, 38, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 52, 53, 68, 75, 101, 102, 106, 108, 116, 117, 118, 127, 128, 129, 133, 145, 151, 154, 155 partnership, 145, 149, 152, 154, 156, 157 patriotism, 5, 6, 44 pedagogy, 3, 16, 18, 19, 25, 30, 50, 145, 150, 157, 170, 191, 214 peer group, 198, 201 peers, 46, 106 penalties, 108 perceptions, 17, 29, 50, 51, 55, 80, 102, 163, 199 personal accounts, 125 personality, 44, 48, 69, 85 Phenomenological Grounded Theory, 63, 64 phenomenology, 56, 57, 192, 197, 202, 205, 211, 212, 215 Phenomenology, 56, 63, 64, 200, 202 physical abuse, 82 physical education, 44, 147 physics, 31, 73, 120 police, 39, 125 policy makers, 75, 151 political leaders, 102 politics, 15, 140, 191, 195, 196, 198, 202, 211, 214 poor, 6, 10, 23, 72, 74, 93, 107, 109, 136, 145 population, 54, 58, 75, 132, 149, 151 positive feedback, 133 positive reinforcement, 70, 84, 117 poverty, 18, 193, 198 power, 2, 3, 5, 11, 13, 14, 15, 21, 29, 42, 43, 67, 68, 69, 77, 81, 85, 88, 92, 101, 104, 110, 122, 126, 127, 133, 138, 144, 191, 196, 198

O objectives, 81, 152 obligation, 6, 110, 119 observations, 31, 65, 85, 128 omission, 2, 6, 24, 25, 50, 65, 75, 80, 92, 101, 102, 110, 118, 120, 145, 149, 150, 157, 170 Open Book, 132 oppression, 6, 101, 120, 145 order, 13, 29, 34, 39, 41, 42, 43, 46, 55, 67, 70, 73, 77, 83, 88, 93, 106, 111, 112, 115, 117, 119, 128, 129, 139, 146, 149, 150, 156 orientation, 42, 48, 50, 85, 116 ownership, 49, 89, 118

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Index

power relations, 69 prayer, 45, 48 pregnancy, 43, 205 prejudice, 69, 137, 141 president, 42, 90, 144 pressure, 85, 94, 111 primary data, 57 primary school, 90, 191, 207 prior knowledge, 124, 138 private education, 11 private schools, 26, 54, 113, 146, 147, 148, 151 private sector, 149 problem solving, 116 professional development, 52, 128, 149, 150, 199 program, 2, 6, 23, 24, 26, 30, 39, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 104, 113, 120, 123, 125, 126, 131, 133, 138, 139, 141, 147, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157 programming, 2, 81, 104 propaganda, 124 proposition, 15, 135 psychological development, 70, 210 psychological health, 125 psychological processes, 2 psychological well-being, 2, 24, 49, 81, 104, 119, 123, 132, 141 psychology, 12, 14, 68, 76, 103, 117, 127, 199, 200, 204, 209, 210, 214 psychotherapy, 193 puberty, 85, 87 public education, 49, 54, 75, 109, 113, 199, 207 public housing, 125 public policy, 148 public schools, 6, 11, 19, 25, 51, 54, 80, 97, 110, 111, 113, 118, 146, 147, 148, 151, 198, 200 public-private partnerships, 148 punishment, 13, 46, 76, 146 purity, 47, 135

Q qualitative research, 56, 196, 200, 204, 206, 207, 208, 209, 212, 213 quality of life, 170

R race, 22, 30, 55, 58, 68, 86, 88, 108, 111, 120, 137, 191, 194, 197, 198, 208, 210, 212, 215 racism, 28, 122, 137, 200 range, 28 reading, 53, 54, 79, 95, 109 reality, 6, 56, 68, 81, 82, 89, 101, 102, 112, 144, 145, 194, 197, 209 reason, 45, 74, 85, 91, 103, 119, 126, 146 recognition, 46, 70, 110, 194 Reformation, vii, 115, 118, 121, 125 reforms, 6, 215 region, 24, 31 reinforcement, 76, 78, 126, 132, 133, 139, 145, 149 relationship, 6, 85, 105, 117, 121, 132, 164, 172, 189 relevance, 19, 22, 25, 75, 78, 94, 100, 132, 145 reliability, 65 relief, 140 religion, 136, 194, 197 remediation, 146 resolution, 151, 157 resources, 17, 18, 25, 52, 71, 72, 73, 96, 102, 105, 128, 129, 145, 148, 149, 150, 151, 164, 171, 187 retention, 57, 87, 105, 169, 191, 196, 206 rewards, 13, 46 rhetoric, 89, 147 Rites of Passage, 30, 39, 43, 126, 152, 154 Rwanda, 155, 156

