Living Values vs. Ashay

The Living Values character education programme that has been piloted at three primary schools appears to have been a big success. According to Education Minister Terry Lister, student office referrals dropped by 80% within the first year. Moreover, parents and other interested parties can view information about the programme online, including copies of the student workbooks. As a result of its success, the programme will be rolled out to six more schools in March.

Compare this with the Ashay Rites of Passage programme, another character education programme, which the Ministry of Education (MoE) has been piloting at Dellwood Middle School.

Last year I raised several concerns about the Ashay student workbook:

• The Government refused to make copies publicly available (I had to get one from an alternative source).
• It was written with the expectation that the reader was black, even though the programme was also being taught to white children.
• It advocated reparations be paid for slavery, instead of presenting a balanced viewpoint.

My concerns were never addressed.

Towards the end of last year I learned that the MoE intends to roll out the Ashay programme to all Government middle schools in September 2006. To aid in this, the Ministry has been seeking additional teachers to train as instructors.

On hearing this, I wrote to Maxine Esdaille, the MoE’s Senior Education Officer in charge of the curriculum. I asked if any changes had been made to the programme as taught at Dellwood, and whether I could now see a copy of the latest student workbook. I did not receive a reply.

Why the continued secrecy about the Ashay programme when information about Living Values is so freely available? What metrics are there of the Ashay programme's success? How did student office referrals change at Dellwood in the first year Ashay was taught there? What justification is there for now expanding Ashay to the other middle schools?

Comments

[Steve on 26.01.06 at 00:12]

You know....who gives a F##k...

That's the problem...

[Combat Banker on 26.01.06 at 08:31]

You really want to be # 1 on Eva's sh*** list, don't you?

Winding up old fogies aside... All of these programmes are well and good (ASSUMING Ashay does not stray into militant thinking, as I have never seen it I have no idea) but the only way to get a child to truely excel at school is the parents. If parents don't support the child, help them with their homework, are interested in what they do after school etc etc, all of this will just be a waste of time. A childs sense of morality will be INFLUENCED by the school, but will be CREATED by watching their parents, and how their mother and father deal with everyday life. As Bermudians we need to ask ourselves, are our kids failing in school & dooming themselves to mediocraty in Bermudas economy because our schools are inadquate, or because we have not spent enough time with our children?

Not easy with the cost of living here, as I know Lots of people with two jobs jsut to pay the rent, but I think this is the root of the problem, not Ashay or Living Values.

[sandgrownan on 26.01.06 at 08:51]

It seems to me that Ashay, given my limited knowledge of the program, as exactly the sort of bollocks that perpetuates the racial divide.

[denning on 26.01.06 at 09:22]

Leave aside the whole Ashay debate for a moment - I've just had a quick look at this Living Values program and from what I've seen it looks fantastic! This is something that every kid in the world, never mind Bermuda, can benefit from. Exactly the kind of hands on, step by step, practical and effective advice that so many parents are looking for. Have a look, parents - in the ten minutes I spent on their website this morning, I picked up three parenting techniques that I plan to try. It's way better than "Super Nanny".

[Super Nanny on 26.01.06 at 10:26]

"I picked up three parenting techniques that I plan to try. It's way better than "Super Nanny".

Care to share the techniques?

[Silencio on 26.01.06 at 11:17]

This is &^@$!. You mean to tell me that members of the public are not able to review the curriculum? I'd say that this is one for the ombudsman. Chalk up another PLP win for screwing over the public education system.

[SmokingGun on 26.01.06 at 11:48]

I would seriously question the reasoning behind not being very public and open about what the Ashay curriculum teaches. If you are going to send your child to a school surely you would want to have an indepth knowledge of what they are learning. The Living Values program sounds like it is a success. Ashay may have great value but why shoot oneself in the foot with the way it's handled.

[It Does Matter on 26.01.06 at 14:23]

I think the government should allow the public to view Ashay. And they should be honest as to why it is being implemented in most of the Island's schools. The government should not be ashamed to stand beside their decision.

It is about time that Bermuda got a programme which favoured black thought. If that also includes painting reparations in a favourable light, then so be it. I'm for reparations too. That doesn't mean that I expect money. It means I expect real effort from whites, economically and socially, to reverse the effects of their ancestors's racist practices. Having black kids tuned into this is not a bad thing.

Far worse is having black kids believe they are only constrained by the extent of their efforts. That is a falsity we discovered a little too long ago to still be fooled.

It is ludicrous for anybody to suggest that this is an unbalanced programme. In the light of the slop that has long been taught to blacks in schools, there should be no comment. This is tremendously beneficial.

Nobody complains when history favours Europe. Nobody complains when black history is whitewashed and spun. And nobody should complain when black students are finally provided with another perspective.

The amount of white's who utilise the Bermuda public-school system are too minimal to outweight the importance of this goal.

What goal you may ask? To breed black children into a new consciousness. A consciousness that is not dominated by white-society, white-money, and white-beliefs. I dont expect white people to find the Ashay programme good. Quite contrary.

But I didn't find what I was taught good either. And I don't think it would be beneficial for my kids to be taught the same drivel.

If you can support teaching only the "whitewash-curriculum" then YOU ARE perpetuating the racial divide. By pushing your racism onto the shoulders of somebody else, you do nothing more than expose you're true colours.

