Derimbu 1972

THE DISADVANTAGED

Sebrel and

бесино

and educational philosophy

By MALVINA W. LIEBMAN

Lecturer, School of Education,

University of Miami, Cora! Gobles, Fla.

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ONCERN regarding the education of black children has come to be dominated by the emotionally charged question, "Should children be bused to schools out of their neighborhoods?" Embroiled in the violence, shouting. non-debates, slogans, and sentimentalized platitudes are agitated parents, leaders in both black and white communities, opportunistic politicians, and harried educators. All of these people identify themselves as persons most concerned that "quality education" be made available for every child. Yet, the thinking upon which arguments for or against busing are based has little or nothing to do with the goals of education or the means for achieving them. The recently enacted Congressional moratorium on busing has been attacked both by those who favor busing and those who are opposed to it. The busing issue carries such emotional voltage that it has galvanized into action sociological confusion and educational frenzy in the name of democracy.

A reconsideration of the relationship between democracy and education is indicated. One of the main purposes of busing children in order to integrate student bodies is to eliminate the inferior quality of education which exists in many schools where all the students are black. It has been strongly pointed out that, within the democratic concept, as established by our founding fathers, each child is entitled to the same kind of education. The statement, although factually true, is conceptually so erroneous as to defeat the intent of democracy and negate respect for the individual. Even a democratic form of government can not give assurance that each man will be created the equal of every other. The promise made by democracy is that men will be equal under the law and that each will have an equal opportunity for free public education. Because people are unequal in natal endowment and post-natal experience, the aim should not be for education to result in equal achievement. On the contrary, education should provide the means by which each man can achieve his unique potential. Tiger and Fox, professors of anthropology at Rutgers University, point out that "the perfect system would be a true

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democracy, not because it renders men equal, but because it gives them an equal chance to become unequal.... Democratic ideology and theory only [become] self defeating when they confuse the democratic process with egalitarianism.”1

Let us consider an analogy. Suppose there were a hospital full of patients, each of whom claimed, in the name of democracy, the right to the same treatment. If that claim were honored literally, heart patients, and those with broken legs, high blood pressure, diabetes, skull fractures, and labor pains all would be given the same diets, medicines, and treatment. The moral and ethical components of the democratic concept demand that each person be given equal opportunity for success. Obviously, "the same," literally interpreted, not only does not provide equal opportunity for desirable outcome, but actually handicaps almost all to whom it is applied. The goal is to provide each student with the maximum opportunity to become what he can be.

Examination of the factors required for achieving the goal reveals that some fall outside the function of the school, and that those which are academic should cover a very broad spectrum of possible experiences. None of the requirements are met automatically as a result of a child attending any particular school in whatever economic or social setting. Ideally, all students should attend schools where the motivating philosophy provides for meeting individual needs. This provision consists of a constellation of clements which includes adequate facilities and materials and teachers who can effect individualization. In this context, busing is irrelevant. Under some circumstances, these conditions could not be provided without busing: in others, busing would not be necessary. It well may be that indiscriminate busing actually reduces the opportunity for desirable conditions. In any case, the decision to bus or not to bus can not be justified educationally on the basis of the proportion of racial groups in a school. Racial balance, per se, has but nebulous correlation to the quality of education offered to any student, white or black.

1 Lionel Tiger and Robin Fox, The Imperial Animal (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972), p. 43.

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No: all black children are educationally de, rived, and not all white children have adequate educational opportunity. In some schools where not a single black child is in attendance, the quality of education leaves much to be desired. However, there are builtin obstacles to success for black children who are educationally disadvantaged. The curriculum is one of traditional design, having changed far less in the last 50 years than the society from which students derive their orientation and interests. The curriculum is not completely appropriate for the average white student: imagine how much less relevant it is for the average black student! With teaching methods, the materials. and the curriculum geared to the idealized experiences. aspirations, vocabulary, and value system of the white middle class, the black child is thrown into a foreign world scholastically. He is expected not only to master the techniques of reading, but to do so in the framework of a vocabulary that is frequently puzzling or meaningless to him. and which is put together to express ideas which are equally unfamiliar. He is required to respond as "expected" or fail. He is supposed to succeed in a game where he does not understand the language or know the rules. He is tested against arbitrary and illogical measures, and the results often are publicized or published. All of this confirms his sense of failure and further weakens his already poor self-concept. which he then tries to refute by escapist. disruptive, or otherwise socially unacceptable behavior.

