That seems to be at least a reasonable minimum. Are there broader cultural values and customs that should be
taught
I intended my list of things to be taught to be exhaustive.
If kids learn to be respectful, or at least tolerant, of what others bring to the table and they have thinking and communication skills, they can learn the rest without being taught it. We also avoid the problem of deciding which values to teach if we teach only those values that are necessary to maintain a good learning environment.
Currently, too few people make distinctions among facts, theories, myths, premises, beliefs, ideas, observations, superstitions, etc., etc. This includes teachers and parents as well as kids. Many can't analyze their way out of a paper bag. Only facts and generally accepted theories should be taught in school. Kids should be *exposed* to the rest of it along with the skills to analyze for themselves. This way we can both avoid cultural wars and educate our kids at the same time. Education is as much about what you don't teach as what you do. If parents want to try to inculcate their kids with their own beliefs, superstitions, and half-baked ideas they're free to do so. Schools, the representatives of society, shouldn't steer clear.
As for assimilation, I don't see why any overt effort would be necessary, assuming it is desirable and assuming we even know what "Americanize" is. Educated, reasonable people, left to their own devices, will end up close enough to allow a workable society to exist. In America, that society will be American.
Karen |
