Greco Roman Only Knowledge

Greco Roman Only Knowledge

I came across an article about the fight in Arizona between the Department of Education and Raza Studies in Tucson. Even though the state is against Raza Studies, teachers keep on teaching and student keep on signing up for the courses.
This gets me thinking about academic freedom. When I first came to Southwestern College I was still in the K-12 mindset that having a common goal also meant having a common curriculum. However, my former principals were rather trusting of our judgment, created curriculum leadership teams, and encouraged us to go beyond textbook-centered, prescription lessons. Here I have grown even more in my understanding of academic freedom, so it is sad to see the Department of Education restrict what students can be taught in the entire state of Arizona.

When it comes to teaching, each and every time we walk into our classrooms, we must be aware of the social responsibility we have to our students and community. Arizona is doing a great disservice to its entire population by restricting the point of view teachers can use when teaching history. The same could potentially happen at any school, which is why it is important to create lesson that will engage students in some very practical ways and also reach into the core of who they are.
At least we don't have these sort of restrictions at the community college level in California, but when it comes to curriculum there are a few questions to consider when putting together our lessons. We all have our own style of teaching and, I believe, the overwhelming majority of us work hard to challenge our students in regard to the amount of meaningful work students can produce, what types of thinking students need to do to complete that work, and how well students understand the real-world connections between their classwork and issues we face on a daily basis. When considering a text or a lesson, you might want to ask yourself some of the following questions:
1. Is this essential for building knowledge in this field of study?
2. How do I relate the importance of our studies to the real world?
3. When is it important to take student interests into account, potentially recreating a lesson for a day? A week?? An entire semester?
4. Who does the information from this lesson ultimately empower?

One might not readily see the connection between Arizona's fight over Raza Studies and the everyday realities of our community college classrooms, but it is there in two important ways.
First, we need to teach students things that they might not have previously learned. This includes exposing students to additional perspectives and potential realities that directly affect them and their families. Raza Studies does just that and the state of Arizona wants it stopped. We do the same thing here when we introduce alternate views on history, sociology, health,and literature.
Second, we need to introduce contemporary issues that will directly affect the future. By exposing students to real-world problems, students can begin to understand the interconnectedness of our global civilization. As Hispanics, mostly those of Mexican decent, become the majority in some southwestern states, it is interesting to see official legislation being introduced that limits Arizona's students from learning real facts about itself and its population. Obviously, this is not the WASP point of view, but the same could happen in biology, chemistry, accounting, or political science. We don't want administrators telling us that we cannot teach an idea or theme because someone who isn't even a teacher feels uncomfortable.
As teachers, we need to be informed about what is happening in Arizona because the potential for close-mindedness can easily make its way into California. Even if you agree with restricting Raza Studies, you probably wouldn't agree with some politician restricting what you can teach in your classroom. We are all professionals and we all deserve support from our colleagues, especially when it pertains to exercising academic freedom to teach facts. The students in our classrooms are our responsibility, and we need to take that responsibility very seriously.