It long has been recognized that instruction focused on the individual needs of students is the main factor in academic success. To that end, hope has been held out through the use of instructional organization such as team teaching, open classrooms, ability grouping. non-graded classrooms, and others. None of these types of organizaion have resulted in measurable change in student achievement. Many other kinds of remedies have been tried, at great cost and effort. Teaching machines, performance contracts, and Head Start are among those which have come under the purview of the President's Commission on School Finance. Part of the manyvolumed report of the commission is an analysis by the Rand Corporation of the various methods which have been tried in an effort to improve educational quality. Their conclusion was that none of them were consistently and clearly useful." A reason for this notable lack of success lies in the fact that efforts have been directed toward finding more effective ways to teach the standard curriculum to students who, by reason of their cultural experience, aspirations, value system, language patterns, and atitudes toward their own and other races, are unprepared to learn it. The need is not for better techniques to do what is inappropriate, but, rather, for working on those aspects of experience which contribute to learning success.

Few thoughtful individuals are unaware of the relationship between the quality of home and community life and motivation and success in school.

DECEMBER 1972

Teachers frequently attribute school failure to "the home." Studies have indicated that certain ethnic groups-Chinese, Jews, etc.-produce a higher proportion of academic success among their numbers than do others. The religious and sociocultural patterns of these groups foster strong family relationships and responsibility, traditional and deeply motivating educational aspirations, a "sense of community," and a willingness to forego immediate satisfactions for the sake of long-range goals. These factors. identified with academic success, seem to originate in a value system not ordinarily found among people living in the ghetto, slums. or other depressed areas. Fundamental to the problem of improving classroom achievement is the imperativ: to encourage a value system which would move toward producing some of the sociological priorities which underlie academic motivation and success.

The President has asked Congress to appropriate very large sums of money for the educational effort, but, if these billions of dollars are poured into classroom-level "panaceas," they will produce results similar to those already deemed ineffective. The skill and creativity of many educators are needed, but immediate and urgent help is required from other sources as well. including anthropologists, sociologists, city planners, pyschologists, leaders in the numerous black communities, and informed policymakers of the white majority.

One aspect of the problem is the enormous degree of ignorance and misunderstanding about each other which exists in both Negro and white groups. Yet, decisions are made, attitudes are formed, and actions are taken based upon the limited or warped information which constitutes their frames of reference. Unrealistic expectations of quick change in behavior patterns and value systems have resulted in serious impediments to understanding. The disgruntlement of both Negroes and whites is based on views which fail to take into account the total cultural experience of each group and the behavioral attitudes resulting from it.

Cultures vary because of differences in value systems, rites of passages, family organization. food habits, religion. sources of status, kinds and degrees of reciprocal responsibility, and other facets of social organization. Our country derives many of its characteristics and much of its richness of life from its cultural pluralism, but, when the values and attitudes of one culture come into conflict with another. it behooves us to learn more about-rather than to judge-other cultures as well as our own. Stuart Chase said that "he who knows only one culture has none." An anthropologically founded study would lead to reinterpretation of some of the problems, and would place attempts at solutions in a more valid context. Teachers, especially, need this background. Since behavior is a response to one's perception of a situation, a more enlightened perception would result in more useful and intelligent guidance of learning.

Hopefully, the emergence of new understandings

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and perceptions would permit Caucasians more freely to accept, encourage, and respect a legitimate black culture as part of America. Hopefully, also, new understandings would diminish the need for Negroes to attempt to identify with African cultures through what is, basically, an artificial relationship. Individual blacks, generally, do not know their hereditary or tribal origins. There are no cultural mem- .. ories or mores with which to identify. There is no link of language or literature. New perceptions of both black and white should go far toward stimulating black people toward recognition of their own worth and potential as contributing members of the American culture.

