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1A Foundational Framework1PARTHistorical Perspectives on Schooling: A Legacy of Inclusion and ExclusionEducational Philosophy1122CHAPTERSHuerta 978-0-618-5625-8/10007Ch01-A56255-001-030.indd 1Ch01-A56255-001-030.indd 1 8/30/07 10:05:42 AM8/30/07 10:05:42 AM2CHAPTER1Historical Perspectives Informing the Schooling of a Diverse SocietyA Legacy of Inclusion and Exclusion FIRST PERSONAnyone Can Make It in America, but Not AloneIn this textbook, I begin each chapter with a personal narrative to help frame the content with examples from my own experiences relevant to education, teaching, and community life. I began my career 20 years ago after having attended both Catholic and public schools within diverse communities in Los Angeles County. Neither of my parents was able to attend college. In fact, my mother, having grown up in the mining town of Silver City, New Mexico, attended a segregated Mexican grade school up to the eighth grade. Yes, my maternal grandparents were among those who provided cheap immigrant mine labor and housecleaning.In 1932, my father moved from San Antonio, Texas (where his mother attended a Spanish-language Catholic school), to California, where he attended Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles when the school population was predominantly Jewish American. My parents’ fi rst language, Spanish, was not allowed in the schools they attended, and neither had the opportunity to attend college. They recall being hit by their teachers or having their mouths “washed out with soap” if they got caught speaking Spanish.Nevertheless, my “produce man” father and “household manager” mom were able to provide my three brothers and me with motivation and “just enough” opportunities to receive the sampling of college experience that helped prepare us for future careers. Although I was the only member of my family to formally fi nish college and complete a PhD (in educational policy), today all of my brothers have succeeded in business or in civil service fi elds.The personal sacrifi ces my parents made were simple, yet solidifying for us as a Mexican American family living in Los Angeles during the 1960s and 1970s. My brothers and I were able to attend school- and community-based activities, such as after-school sports, to go occasionally to YMCA summer camp, or to take $5 music lessons. Inside our rental houses in L.A. could be found newspapers, library cards, a phonograph that played 33s and 78s, a little CHAPTER OBJECTIVES● Readers will be introduced to the con-tributions of the Greeks and Europeans to philosophy and to our concepts of civic duty and schooling.● Readers will understand how American educational goals were heavily infl u-enced by the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, and by the senator, social reformer, and educator Horace Mann.● Readers will explore the educational histories of African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans in the United States.● Readers will understand the impact of immigration on the nature of public schooling today.Huerta 978-0-618-5625-8/10007Ch01-A56255-001-030.indd 2Ch01-A56255-001-030.indd 2 8/30/07 10:05:45 AM8/30/07 10:05:45 AM3sewing machine, an even smaller black-and-white TV, a used Sears washer, and at any given time, a dog or a cat.We also had, of course, culture and familia. Spanish was often in the air, especially when my parents sought to teach us something valuable or when they tried to con-ceal secrets. Spanish was the language of grandparents, uncles, aunts, and extended families. Canciones Mexicanos, mariachi music, and even the bossa novas of Brazilian Antonio Carlos Jobim were the soundtracks of many family gatherings. Holidays and birthdays were made festive by tamale making and champurrado (a thick, Mexican hot chocolate) tasted from a clay pot, homemade chili salsa critiqued by the family experts, and the secrets ingredients of homemade chorizo seldom divulged to outsiders. As a child, I also remember my mother chastising my brothers and me for not speaking enough Spanish in the house.There was politica, as well. My father and uncles all served in the U.S. military during World War II or in Korea and were proud and saddened by their experiences. We were all labor union families whose youngest members all aspired to join a union. During the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, our families lived mostly among African Americans and other Mexican Americans. As a child, I recall seeing in the dis-tance the smoke from the Watts Riots in South Central L.A. I remember driving past the burned-out remains of the Silver Dollar Saloon, where Los Angeles Times journalist Ruben Salazar was killed by L.A. county sheriffs as he reported about the Vietnam protest during the Chicano Moratorium. I remember feeling afraid of these things as a child—but also being curious why they were happening. Our families protected us from being directly involved in these contexts, and yet, at the same time, even as kids, we knew that somehow we already were.Initially, schooling meant discipline. During my early years at Transfi guration Catholic School, we were uniformed, held to strict classroom management by black and white nuns and lay teachers and taught to read, write, study our catechism and, yes, confess our sins. This school was located in South Central L.A., where the vast majority of stu-dents were African American. Later, we would move to a small suburb east of East L.A., Alhambra, whose public school populations were increasingly Latino/a but mostly white. Playgrounds were defi nitely better than my South Central school, with a grass fi eld, basketball courts with chain nets, and an asphalt kickball diamond. There were more books to read and a once-a-week music program. A separate school auditorium was a huge, amazing space to me, as were school cafeterias with stainless steel counters.With the exception of two Japanese American teachers, all of my instructors were Euro-American during my middle and high school years. Meanwhile, the Alhambra community became increasingly Latino and Asian—the result of “brown” and “yellow” fl ight from neighboring East L.A. and Monterey Park.Gang activity emerged, and one of my brothers got recruited. My mother steamed and threatened to leave the house if my brother did not change. A brush with the law and a graze of a bullet eased his engagement with the gang per se, although he


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EVERGREEN MIT 2010 - Historical Perspectives

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