Scientific Thinking

I am reading an interesting book called The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science, by Natalie Angier. What I am writing about now is an interesting way to teach scientific thinking to children – the example was given in the book. Do you remember the game called “Mastermind?” Where one person arranges colored pegs and the other person attempts to guess the arrangement? Well check out this excerpt:

“Mastermind…is a microcosm for how science works…Science is not a body of facts. Science is a state of mind. It is a way of viewing the world, of facing reality square on but taking nothing in its face. It is about attacking a problem with the most manicured of claws and tearing it down into sensible, edible pieces.”

“If science is not a static body of facts, what is it? What does it mean to think scientifically, to take a scientific whack at a problem?...If you’re trying to pose a question in a way that gets you data you can interpret, you want to isolate a single variable, and then you see what happens when you change that variable alone, while doing your best to keep everything else in the experiment unchanged. In Mastermind, you change a single peg and watch the impact of that deviation on your experiment.” (p. 20-21)

While the reference is to quantitative research (experimental method), this game has broader implications. Consider, for example, how many times scientists “fail” before finding a solution? How many independent observations over time are needed to reveal historical processes as they unfold? In Kmt (Ancient Egypt) scientists collected and documented data over time – analyses and conclusions drawn from the data permitted scientists and decision-makers to make predictions about when the Nile could be expected to flood, for example. Examples abound.

The point is that science is a state of mind…a way of looking at the world and drawing conclusions based on those observations. It is seeing reality in motion and attempting to understand that reality and explain it; not make it up or improvise. In addition, the science textbooks we use only go so far in what they can offer learners. The development of a truly scientific mind requires active participation in the collection and analysis of data and drawing conclusions based upon those observations.

Best Practices in African Centered Education

In an effort to share information, we would like to invite teachers at African Centered Schools to post their best practices to this site. Please identify your name, grade and school. Also, we welcome you to include your email so that people can follow up with you if they have questions.

Meaning of Education

In this weeks memo to parents and families (September 22-26), I raised the question, "what does education mean to you?" How we value education, what it means to us and our beliefs on it are reflected in the things we do...in even the most subtle ways. For example, if I get my daughter to school late every day, I might tell myself or anyone who asks that the traffic is bad or I can't hear the alarm or I don't have a car. But if I look below the surface, and am honest with myself, I come to realize that perhaps school really isn't as important to me as I might tell others.

Often our beliefs run much deeper than this example. What I mean is that over time our values and beliefs become one with our habits (and vice versa). So early on, for example, we develop a habit of always being late. We may not think that this has anything to do with how we value education, but it does on a subtle level. Consider this, if you have been looking for a job and finally get an interview, you will be at the interview on time, right? Well, we have to have that same level of interest and commitment to our children's education. If we don't then they will develop these same habits (of being late) as they grow up.

The examples above are directed toward getting to school on time. Yet there are other ways that values are revealed - creating time for children to do homework, taking care of their clothes and things (including school uniform, textbooks, etc.), treating teachers and other children, etc.

The botom line is this...education is critical in this period in history. In addition, it is fundamentally different than 15 + years ago. So not only do we, as parents and educators, have to be more vigilent in getting children to school on time and ready to learn, but also we have to be consistent in carving the time out for children to get their work done.

Working Together

On August 23, the Organization of African-centered Educators and Schools (OACES) sponsored a training for teachers and staff of its 3 member schools - Aisha Shule/WEB DuBois Academy, Nsoroma Institute and Timbuktu Academy of Science and Technology. Below are the topics we covered:

1. Shifting Paradigms: The case for African-centered Education (for walimu (teachers) in their 1st or 2nd years at OACES schools). During this session, Baba Malik Yakini (Nsoroma Institute) presented and led a discussion on the importance of ACE, particularly in this period in history.
2. Mdw Nfr: The concept of good speech (for walimu in OACES school for 3+ years). Baba Akinjide Bonotchi Montgomery (Medew Netcher Study Group of Detroit, Inc.) presented on the process for establishing Kmt (known as Ancient Egypt) foundations in our work as educators.
3. Considerations and Strategies for Instilling African-centered concepts - breakout sessions for teachers in grades k-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12. An mwalimu from each school presented on best practices for instilling ACE concepts in the classroom.
4. Extending the African centered community. Mama Alisa Lee (Timbuktu Academy) presented on how to involve families in the learning community.

The energy was positive and people were engaged. A challenge that many sometimes face involves implementation of African-centered education, particularly when they are learning themselves. The presentations and ensuing discussions helped to address this.

This was a wonderful example of 3 schools with a common purpose working together to get the job done. Thanks to the leadership, staff and faculty for making this happen.

The Rise of African Centered Education

The Civil Rights Movement and the integrationist efforts characterizing the 1950s and 1960s sought to equalize the education of black children with their white counterparts by placing them in white classrooms. Rather than addressing the very real issue of distribution of resources, middle class black leadership and their white liberal funders put other people's young black children (not their own) directly in the line of fire to endure the worst experiences a child could have--teasing, treats, abuse, psychological torture, etc.--to break down the race barrier.

These efforts to integrate education at all levels served the purpose of satisfying expanding U.S. service industries. The professional services required workers with more education than what was required by manufacturing. The creation of affirmative action policies and federal college grant/loan programs made people eligible to attend college who previously never had a chance. Although popular depictions of affirmative action present these efforts as race-based, in reality, these programs were designed to create openings for anyone who was not middle-class white male.