Change in family and community structure is a process of evolution rather than revolution, but even comparatively superficial directions for change must be promulgated in order to hasten those kinds of activities which have served to prosper other ethnic groups in our country. For instance, the establishment of small businesses is essential. According to Glazer and Moynihan: "The small shopkeeper, small manufacturer, or small entrepreneur of any kind has played such an important role in the rise of immigration groups in America that its absence from the Negro community warrants some discussion. The small shopkeepers and manufacturers are important to a group for more than the greater income they bring in. Very often, as a matter of fact, the Italian or Jewish shopkeeper made less than the skilled worker. But as against the worker, each businessman had the possibility, slim though it was, of achieving influence and perhaps wealth. The small businessman generally bad access to that special world of credit which may give him for a while greater resources than a job. He learns about credit and finance and develops skills that are of value in a complex economy. He learns, too, about the world of local politics, and... he may also learn how to influence it, for mean and unimportant ends, perhaps, but this knowledge may be valuable to an entire community.

"The small business created jobs. . . . These were not only jobs, they also taught skills. In addition, the small businessman had patronage-for salesmen, truck drivers, other businessmen. In most cases the patronage stayed within the ethnic group."2 Some small businesses might be started as cottage industries by women who are confined to the home by the presence of small children. In such cases, efforts could be pooled by a group of women. Aid in developing marketable skills and finding outlets for the products should come from those having proficiency in these areas.

Various aspects of education such as budgeting, food preparation, sewing, simple carpentry or upholstering, and family relations should be brought to the neighborhoods where the people feel at home

2 Nathan Glazer and Daniel P. Moynihan, Beyond the Melting Pot (Carabridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press, 1963), pp. 30-31.

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and can attend without having to resort to public transportation.

Churches, once the most influential of institutions among black populations, need to reassert strong leadership of their congregants through translating religious precepts into practical action toward elevating the quality of family and community life. The formation of self-belp organizations should have high priority, not only for the direct service they can afford in terms of counseling, scholarships, clinics, family service, loan agencies, and co-operative groceries, but for the equally important cause of increasing a community sense of mutal responsibility and accomplishment. Concerted effort is warranted in involving the youth in the satisfactions which come from making essential contributions to the community welfare.

There are people in the Negro community who are well-qualified to serve as models for the young. The talents of leaders have been used, to a great extent, in communicating with various governmental bodies or agencies, but even more important is the use of these talents to help the group to help itself at the grass-roots level.

Benefit accrued through spending exhorbitant amounts of Federal funds on innovative methods, teaching aids, or exotic school design is infinitesimal. According to Sidney P. Marland, Jr., U.S. Commissioner of Education, "The evidence is very thin of gains from Federal money aimed at bringing up the achievement levels of children-perhaps as many as twelve million-from disadvantaged homes." Available funds might be directed more profitably toward encouraging the development of a viable and supportive community structure and toward changing the perspective from which the purposes, procedures, materials, and methods of education are viewed.

Improvement in teacher effectiveness needs attention in at least three areas: qualification standards for acceptance as an education major, pre-service education, and in-service growth. With knowledge and information being amassed at a headlong rate, the old saw that “education is knowing where to find the information" seems to be confirmed as a verity. With the advent of information retrieval methods, an "educated" person might need to know only which buttons to push. The increasingly complex and demanding problems of human existence require that we know where to find information and how to apply it. Intellectual curiosity, mental and psychological vigor, and recognition of the necessity of continuous learning are important ingredients of meaningful education. Can these characteristics be encouraged by teachers who, by themselves, are devoid of them?

In accepting students for admission to teacher education programs, these and other essential qualities and attitudes rarely are taken into consideration. In a profession where intelligence and academic interest should be sine qua ron, the most mediocre accomplishment is acceptable. The methods of teaching and the kinds of standards which generally

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prevail in teacher education usually do not require or inspire more than minimal student effort. Although some change is taking place in the orientation and content, the weight of traditional requirements, content, and method rests heavily upon many professors and state certification agencies. With too few exceptions, the lecture is used to exto! the virtues of other preferable methods of teaching. Alternatives to note-taking as the principal conduit of learning must be utilized if teacher education is to assume its full responsibility for more adequately preparing its graduates to resolve the urgent problems of education.

