Precious Knowledge Analysis

In the film Precious Knowledge it showed an Ethnic Studies class in Tucson, Arizona. The main focus of this Ethnic Studies class is to help minorities see that they are more than their stereotypes. It help them recognize that they can graduate highschool and go to college. It displays the classes trying to assimilate to the american culture, but as the film continues it displays several government officials believing that they are trying to maintain pluralism and not assimilate. The government officials want them to assimilate to the american culture, but do it “the american way” not the way they are doing it.

In his “Open Letter to the Citizens of Tucson,” Tom Horne explains why he believes ethnic studies should be banned. Horne explains what happened at the Tucson magnet school when a Republican Latina came to speak. Tom Horne writes, “Her speech was non-partisan and professional, urging students to think for themselves and avoid stereotypes. Yet a small group of La Raza students treated her

Another essential point of the ban of ethnic studies was the Arizona’s Anti-Ethnic Studies Bill, SB 1108 that happened in 2008 (Ochoa & Romero 5). The SB 1108 was related to the House Bill 2281 since they both wanted to prohibit classes that had a voice for people of color. The difference was that SB 1108 did not only wanted to ban classes of different ethnicities but also clubs and organizations such as latino fraternities. The bill did not only wanted to ban the courses and organizations from kinder through 12th grade but all the way to college and university. The only ethnicity who was accepted to have these resources were the Native Americans. The ethnicity they most target was the Mexican students since it is the largest culture and

     Why do some groups not succeed in academic settings? One theory brought up in “Understanding inequality” suggests that the gap in the socioeconomic status drives the inequalities in the school system. The low and working class have less time and income to intervene with schooling. This means they have less time to meet with teachers, hire tutors, and provide continuous transportation. Therefore the lower class can’t possibly compete with the middle and upper classes. Angela Valenzuela gives the accounts of some Hispanic students’ experiences in school. These students feel that it is the inferior nature of the schools in the US that contribute to the low success

From ethnic studies’ early inception at SF State in 1969, by 1993, less than a quarter of a century later, more than 700 ethnic studies programs were created across the United States, most successfully at UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, University of Washington, and University of Colorado - Boulder (Diaz). This serves as an excellent exhibit of the TWLF’s significance as without them the extent of ethnic studies would not be so great, should it have existed at all. “The significance of these strikes was twofold: first, minority students were able to unite in solidarity against institutional Racism, and second, the strikes won concessions in the formation of Ethnic Studies programs that have remained in the forefront of academic change” (“Third World Student Strikes”). The implementation of ethnic studies in school curriculums has had profound impacts on society as a whole, only improving the way with which minorities view and approach the world around them, as it significantly improved minorities’ academic situations.

The film Precious Knowledge takes a deeper look into the defense and fall of the Ethnic Studies program within the Tucson Unified School District. During the standoff, as Arizona lawmakers bombarded the students and educators with threats and false claims. A major question surrounding the film is whether or not this program’s failure was preventable. Jeff Biggers approaches the situation from a politically centralized point of view, having written for The New York Times, The Nation, and The Washington Post, as well as, working with MSNBC's “All In” with Chris Hayes. Biggers writes the review “Arizona’s Precious Knowledge: Blockbuster New Film Chronicles Ethnic Studies Battle” where he looks at the bureaucracy behind the film rather than

Emergence into a new culture requires courage, toppled with humiliation. Despite the energy or the will, unfamiliar territory/language and events present unrelenting and unavoidable tensions. Hispanic students encounter teachers who fail to support them in maintaining aspects of their cultural identity. For some ELL students honoring and respecting another’s culture may diminish some of the struggles these students face.

Mexican Americans in the education system have been treated unfair. From the Mendez v. Westminster to the low number of students graduating from high school and moving to a higher institution shows that the system has done nothing to help these students. By the help of the community wealth theory many of the few numbers of scholars who have been able to reach these higher institutions have been able to put families, schools, peers, and other influences for their benefit and for helping them enter these systems which are not welcoming to them. Various aspects of these systems need to be change from the diversity of teachers and desegregation in and within schools around the US which would influence the communication and thoughts that Mexican

1. What are the main themes, politically and socially, that are portrayed in the film?

In Tucson, Arizona ethnic studies classes caused controversy over what kinds of classes should be allowed in Tucson’s public schools. The Latino population of students was greatly being effected by only a 50% graduation rate. The ethnic studies curriculum was created to engage students with a history from a different cultural viewpoint than what was usually taught in public high school. From the outside of the classroom the opposing forces against ethnic studies believed that the hidden curriculum within the classes was detrimental to students. This was because it was teaching anti-American beliefs along with creating students who would act with rebellious beliefs and racism. From inside the classroom the teachers and students look to their curriculum and insist that their curriculum was more about having courage to examine history, create understanding and respect for one another and one’s self. They believed in looking at problems that the world was facing and not just accepting them but also trying to make a change for the better. The problematic readings were grounded in the courses use of the "Pedagogy of the Oppressed” with ideals that are based in teachings like Marxism.

Immigration has been a part of American history ever since the United States was founded. American schools were built on the foundation of European traditions that have come to be problematic due to the increased number of immigrants from different regions of the world. There have been recent arguments over the quality of education migrants, legal and illegal, are receiving in secondary education. There are various differences amongst legal and illegal immigrants’ education in the United States that are controlled by environmental situations that alter achievement in the classroom. In this decade, what are school administrators doing in secondary education to prepare immigrants students to go to college, when these students are

School hours. Chicanos were dropping out of school and not graduating, only 1 out 4 students were graduating because they were treated unequally. "Mexican American students throughout the Southwest held a 60% high school dropout rate. If they did graduate, they averaged an 8th-grade reading level. Due to Anglo-centric internal school policies, many Chicano students were fielded to vocational training or classes for mentally disabled." The schools would not do anything to help them and made sure they graduated high school. Not many Chicanos were going to college after high school because they were not given the opportunity to go. In school, chicanos were separated from all the students and were given different classes. Instead of getting a class to prepare them for college they would give them classes like

History class is not the only issue among students; the nation’s standardized test also leaves Native students behind their peers. Many questions are “Eurocentric and culturally bias” resulting in many students who have grown in a traditional customs unable to answer the questions (Robertson). Many school curricula does not build on the students strength of the student, it is only if the strength and skill is of the dominate culture that it will get attention (Landsman and Lewis 182).

To begin, a white woman named Erin Gruwell decides to take up teaching at Woodrow Wilson High School two years following the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. She arrives on the first day to find out that her class is full of “at-risk” high school students— some of which are just out of juvenile hall and have very poor grades. These are kids who have segregated themselves into racial groups so badly that they can’t even sit near each other in the same classroom or walk by each other without getting into fights.

There are many ways of discriminating against a minority. It may not be apparent to you that it is going on at FBHS. The Spanish for natives classes, which are not honors, provide an advantage for non-hispanics.