"I'm not agreeing with the director, but I think the official answer would be 'the proper forum is in Social Studies, during our unit on Race Relations.'"
Life is a paragraph, not a dictionary.
To call the young girl's experiment sociological and relegate it to a Social Studies class misses the point in my opinion. Her science fair entry possessed all the attributes of the scientific method. You're right in that it wasn't a how-long-does-it-take-hand-soap-to-dissolve-in-tap -water experiment. I guess that one would be viewed as "classic science".
The point, though, is: Was the experiment performed with the purpose of offending? Was the original experiment performed by Dr. Clark in the 1950's intended to offend or illuminate? If I knew the experiment at issue was being performed by the child of a neo-Nazi, then yes, I might be suspicious that the purpose was more to prove a point than to uncover facts. But does that really apply in this case?
To argue whether an 8 year old girl can execute an experiment which will conform to and be accepted by the larger World scientific community as "valid science" is absurd. The purpose of the science fair was to encourage scientific enquiry and the following through of a process. Even experiments which are done poorly are allowed into science fairs. No, the issue has nothing whatsoever to do with science or racism or anything even close. It has to do with fear. Fear on the part of the staff at Mesa Elementary School. Nothing more than that.
I recall an incident when I was in school where a boy was sent home for wearing a tee shirt that looked like an American Flag.
I must admit I'm not an expert in all this. I've been an engineer, a scientist, a research director, and of late have judged elementary school science fairs for the past 4 years.
But I'm also a human being.
The experiment performed by the young lady in question echoes the original performed by Dr. Kenneth Clark and his wife back in the mid 1950's. Dr. Clark was an African-American psychologist, teacher, and activist. His goal, as I understand it, was to reveal the extent to which young African-American children based their own self worth upon their relationship to "white" culture.
Dr. Clark's experiment was also a key element in the historic Brown vs. Board of Education trial.
The experiment was a positive thing, not a racist one. It revealed an unfortunate truth which needed attention.
To call the little girl's experiment "racist" is a knee jerk reaction of the third kind. If everything that might possibly offend someone were removed from elementary school textbooks, all our kids would be studying three-page pamphlets.
My heart goes out to the child and her parents. I hope a way is found to convince her that she's done nothing wrong and everything right. If she's learned anything it's that the designers of the wheels of bureaucracy still don't uinderstand the concept of "round".
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"I'm not agreeing with the director, but I think the official answer would be 'the proper forum is in Social Studies, during our unit on Race Relations.'"
p -water experiment. I guess that one would be viewed as "classic science".
Life is a paragraph, not a dictionary.
To call the young girl's experiment sociological and relegate it to a Social Studies class misses the point in my opinion. Her science fair entry possessed all the attributes of the scientific method. You're right in that it wasn't a how-long-does-it-take-hand-soap-to-dissolve-in-ta
The point, though, is: Was the experiment performed with the purpose of offending? Was the original experiment performed by Dr. Clark in the 1950's intended to offend or illuminate? If I knew the experiment at issue was being performed by the child of a neo-Nazi, then yes, I might be suspicious that the purpose was more to prove a point than to uncover facts. But does that really apply in this case?
To argue whether an 8 year old girl can execute an experiment which will conform to and be accepted by the larger World scientific community as "valid science" is absurd. The purpose of the science fair was to encourage scientific enquiry and the following through of a process. Even experiments which are done poorly are allowed into science fairs. No, the issue has nothing whatsoever to do with science or racism or anything even close. It has to do with fear. Fear on the part of the staff at Mesa Elementary School. Nothing more than that.
I recall an incident when I was in school where a boy was sent home for wearing a tee shirt that looked like an American Flag.
Must we return to those days?
I must admit I'm not an expert in all this. I've been an engineer, a scientist, a research director, and of late have judged elementary school science fairs for the past 4 years.
But I'm also a human being.
The experiment performed by the young lady in question echoes the original performed by Dr. Kenneth Clark and his wife back in the mid 1950's. Dr. Clark was an African-American psychologist, teacher, and activist. His goal, as I understand it, was to reveal the extent to which young African-American children based their own self worth upon their relationship to "white" culture.
Dr. Clark's experiment was also a key element in the historic Brown vs. Board of Education trial.
The experiment was a positive thing, not a racist one. It revealed an unfortunate truth which needed attention.
To call the little girl's experiment "racist" is a knee jerk reaction of the third kind. If everything that might possibly offend someone were removed from elementary school textbooks, all our kids would be studying three-page pamphlets.
My heart goes out to the child and her parents. I hope a way is found to convince her that she's done nothing wrong and everything right. If she's learned anything it's that the designers of the wheels of bureaucracy still don't uinderstand the concept of "round".