Use Your Difference to Make a Difference

13Education

The last institution that I will tackle in the perpetuation section is education. A majority of education today places emphasis solely on academics. Who had the highest scores? Who failed and who passed?

I think that's a mistake.

Education shouldn't just be academic. It should also foster emotional, interpersonal, and cognitive development—which means that as institutions, education should create an environment of critical thinking as opposed to indoctrination. How else do we prepare people for the world out there?

Like I said, other than workplaces, we spend most of our lives in an educational institution of some sort. Let's revisit the curricula. I believe that, in addition to traditional academic topics, the following topics should be covered: history, social justice, tolerance, and anti-bias. Let's start off with history.

History

Before I dive in, here are my thoughts on how we have handled history in the form of a poem.

History Doesn't Have to Be a Mystery

History doesn't have to be a mystery.

And yet it is for so many.

I watch as lost stories of identity are trapped in misery.

Efforts to improve representation are silenced by fragility.

Because to do that means taking accountability and since no one wants to face culpability, we teach a watered-down version of history that doesn't offend the majority.

Marginalized groups are made to think their origins are from oppression and that they did so little in terms of contribution.

So the cycle goes on and on, ...