In-service education for teachers usually takes the form of courses, seminars, workshops, or conferences. These forms sometimes have practical value, but the time and money expended might have more significant results if the participants, with competent supervision, had the opportunity for immediate practice and application in their classrooms of the things learned. With the exploration of theory and practical application occurring simultaneously—along with other kinds of direct, concentrated help to teachers—a more optimistic view could be taken of the possibility of prompt improvement in the quality of education.

Lack of funds is the reason for the postponement of reduction of class size, probably the most eagerly sought change toward improving instruction. However, teachers who are inciTective through lack of qualification will remain ineffective, regardless of any magically reduced class size. Teachers who are skilled and involved with children could be vastly more effective if classes were smaller.

Time and effort-and money-should be spent in drastically revising curricula in the direction of much greater flexibility, with emphasis placed on internalizing experience, rather than on material to be covered. Creative materials of types different from the usual textbooks, films, and maps must be developed. They must include more relevant content. realistic vocabulary, and meaningful orientation, and they must provide a variety of stimulating experiences which go beyond the classroom. Textbooks, which for so long have influenced-both positively and negatively-what was taught, may have outlived their usefulness in the context of their philosophy and format. Perhaps there should not be textbooks in any subject, but, rather, a series of smaller books or pamphlets, each devoted to a single topic, area of interest, or problem. This would encourage the designing of individual courses of study out of a very large number of possible combinations. Such materials could be constructed to be used in tandem with films, stereo-cassettes, field trips, experiences with community agencies, or other teaching devices. Fundamental change has taken place in the sources and scope of learning to which students are exposed as part of their daily environment, and in their interests and needs, as well as in techniques for obtaining, reproducing, and storing information. It seems self-evident that techniques in teaching should

DECEMBER 1972

parallel these changes; yet, they have not done so. With only superficial changes, schools still are organized as they were 50 years ago. Children still are sitting and listening for most of the day. They still are reading material from the same book at the same time, and this may have meaning for far fewer than the majority of them. They still are responding in recitation settings to questions which exercise their powers of recall rather than their ability to apply knowledge or to extend thinking.

Psychological research indicates that the variety of learning styles to be found in any classroom can be accommodated better in settings less structured than that of grade levels. The trend to knock down walls to permit a more flexible physical environment should be the forerunner to knocking down the walls of tradition and habit in order to provide more flexible learning groups. Marking systems and promotion policies, now often considered sacrosanct. would be irrelevant in the revised educational philosophy. Evaluation of student need would replace judgements of failure or superiority.

People of economic privilege in our own and other countries sometimes send their children to private boarding schools so that they may profit from a higher quality of education than that available in their communities. In a controlled and enriched environment, more attention is given to individual needs, interests. and learning styles. Acquiring positive social attitudes and good study habits are among the priorities.

Some private schools are organized in a series of cottages where students share a "family" life, developing feelings of responsibility and belonging. Such educational experiences should be considered for economically and educationally disadvantaged children of any ethnic derivation. Some funds desig nated for educational improvement might be used to establish a few such schools as prototypes. The programs of these schools should not have as their purpose the "flattening out" of cultural differences. but, rather, the encouragement of biculturalism which, like bilingualism, permits living more comfortably and constructively in more than one cul

ture.

Although some students come cagerly to their first school experience. their eagerness soon is replaced with boredom and resistance. The current educational process only briefly engages the voluntary atten tion of those who, in the future, will determine the kind and quality of life in our country. Educational funds must be directed toward the significant and productive goals of changing the orientation of teacher education, developing challenging and relevant curricula and materials, and offering the kind of help to culturally depressed groups which will encourage the evolution of attitudes of family and community responsibility and feelings of self-worth.

Success in education is dependent upon these fundamentals, rather than upon techniques for teaching the inappropriate or upon the educationally myopic policy of indiscriminate busing.

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