Afrocentric Education

Given the increasing interest in African-centered education as a viable alternative educational strategy, the present study, growing out of the African American Immersion Schools Evaluation Project, provides an important demonstration of the movement from theoretical discussions of the potential benefits of African-centered education to its practice and measurable outcomes in urban public schools. The similarities between Milwaukee and other urban schools districts indicate that the findings from this study should have wide applicability.

Was Socrates black? How about Cleopatra? Was Greece colonized by Egypt? As absurd as these claims seem, they, and other "truths" are being taught to college students across the country. In "Not Out of Africa", Lefkowitz debunks the claims made by the Afrocentric movement, presenting a fascinating and scholarly look at these myths and explaining why they have propagated despite an overwhelming lack of real evidence. Illustrations.

Leading African American scholars examine the often neglected cultural context in research and policy development in African American higher education in this collection of essays. Past research has most often been conducted by individuals unfamiliar with the historical and cultural considerations of specific ethnic groups. Therefore, the outcomes of research and the development of programs have been based on deficit models, that is, what is wrong with African Americans, or what they cannot achieve. The book examines the questions; what is the relationship between African Americans' culture and experiences, and how should their culture be integrated into research and practice? How do African Americans' intra- and interrelations differ in higher education? How does understanding African American culture as it relates to higher education research enhance policy-making and practice? What role do HBUCs play in African Americans' participation in higher education? What are the policy and practice implications of,past and current research? Scholars and practitioners of education, culture and race relations will find this collection informative and interesting.

An examination of the philosophical assumptions, theoretical currents, and conceptual foundations of multicultural education and multiculturalism. The author identifies profound weaknesses in both projects, and presents an alternative proposal for educational reform and social change that stresses the development of students' critical-thinking skills.

Why is education policy so contentious? Do conflicts over specific issues in schooling have anything in common? Are there general principles that can help us resolve these disputes? In this book the authors find the source of many debates over schooling in the multiple goals and internal contradictions of the national ideology we call the American dream. They also propose a framework for helping Americans get past acrimonious debates in order to help all children learn. The American Dream and the Public Schools examines issues that have excited and divided Americans for years, including desegregation, school funding, testing, vouchers, bilingual education, multicultural education, and ability grouping. These seem to be separate problems, but much of the contention over them comes down to the same thing--an apparent conflict, rooted in the American dream, between policies designed to promote each student's ability to pursue success and those designed to insure the good of all students or the nation as a whole. The authors show how policies to promote individual success too often benefit only those already privileged by race or class, and too often conflict, unnecessarily, with policies that are intended to benefit everyone. The book also examines issues such as creationism and Afrocentrism, where the disputes lie between those who attack the validity of the American dream and those who believe that such a challenge has no place in the public schools. At the end of the book, the authors examine the impact of our nation's rapid racial and ethnic transformation on the pursuit of all of these goals, and they propose ways to make public education work better to help all children succeed and become the citizens we need.

This text for preservice and in-service education courses provides a brief, yet comprehensive overview of a number of non-western approaches to educational thought and practice.