“OMGGG! Wow, You Know Spanish?!?”// “You’re in America, Speak English.”

I absolutely do not think that it would be possible to philosophize about education without addressing race, especially not in America. Different countries have systems of inequality and oppression that are based on different aspects some are money, some are gender, some are race, and a lucky few have a smorgasbord of all of them. In America race has been the elephant in the room since slavery was abolished. If we were to pursue a philosophy of education that didn’t include race we would be just as effective as the people who aren’t racist because they are “colorblind”. I think a large part of someone’s identity comes from their race, it’s part of what makes them special and its also part of what unites people. In my high school there were a ton of different clubs that focused on a cultural identity of a group of people from a certain area and fell under a certain race category. The amount of pride that came out of the Asian American Youth Group’s annual performance using culturally relevant dances, songs, and costumes was overwhelming. The African American Youth Group helped unite students by sharing the stories of their family’s ancestry from Africa. I think there was so much growth for these students in these groups because they were able to find pride and create something special using what mattered to them culturally. That can be a pretty big challenge when the dominant culture tries to shut you down for the most part. Race and culture walk hand in hand and I think most people would agree that it would be downright ignorant not to have an culturally relevant education.

Today we are in Andahuaylillas, (believe me it’s as hard to pronounce that name as it is to spell it) and we visited another Fe y Alegría school. We are very high up in the mountains right now, altitude at an all-time high of my existence. This means a few things… First, one flight of stairs will leave you as out of breath as the pacer test. Second, there are students who, believe it or not, live up there and have to walk for 3 hours to school. Third, socks made out of llama wool are only 5 soles, so I bought 12 pairs. And finally, there is a heavy emphasis on being intercultural focusing on Quechua and Castellano. Quechua is the culture/ language/ people of the olden days, back in Incan times. After being colonized, Spaniards tried to take over and get rid of all of their culture and even the people. The Shining Path (Terrorist Group who had basically no purpose aside from genocide for the sake of genocide) tried to destroy the culture that remained and by doing so, created a lasting negative sanction for the Quechua language and culture. Yet, here they are. The goal of this school is to help bring pride back into the Quechua community by teaching them how to follow their ancestors’ ways but also to integrate some of the dominant Castellano culture as well. For the people of Peru, it would be impossible to ignore the history of the Quechua people in their philosophy of education because it would further isolate the people instead of uniting them. In the same way, it would be impossible for America to ignore the role of race in our history of education as well as of America in general.

Inequality basically frames the purpose of our educational system, it shows us what different communities need and it inspires us to formulate goals that would move our communities forward. As teachers, it is our job to be constantly taking note of what makes each culture unique and incorporating things into our lessons that are relevant to all of our students. This helps keep the students engaged and it also shows them that they belong in the classroom regardless of what makes them different. Before we left for Peru, we read about some of this countries past and the constant hardships that the Quechua speaking people have suffered through the years. This helped put into perspective why there is such an importance on helping the people to regain pride in who they are as a community. For so long they were told that the essence of their culture was wrong and they should reject it, and finally they are being prompted to find pride in who they are as a people. This has been a big difference that I have noticed since coming to Cusco, especially while we were up in the mountains. Back in Lima, most people have assimilated to the dominant culture, “Peru has been a country in which language differences sharply reinforce social stratification (English is Like the Dollar, 124). (FYI I personally have no room to judge so I hope that it doesn’t seem as though I am judging right now) they have done whatever it takes to try and have the best life for their families and their children. To do so, they have had to focus a lot more on perfecting their Spanish language skills and advancing into working on their English language skills. They have had to focus more on obtaining jobs that will provide money instead of focusing on the rituals of their indigenous ancestors. I do not think this is a bad thing, its just a different way of life than the people here in Cusco.

One of the main issues for the Education system in Cusco is that the standards for education are set by people based in Lima. We find this in the US as well, a lot of the lower SES families don’t have the time or recourses to teach their children the SAT/ACT vocabulary words that other families can. It’s basically like that but to another extreme because while people in Lima are focused on English, the people of Cusco living in the mountains are focused on Quechua. I don’t think there is any right or wrong way to learn, both ways are fantastic and help inspire children to achieve success in different ways. I simply believe that there is an issue with the standards that the government sets and expects the students in the mountains to reach when they have completely different background knowledge skills. I’ll tie this into the article that I read and lead in discussion, Dual- Language Immersion Programs: A Cautionary Note, one of the best elements of having a dual language immersion program is that the students have interpersonal exchanges. This creates more connections between the students and gives them the chance to speak with each other in a more informal way. The main issue here is the power that comes with language and if it is ethical to give the privileged students another upper hand in the world. It further aids the native English speaking students, who are given so much praise for learning another language, “At this particular school, the anglophone children recieve a great deal of publicity and praise from both majority and minority teachers, from school district administrators, from members of the school board and from the media for acquiring Spanish-language skills” (393). None of the Spanish speaking students were praised for learning English, instead it is expected. Because when you are in America, you have to speak English right? For their own protection from ignorant a**holes in grocery stores and in order to succeed in any way in this country. So… do we continue to push for dual-language immersion programs and amp up the privileged while forcing the native Spanish speakers to meet the “expectations”?

… I think I’ve made up my mind, have you?

… … … btw, keep in mind its still not my job to “find the solution” to the problems of inequality and injustice in the education system (both universally as well as in the US or Peru), but you better believe its my job to identify the problems and call them out.