Like the workplace, school becomes the first or only place where some students, teachers, counselors, principals and others encounter a diverse and varied society. That presents opportunities for enlightenment — and potential for misunderstanding.
The announcement on November 20, 1969 from 89 American Indians – mostly students from colleges and universities – that they were taking over Alcatraz Island, set in motion what would become the longest occupation of a federal facility by Native Americans to date. This report aired a year later on NBC News, in December 1970, six months before the occupation ended.
Acts of censorship in education perpetuated by a small group with concentrated power go against the principles outlined in the United States Constitution.
Matthew Swoveland is an educator at Roca, an organization that works with very high risk young people in Chelsea, Mass. He is passionate about education as a key element in the reintegration of young people after gang involvement and incarceration. He has taught everything from classical Greek tragedy to a history of cheese in the western world. Above all, he believes in the power of relationships to transform the ways we process information, build meaning, and relate with others.