Entry Three: "The Rosa Parks Myth" and "How Do We Teach Slavery"

Teaching children accurately correct historical information has become a hot topic over the past few years. Teachers are becoming more aware of the importance to teach the truth, rather than the scripted narrative that has been provided and taught for years. This change has come because people are more culturally aware of how important it is to recognize and acknowledge everyone's TRUE diversity and TRUE history.

When analyzing the information of what I thought to be the truth regarding Rosa Parks and Abraham Lincon, I came to the realization that I too was taught based on the scripted narrative that carries with it many misconceptions, and it is hard for me to change my schema of the historical information that had since been engraved in my mind since my adolescent years. But, reading the article about Rosa Parks and listening to the podcast "How Do We Teach Slavery" has helped me understand that accurately representing the information to our students is critical.

It is important for our students to know the truth and how things actually happened. We have been taught so many fabricated truths that it is hard to rearrange the information and discard any or all misconceptions, in order to make room for the essential truth.

Entry Two: "A Brief History of Lawns" and "Teaching What Really Happened"

The way in which history has been taught to the American students over the past few decades has left a huge gap in the academic community as well as in their understanding of true American History.

The way in which history has been taught by educators, unknowingly, is weaponized in a sense, in order to keep the oppressed within their lane. The curriculum is tailored to be viewed solely from the European-American perspective, with a few scripted glimpses into the history of slaves, native-Americans, and etc, but without the students getting the whole story. Part of the reason that history continues to be taught this way is due to the fear of what may ensue if the TRUTH gets taught to the masses (minorities).

Entry One: Banking versus Problem-Posing Education

When it comes to education and preparing students' for the upcoming challenges of future academics and the world around them, we need to be confident in our abilities as educators and trust that the students are capable of understanding even the most complex of ideologies.

The education system has seen a huge drift from new and expert teachers alike who opt to teach their students with a purposeful inquiry approach, also called "problem-posing", which focuses on cultivating creative thinkers amongst the students and encourages them to think critically to resolve a problem while allowing students to use various resources and enabling them to take ownership of their learning experience is more beneficial than teaching students to pass a state exam.

Teaching the children to take charge of their learning and ask questions that will expand their knowledge allows for more meaningful discussions. It is through these discussions that the students build their schemas and begins to make meaning of the information that is being presented to them using real-world connections. In the past educators have been so focused on teaching to the test rather than teaching the necessary skills to be successful beyond the classroom and this type of teaching has exhausted both the students and teachers.

Luckily, with the problem-posing approach, educators have been able to engage their students in meaningful discussions and activities that have resulted in lasting outcomes that outweigh any state exam. I strongly believe that in order for a child to be successful their creative and intellectual mind needs to be nurtured, and the only way we can make this a reality is by providing every student with the opportunity to learn something meaningful rather than having them memorize information that is short term.