S sampling, 62, 63, 64 scandal, 194, 205 schema, 9, 12, 25, 72

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Index scholarship, 28, 73, 193 scholastic achievement, 203 Scholastic Aptitude Test, 11 school achievement, 2, 3, 8, 15, 57, 121, 133, 215 school climate, 80 school culture, 17 school failure, 3, 16, 51, 203 school performance, 7, 9, 11, 25, 72, 74, 102, 103, 109 school support, 133 schooling, 4, 5, 8, 16, 122, 132, 141, 145, 146, 148, 157, 200, 204, 212 scores, 11, 25, 57, 95, 107, 140, 206 second language, 129 segregation, 7, 23, 24, 133 self esteem, 170 self-actualization, 122 self-awareness, 131 self-concept, 84 self-confidence, 106 self-discovery, 132, 133 self-esteem, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110, 139 self-interest, 89, 90 self-mutilation, 91 self-understanding, 120 sensitivity, 17 separation, 41 sex, 47, 197 sexual behavior, 45 shame, 48, 121, 139, 204 shape, 21, 136, 191 shaping, 24, 127 sharing, 46, 52, 123 skills, 4, 5, 21, 72, 127 skills training, 5 skin, 86, 91 slavery, 1, 5, 9, 51, 70, 76, 79, 80, 87, 101, 109, 110, 117, 133, 145 slaves, 18, 70, 77, 79, 82, 84, 93 social behavior, 77 social capital, 213 social change, 140, 192, 193 social class, 6, 9, 24, 101, 111, 137, 145, 208

225

social construct, 194, 199 social context, 2, 49, 51, 54, 116, 141 social development, 102 social exclusion, 144, 145 social group, 5, 14, 77 social integration, 133 social justice, 9, 157 social order, 15 social participation, 44 social promotion, 53, 91, 196, 206 social workers, 75 socialization, 12, 21, 38, 42, 43, 45, 47, 67, 69, 77, 78, 84, 87, 103, 133, 213 South Africa, 147 South Dakota, 10 Soviet Union, 5, 7 space, 34, 135 special education, 205, 211 speech, 70, 88, 119, 131, 135 spiritual awakening, 31 spirituality, 6, 41, 43, 44, 46, 49, 69, 83, 91, 133, 138 stakeholders, 21, 23, 26, 58, 75, 151, 152, 154, 157 standardization, 2, 10, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 56, 73, 169, 202 standardized testing, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 23, 25, 55, 65, 71, 92, 97, 112, 121, 147, 199, 200, 202, 203, 205, 209 standards, 15, 18, 53, 57, 106, 107, 112, 128, 151, 194, 196, 199, 201, 205, 206 strategies, 54, 62, 75, 76, 94, 151, 193, 201 stress, 146, 169 student achievement, 6, 9, 13, 14, 19, 65, 110, 215 student development, 2 student populations, 10, 57, 159 superiority, 12, 145 supervisors, 53, 69 support staff, 154 survival, 67, 68, 77 Sweden, 147 symbolism, 76 syndrome, 108

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Index

226

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T talent, 110, 144 tax system, 148 teach to the test, 18, 112 teacher training, 145 teachers, 2, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25, 42, 47, 48, 52, 53, 54, 95, 102, 109, 111, 112, 113, 117, 123, 124, 127, 128, 129, 141, 145, 146, 147, 150, 151, 154, 155, 198, 199, 202, 204, 212, 213 teaching, 4, 18, 21, 25, 28, 44, 50, 51, 52, 53, 61, 62, 67, 75, 92, 94, 95, 96, 105, 112, 116, 117, 120, 121, 128, 145, 146, 164, 170, 171, 172, 185, 188, 198, 200, 202, 210, 213 teaching strategies, 164 Test of English as a Foreign Language, 11 test scores, 7, 14, 96, 203, 204 textbooks, 28, 69, 128, 149 thinking, 24, 80, 87, 93, 99, 111, 197 Third World, 197, 215 thoughts, 41, 70, 91, 133, 134 TOEFL, 11 tracking, 18, 208 trade, 38, 47, 93 tradition, 3, 5, 13, 19, 27, 28, 29, 32, 38, 42, 43, 45, 47, 48, 119, 120, 136, 208 traditions, 26, 28, 31, 39, 47, 57, 83, 137, 191, 196 training, 35, 41, 44, 45, 46, 77, 93, 150, 151 transformation, 2, 15, 26, 91, 125, 130, 131, 132, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 157, 200 Transformation, 131 trauma, 24, 81, 100, 104 treaties, 29, 30 triangulation, 80, 82, 83, 100, 152 trust, 48, 68

unemployment, 117 UNESCO, 81, 104, 214 unique features, 27 United Nations, 81, 104, 214 United States, iv, 101, 109, 144, 155, 156, 193, 196, 208 universe, 41, 46, 132 universities, 127 urban centers, 91

V validation, 124, 169 Venus, 42, 200 victims, 3, 39, 91, 123, 204 village, 7, 39, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 77, 118, 140, 147, 155 violence, iv, 2, 3, 6, 11, 18, 19, 24, 50, 56, 65, 67, 70, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 87, 88, 97, 99, 100, 104, 105, 109, 110, 112, 113, 115, 116, 119, 123, 124, 126, 134, 135, 136, 140, 144, 145, 149, 151, 156, 195, 199, 201, 202, 214 vision, 118, 133, 135, 152 vocabulary, 107, 109 vocational training, 88 voice, 3, 14, 122, 201

W wealth, 24, 42, 68 West Africa, 26, 27, 28, 32, 42, 138 women, 5, 27, 42, 43, 45, 47, 101, 105, 107, 200 Woodson, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 16, 17, 18, 21, 25, 50, 65, 75, 80, 99, 100, 105, 110, 118, 119, 120, 125, 132, 150, 157, 215 World War I, 10 writing, 29, 31, 53, 88, 109, 122

U UK, 191, 208, 209

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