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The
Case For Appalachian Studies
page 18
The educational system's process of credentialzing fails to recognize
that the experiences of young people in the coal camps of Appalachia
teach them to wrestle more successfully with real human problems and the
demands of their lives than does the very sterile experience of
middle-class youngsters and the artificial world of suburbs and
affluence.
Thus, the propensity of teachers and the educational system to
"culturally enrich" our "culturally deprived"
Appalachians is unsound. This approach has dealt not so much with
why there are such disparities between the child and the school system,
but with all means to eliminate the cultural differences of the
child. Treating cultural differences as negative traits which must
be schooled out of the child causes irreparable damage to his
self-esteem and pride. What many fail to realize is that the
actual deprivation is on the part of the educational system because it
is not prepared to present these children with materials and
environments and teachers conducive and complementary to the differences
of their unique cultural identities and life styles.
A sympathetic Appalachian studies curriculum would enable the public
school students of the region to achieve greater insight into themselves
and sharper awareness of the problems and opportunities in the region.
College students also should have an opportunity to develop a keen sense
of their own identity as well as a sensitivity to Appalachian problems.
As it is, however, the Appalachian young person does not have to go to
Cincinnati or Chicago to experience "culture shock" and
conflict. Even our regional colleges somewhat understandably see
their role as processing their native raw material into a product
capable of functioning in Mainstream America. No institution of
American society, in fact, is more divorced from Appalachia than the
higher educational system which resides within it.
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