the Right to an EDucation? so why not Ethnic Studies?

We are told that we have a right to have an education. But it is questionable how true our right really is. In Philadelphia public schools, African American is a part of the core curriculum. This is not true in private schools or in public schools outside of Philadelphia. I will interview teachers to gain an understanding of the lack of ethnic studies in the school curriculum, such as African-American history and Native-American History. This will help get an insight into the country's education system. There are plenty of people who believe these studies are useless in classrooms. Our lack of knowledge can blind us in the future. Hence, it's important to be informed about the topic in school.

Education, our birth right ?

Ethnic studies programs have proven to leave a strong impact on students' academic lives, not to mention the effects it has on their sense of worth in this country. Eurocentric history has been incorporated in the school curriculum for so long. Why are schools not taking into consideration the diversity on which this country prospers? The right to education is the human right to a wide spectrum of learning. Article 13, as written in the United Nations Economic and Social council General Comment, aims and objectives of education and the right to receive an education column. Section D, adaptability, states: “education has to be flexible so it can adapt to the needs of changing societies and communities and respond to the needs of students within their diverse social and cultural settings.” This could lead to to question why ethnic studies are not offered in schools. Students should not be restricted in any area of learning.

Ethnic Studies Conversation: Mr. Milton (African-American History Teacher)

10:50am 12/04/18 Carver High School

Why do you think ethnic studies is important? Ethnic studies fill in the various gaps there are in United States history. The United States history in of itself just can’t cover everything; each ethnic group that’s in this country brought something to the history of this country. So I think Ethnic studies is definitely needed.

Do you think ethnic studies or studying African and Native American history have an academic benefit? They do. They do have an academic benefit. Like I said before, there’s a lot of information that is pertinent to US history. A lot of it is left out of US history. It is taught too cleanly and sanitized. If you get Native American history, you get their point of view. African- American history you get it from that particular group's point of view.

What could you say school boards could do to reconstruct the lack of ethnic studies in the curriculum? Well, what they have to do is figure out ways to integrate ethnic studies into the various history that we teach. Philadelphia is the only city in the nation that has African-American history as a mandatory course that you need in order to graduate. So other districts would have to come up with that is similar as possible. Otherwise, they should integrate it into the subject over the course of the year.

What do you think are the long effects of ethnic studies and what would they have on students? Hopefully, it would give them a better understanding of how America views them as an individual and how America viewed the entire group. Also, we would learn what impact it has on the country, because every group is impacted.

Do you believe teachers need certain training to teach ethnic studies? No, not really, but I believe that a teacher should always increase his or her knowledge generally. Now, for example, African-American history in Philadelphia, they have been teaching that since 2005. They did have workshops that went along with the courses originally. You had a lot of teachers who did not take the workshops and wound up teaching the course. Now that’s a problem, as it would be like teachers saying, “I can’t teach US history." It’s problematic; you’d lose your job if you say you can't teach US history.

Do you think ethnic studies would be different in other cities? I understand that in some of the western states they have Mexican-American history, but I believe it’s an elective. They teach it from that point of view because they have a large Mexican population in the west. Thats the only other places I could think of

What does this mean for students at Carver?

Carver is home to a diverse student body. Our school looks for ways to express each and every individual. Limiting students' educational experience is not in the school's mission statement.