Schools that are neither "woke" nor conservative?

post reply Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

◄ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ► Go

Go to page...

12/28/2022 19:51

Subject: Schools that are neither "woke" nor conservative?

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WIS! Some of the people in the WIS community who are most confused by the concepts of being woke are black foreign nationals from places like France, Ghana, Morocco and Nigeria. Thus, there is highly legitimate, non-racist questioning around woke-ness amongst the parents. Where it comes to the students, the teachers and administrators follow the IB to a T.

There probably is highly legitimate, non-racist questioning about what people like you call “woke-ness”.

So let’s pause for a moment and think seriously about why you had to reach to “black (sic) foreign nationals” to believe that you could find it.

Note: At least some of those people surely realize that without the efforts of the “woke” their children would not legally be able to attend WIS, since prior to the 1970’s schools were racially segregated.

There are 7 billion people on this planet. 300m live in America. That means there are over 6 billion who have no clue what you’re talking about. Some of them move here with a focus on bringing energy or health care to people living in horrific poverty. Truly horrific. They have a desire to see their kids grow up with a world perspective, perspectives that you may be ignorant about. Ignorance is why we have education, and we can want to be educated about different parts of humanity and all be good people.

I got lost counting the weird, vague generalities in your answer. So let's take a look.

1. US media and culture are transmitted by satellite and Internet to every country on the planet. Only a minority are ignorant of US history and society, not 6 billion. Look at movie ticket sales worldwide.

2. Only a tiny minority who come here are involved in aid projects for their home countries. The vast majority in DC and around the US are parents who immigrated for economic opportunity and educational opportunities here. Survey any set of private school parents here.

3. What is "a world perspective" since there are 200 countries and even more languages and cultures in the world, each with its own history and perspective? Anyone who has been to more than a handful of countries knows that.

4. Education about different parts of humanity to be a good person is the foundation of understanding that the world is both a diverse and often unfair place, even moreso in the past than now. That's the ignorance that modern education aims to lift.

So whatever point you were trying to make got VERY lost along the way.

The movie posters are of Tom Cruise. The vast majority of people globally do not know what being woke means to you. The unreciprocated dominance of American culture is highly problematic and merits its own discussion. At a school like WIS where many families have at least one parent who works at an embassy, World Bank or IMF, a great number of families are here to help those who face global inequities and hardships. The world is a vastly unfair place. There are people here whose idea of unfairness only reach the limits of their own country. Outside of it, it gets worse, and there are educations that focus on issues outside the US, and that is good. There are certainly enough educations that are US-centric and raise US-centric Americans who see no problem with American dominance. As for the specific education designed to teach children to learn about this world that has 200 countries, take a look at the WIS curriculum. It is designed to raise globally aware students, and the IB is very unique but thoughtful.