Reporter Volume 25, No.6 October 7, 1993

By Chris Shea
Reporter Contributor

Each evening, Americans cringe while viewing newscasts carrying
graphic images of death and desolation in a land devoid of humanity
and toleranceQthe land that used to be Yugoslavia.
	Yet, some of the same attitudes, values and actions that
surround civil war in the former Balkan republic also can be found in
the United States' system of education, says Maxine Greene, a
professor of education and philosophy at Teacher's College, Columbia
University.
	Greene, who presented the first in a series of lectures
sponsored by the Charlotte C. Acer Endowment for Colloquia on Urban
Education, spoke last Thursday about the need to move our educational
system toward a philosophy of "new pluralism," an approach "where
stereotypes and labels are scorned and students are allowed to develop
their true identities in environments of diversity and equal regard
for all cultures."
	To fully develop one's identity and to become a complete and
equal participant in society, a student must be regarded as a
constantly evolving individual who is the sum of many parts, Greene
said before a crowd of about 130 in UB's Center for Tomorrow. In many
cases, however, this doesn't happen; instead, children today are
viewed as mere replicas of the larger ethnic, racial or religious
group to which they belong.
	Greene, born and raised in Brooklyn, used her own life as an
example of her philosophy. "As an educator, a woman, a mother and a
member of a minority group, I exist at an intersection of so many
forces," she said. "No one today is just one category. To be human is
to become continually involved in being different."
	Yet when large groups of diverse people come together, as in
our nation's schools, tension develops.
	"A student's identity is always being negotiated," Greene
said. "People always must ask themselves 'How much of my culture can I
keep?' and 'How much do I have to give up?'"
	This tension, Greene said, is especially apparent in minority
students, who usually have to give up more of their backgrounds to
conform. Yet ironically, since they are in the minority, they often
feel it more necessary to cling to their culture. 
	The result, as evidenced by many of our nation's schools , is
the development of a fatalistic attitude. Students, unable to feel
free and comfortable enough to fully express who they are, just give
up and withdraw, according to Greene.
	"They become invisible," she said.
	With the feelings of "invisibility" come feelings of
"irresponsibility," explained Greene, author of more than 100 articles
on educational philosophy and literature. A student in this situation
feels as if his or her stake in the community is lost. As a result,
the student no longer feels accountable to or responsible for what
goes on in that community.
	Stressing a pluralistic approach does not mean students'
cultural backgrounds are de-emphasized, Greene said. A pluralistic
system involves teachers and educators instilling a critical attitude
toward stereotypes and other labels. This way, regard is given to an
individual's culture, but it is seen as only one of many facets that
make up a person's identity.
	"It's important to remember the distinctness of each person,
even when trying to do justice for a large group of people," said
Greene, who holds a master's degree and a doctorate in education from
New York University.
	Greene advocated using journal writing and literature to
foster students' abilities to engage in self-examination, and to give
students "a sense of wonder about the particularities of human nature"
through different characters and stories.
	Greene criticized the current movement in education toward
voluntarily segregated schools, single-sex schools and schools
featuring a curriculum exclusively focused on a particular cultural
background, as is the case with a few "Afro-centric" schools that have
developed in cities around the country.
	"These (types of schools) are a reaction to despair."
	Only when students learn to communicate and to view others
based on who they are and what they are striving to become will it be
possible for young people to develop an identity and for schools to
function as a community, she said.
	And while that U.S. probably doesn't have to worry too much
about ending up like the former Yugoslavia, Greene emphasized, its
residents do need to give more thought to the concepts of diversity,
identity and the future of our nation's youth.