As the children of the integrationists grew older, they recognized that integration did not address their fundamental problems as African people. In regard to education, although the classrooms were integrated, the content of curricula, textbooks and other related materials had not been revised to reflect the histories or realities of black people. Black people continued to be portrayed as savages with truncated histories; offspring of slaves who somehow benefitted by this enslavement by being civilized.

The move to revise curricula and (re-)write textbooks emerged with the Black Power movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Black administrators and educators sought to infuse missing pieces of history into their classes, black parents sought to have their children taught by black teachers, and schools posted black-affirming posters and wrote black-affirming songs. Black children spoke of black pride.

The African centered education (ACE) movement represented the next stage of development of Black Power-in-education. African centered educators recognized that the source of strength and culture of black people lay in Africa; black people throughout the diaspora represented the cultural continuum of their brothers and sisters throughout the continent of Africa. ACE educators sought to systemetize, institutionalize and bring order to the instruction of African children by creating African centered schools with curricula that were infused with African successes, wisdoms, culture, experiences, people, and events. The Council on Independent Black Institutions (CIBI) was created to bring schools claiming to be African centered under a unified umbrella to standardize curricular content and practices, as well as provide leadership, assessment and professional development in the field of ACE.

ACE schools prepared African children to be confident, proud, tough and rooted in a sense of who they are as black people. It evolved out of and in response to a need to address persistent inaccuracies in mainstream curricula and materials. ACE sought/seeks to produce African children with strong academic skills and a life's purpose that is rooted in 'giving back.'

The material conditions that gave rise to ACE are changing; so too must it change. The ACE that evolved within the 1980s and 1990s must permit a new stage of development to emerge that preserves the best of its predecessor, while releasing the things that no longer work. ACE educators and institutions must soberly assess mistakes and lessons and forge a path that will cultivate children with the skills and character to build a future of our own making.

The Context

The relationship between labor and technology forms the foundation on which social relationships are built. First there is technology then there are people who use it and those who own it. The group that owns the technology and the goods/services produced by it--made up of a particular race, class, gender and culture (RCGC)--create socio-political and economic institutions that help them to remain in power. Institutions are in the fields of health care, education, criminal justice, politics, recreation, law, etc. This ruling RCGC grants access to others, including Black people (the term Black is used to denote people of African descent regardless of their land of birth), according to the degree to which they further the economic interests of the rulers.

The quality and quantity (in terms of how much) of education Black people in the United States have access to is directly tied to the production needs of the ruling RCGC. The expansion of educational opportunities in the 1950s and 1960s was directly tied to the economic expansion associated with post-World War II reconstruction. In other words, there was a need for more workers, not only in manufacturing facilities but also in the emerging service industries. The service occupations required levels of education higher than a high school diploma. Thus Affirmative Action policies were created to break down racist-sexist-classist social barriers so that large segments of the U.S. population could quickly enter college, with financial assistance.(to be continued...)

The case for African Centered Education

What does African-Centered education mean in this moment in history? In the past, independent African-centered schools designed and implemented their own curricula reflective of the understanding that African cultures and civilization needed to be at the core of educational experiences. The core academic subjects--math, science, social studies and language arts--were scaffolded around this core...on this foundation.

Increasingly and presently, state-wide curricula and testing establish standards in each discipline (not only the core, but also in other areas). The standards are not necessarily the problem for African-centered education, however; establishing standards and learning benchmarks is important to ensuring that children have met particular learning goals.

Two problems for African-centered educators and institutions are: (1) Black academics, educators and practitioners have not produced curricular materials--curricula, textbooks, workbooks and other materials--for classroom use and professional development. Therefore they have to rely on a combination of textbooks produced by national publishing companies and materials that they either create themselves (individually) or pull from other sources (articles, handouts, books, etc.). (2) The Michigan State Curriculum, and the standardized test reflective of it (MEAP), presents and assesses historically wrong information (e.g., in regard to ancient civilizations) and misinformation as it relates to African and indigenous populations.

Because funding for schools is tied directly to performance on standardized tests, schools and teachers must adopt curricula and use textbooks that prepare students to take this test. Thus educators in African-centered institutions are presented with the quadruple task of preparing lessons with the textbooks that teach to the test (which is reflective of the state curriculum and expectations), correcting historical inaccuracies and misrepresentations where necessary, inserting Black civilization (experiences, lessons, discoveries, etc.) into the existing curriculum, while teaching children how to discern when to recite inaccuract information (during the test) and when to rely upon evidence. Whew!

In addition, parents and families used to send their children to African-centered schools because that is what they wanted for their children. This is no longer the case; people send children to schools that are close, convenient, small and better than other options. So, after all of that, is African-centered education a reality in public/charter education at this moment in history? Or is it a historical remnant of an earlier period? Or is something else going on that deserves focus?

African centered education is needed. Designed and administered properly, ACE prepares Black children to value their humanity, to have dignity and pride, to strive for the very best, to work hard, to build relationships based on integrity and equality and to never give up. The representations of Black people in the media, schools, prisons, etc., present distorted images and conflicting messages. African centered educators strive to not only correct these representations through critical analysis, scientific inquiry and in depth discussions, but also strive to assist children to define their purpose in life and chart the path toward its fulfillment. The foundations of what people will ultimately become are laid during childhood. The very souls of children must be nurtured by people who care about them. And with firm direction delivered with love, African centered educators deliver high quality academic preparation.