[tong on 26.01.06 at 15:55]

God damn,
this IS the issue at had, Ashay from what I can gather teaches a very aggressive Afrocentric curriculum, this is as unbalanced as a European only History lesson. This is eye for an eye thinking, not progressive and not in the name of bringing people together. What is needed is a course of study that brings together our mutual history here, as well as an overview of global history. Anything else is doing a diservice to our children and our future.
Does it help the Govt to have an educated youth who can understand both our culture and the large glocal culture... maybe not, cuz they'd be out of a job. Govt based on promotion of one view doesn't work for anyone regardless of colour.

[Raptor on 26.01.06 at 16:26]

The Living Values program focuses on:

• Cooperation
• Freedom
• Happiness
• Honesty
• Humility
• Love
• Peace
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Simplicity
• Tolerance
• Unity

It’s public, but the Ashay program isn’t. All that tells me is that the Ashay program can’t measure up to some of the above. I agree with “It Does Matter” that the public should be allowed to view Ashay.

It we all taught our kids basic good-human-thought, like these values, we wouldn’t need a program such as Ashay, which has to be kept secret.

Limey wasn’t objecting to reparations so much as he was objecting to it not being discussed! It’s a big issue, deserving of thorough examination. All Bermudian children should be able to examine issues like this.

Actually, I complained when history favoured Europe/Britain. I believed Bermuda and black history should be taught in Bermuda public and private schools. There is a difference between teaching and indoctrination, however. Indoctrination locks in students’ minds. Bermudian children need to be prepared for the new economy, the global economy, with critical thinking skills and knowledge. Ashay does not seem to be teaching them to think for themselves.

What “It Does Matter” was taught in school (“drivel”) was probably just as boring and distorted as what I was taught. I did not respect it then; I don't respect it now--but best I can tell most of that is behind us. I did not make up those curricula. However, we’re now talking today, not back then. I guess it can't be said enough: many many white Bermudians believe in fairness, equality, and righting wrongs where possible.

[It Does Matter on 26.01.06 at 17:04]

I never denied that there are many whites who believe in notions of fairness, equality and respect. That has never been my position.

The way I see it the Living Values programme has much beneficial qualities. Why can that good programme not be supplemented by another programme which enlightens students about their history, and their ancestors's thought processes? What is the true problem?

Indoctrination IS different from imparting knowledge.

Unfortunately, the way the World's education system works now is one of indoctrination. It just so happens that black students are being indoctrinated to believe that white-thought and white-society are more beneficial.

Because of this, Black and White kids need a counterbalance. It is not possible for me to speak extensively about Ashay. I know little of it. I have assumed it's objectives.

We should not be quick to call a programme indoctrination because it doesn't accord with the time-tested doctrines of old. And it is not racist to teach Afrocentric thought. As long as the thoughts taught don't suggest that Black is better than White, and vice versa.

What I would like to see is simple: Black children and White children being made to think for themselves. Being able to evaluate a range of evidence and forming conclusions accordingly. Not believing they must accord to popular belief. Those things are unhealthy if promoted.

Living in Bermuda, you cannot avoid European culture. You can't avoid entering "Hamilton" and "Sandys". You can't avoid an economic system sculpted by Europeans. You can't avoid a history littered with the travails of White men.

Blacks deserve their history too. They deserve to read and analyze the philosophies of their people. They deserve to understand the system they live in, by criticising that system where necessary.

These are not bad things. And because they are not bad, the government should never balk from stating this view in the public domain. Anybody who dares challenge the government for providing a counterbalance should be looked at with immense skepticism.

[SmokingGun on 26.01.06 at 19:36]

By the looks of it Living Values trumps Ashay. If Ashay is to be taught it should done so with principles of LV firmly guiding it. If anyone feels that Ashay can only be taught in the "context" of how it's being presented today then I am afraid the vast majority of Bermudians will not support it.

The cynic in me thinks someone's making a good buck of off it so they want to control how it's handled.

[The Limey on 27.01.06 at 08:15]

It Does Matter

First you say

It is about time that Bermuda got a programme which favoured black thought. If that also includes painting reparations in a favourable light, then so be it. I'm for reparations too.

then you say

What I would like to see is simple: Black children and White children being made to think for themselves. Being able to evaluate a range of evidence and forming conclusions accordingly.

You can't have both. If you are going to teach kids to think for themselves, you need to teach them both sides of an issue. With reparations, if you're not going to be honest about the reasons many whites are opposed to reparations (because of the logistical impossibility of deciding who's entitled to what), then you're not putting those kids in a position where they can evaluate the pros and cons.

Moreover, I think that the opinions of the teacher should largely be kept out of lessons in the same way that the opinions of a journalist should be kept out of news stories that they write. Their job is to present facts and let their audience decide.

It's also important to remember that Ashay is not intended to be a history class. It is considered character education and is not part of the social studies curriculum (which contrary to popular belief, does now seem to include just as much African history as European history, especially at the senior school level). Discussing reparations in a character education class seems about as appropriate as discussing intelligent design in science.

Nevertheless we agree that the Government should be more open about the programme and should not be afraid to explain why it's necessary.