NPR’s Code Switch recently lauded a group of parents and educators for their efforts to start a new kind of school. Students will fulfill an English credit with a prayer journey to the Black Hills. They'll earn a biology credit on a buffalo hunt, and history lessons will be presented by the reservation’s elders. This school had an uphill battle to face for sure - physically building the school, securing funding, etc. But here was the striking message - These parents, unlike other parents, deserved to build a school around the ways they wanted to teach their children rather than the ways the public school system wanted to teach. So, why is it okay in this circumstance for parents to “know best,” but in other situations, parents are entitled and overbearing?
The line that stuck out in this article was this one, “What do you do when all your options for school kind of suck?” The people of Standing Rock Reservation are not the only people who feel this way, so why are they the only ones allowed to say it in the open? Certainly, for years, there have been numerous issues with education on reservations, as we previously discussed in this post. But the people of Standing Rock Reservation are interested in the ways this new school’s education strategies,”...will transform the way that the next generation of students understand their traditions, identities, and themselves.”
Conversations concerning traditions and identities are the topics stirring and disrupting education policy right now. On either side of the aisle, parents and educators feel strongly about what gives students confidence and what makes them feel safe and loved at school. So, why not support education opportunities that allow for students and parents to find the best fit for their “traditions and understandings of themselves?” Why not let their families and “elders” have a say in their future rather than letting their neighborhood determine their school and understanding of themselves? Consider parental control in education from the lens of a Standing Rock parent, and consider policies that support them and all students.
Image by Jimmy Emerson