The thrust of the program for many years has been to offer educational enrichment and nutritional fortification to African can American youngsters living in the Skeels and McElrath communities in Ravenna and the young people living in African American neighborhoods in Kent, Ohio. PECS is particularly interested in serving the African American youngsters living in Kent State University's Allerton Apartments.

During the past several years, the Progressive Education Community School has been steadily moving toward the goal of becoming an educational institution in and of itself as opposed to being a tutorial service for the public schools of Kent and Ravenna. The administrators of PECS (most of whom are advanced college students) are more interested in determining for themselves what is taught, what perspective will inform the school's curriculum, who is qualified to teach, and what will constitute the school's relationship with the African American communities from which the children come.

         Goals

This new orientation is not a fundamental redirection of goals, but rather a tactical maneuver. We are now concerned with emphasizing teaching as opposed to tutoring. Tutorials will continue to be held; however, they will not be the primary thrust of our school.

The over all goal of the school:

• To prepare children to struggle effectively in their own best interest and in the interest of African people in general. Therefore, it is necessary that children reach a level of understanding, awareness, and capability that allows them to do so.

• To prepare college students for continued struggle in the nation-building processes of African people as concerned citizens and parents.

• To develop the basic skills and awareness/understanding levels of African American youth and form a strong base for the future growth of public school children into strong men and women.

          General Statement:

The philosophy of our school is based on child development theory that has arisen from many years of experience working with African American children within the Progressive Education Community School as well as outside of the school. It is a theory we believe applies to children across the board, but especially to our own children.

• Assumption number one is that "education is not so much what you take in but what you put out." In other words, until you have practically applied those theories or concepts expounded on in the classroom you haven't really learned anything.
• Assumption number two is that EVERY child has within him or her that germinal seed that may become a tall, strong, but supple tree, if properly nurtured. That same seed may also become a small, crooked, flaccid tree if we neglect and mistreat it in its early development, especially.
• Assumption number three is that an identity which is solidly connected to the past and present will lead to a fruitful tomorrow.
• Assumption number four is that, with a strong and correct identification of one's self with the basic social groupings of planetary beings, the child can then, and only then, begin to make solid and realistic notions about his or her purpose in life.
• Assumption number five is that with knowledge of his or her purpose in life solidly and realistically intact, the child can then set priorities that will remain viable for a lifetime.

• Learning is the practical application of theories derived from practical experiences.
• Education is not so much what you take in, but what you put out.
• History is the stepping stone to . . . knowledge of self, via the "Nine Levels of Self Conception and Direction," which are:

• Level One: Individual
• Level Two: Family (Group)
• Level Three: School
• Level Four: Neighborhood
• Level Five: City, Village, or Town
• Level Six: Nationality (citizenship)
• Level Seven: Race
• Level Eight: Sex
• Level Nine: Spirituality

It is obvious that the methods and rules of the school stem from the above. The teaching methods we employ are such that all student-teachers should:

• Relate classroom to environment.
• Discover and use those things that children enjoy as teaching tools.
• Know all children by name.
• Establish rapport with children and have as much personal contact with parents and children as possible outside the school environment.
• Allow and encourage all children to speak out in class.
• Immediately reward for positive class participation, either by extrinsic or intrinsic reward systems or both.
• Devise class projects that children enjoy and learn from.
• Develop oversize flash cards to use as a basic part of the teaching method. Cards should be vividly displayed.
• Stress learning through personal discovery, and repetition, using the child's natural learning ability as the basis for all knowledge while developing his own abilities to learn by discovery.
• Build the child's ego involvement, which will increase his ability to retain knowledge while developing his own abilities to learn by discovery.
• Teach by example. A child MIGHT do what we DON'T DO, but he'll SURELY do what WE DO. The old saying among parents, "Don 't do as I do, do as I say do," doesn't work, because that's not what a child will do. He or she will do exactly as YOU do!
• Integrate as many disciplines into one lesson as possible. Every class should build skills in vocabulary, pronunciation, and abstract and concrete learning skills, as well as creativity.
• Stress the seven principles of the Nguzo Saba in all lessons, mannerisms, and attitudes.
• Exemplify that which you teach and that which you want the children to be.
• Constantly use examples, descriptions, and experiences related to children as demonstrations of the Nguzo Saba in action.

Children who display the Nguzo Saba in action will have their names displayed on a wall chart. Exceptional displays will be marked according to level of performance with a red, black, or green star.

First Principle: We move from theory to practice and back to theory. This process creates an educational dialectic. What this means is that we form theory based on a tentative summarization of any given situation and then put that theory into practice. In practice a theory may not be practical in all respects even though it is logically sound, so from practice we may gain a new or revised theory that is more practically sound.

Second Principle: "Education is not so much what you take in, but what you put out." That is to say, every student has the potential to excel in all of her or his endeavors. Therefore, as teachers, our duty is not to fill a void in our pupils, but to bring out what's in the student already and help that student by using practical examples and experiences of both children and student-teachers striving to reach their full potential. We also believe in the idea that children learn by doing and that they necessarily must participate ACTIVELY in the learning process.

Third Principle: History is the stepping stone. The cultural past, present, and future of African people is grounded in our historical accomplishments. We certainly cannot have full knowledge of ourselves and not know our history. Without a clearly defined, positive, self conception or knowledge of self we cannot make realistic and/or viable decisions that will lead to the further progressive development of our nation. Therefore, we must increase our sphere of proper cultural and historical knowledge. Principle Three leads to Principle Four.

Fourth Principle: Knowledge of self via the "Nine Levels of Self Conception and Direction." The Nine Levels of Self Conception and Direction are derived from practical experience in this book called life. The theoretical basis for these levels is that total knowledge of self begins at the center of life and moves to the circumference, the center being the individual. The circumference being the spiritual essence that permeates the universe: God, the Creator, or Creative Essence.

• Level One  –  Individual
• Level Two  –  Family (Group)
• Level Three  –  School
• Level Four  –  Neighborhood
• Level Five  –  City, Town, or Village
• Level Six  –  Nationality (Citizenship)
• Level Seven  –  Race
• Level Eight  –  Sex
• Level Nine  –  Spirituality

The seven principles of Unity (Umoja), Self-Determination (Kujichagulia), Collective Work and Responsibility (Ujima), Cooperative Economics (Ujamaa), Purpose (Nia), Creativity (Kuumba), and Faith (Imani) are values that we should internalize and understand as student-teachers, and should also promote in our daily student and instructional relationships. Student-teachers should also emphasize in their daily interaction with the children these seven values throughout the school term.

*Conceived and written in 1981 by Kofi Khemet (aka E. Michael Crosby), while a graduate student in Higher Education Administration at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. Kofi graduated in 1982 with an MEd and currently lives in Sacramento, California, where he and his wife, Tanya, a licensed Midwife, have homeschooled their three daughters – Nefertiti (13), Nehanda (9) and Isoke (5). Nefertiti currently attends a Waldorf Schule in Sacramento where she is an excellent eighth grade student.

Copyright © 2003 HieroGraphics Online. All rights reserved. This webpage is designed expressly for educational purposes only. Any reproductions or transmissions, electronic or printed, in whole or in part, of this webpage for other than educational purposes without the prior written approval of HieroGraphics Online is strictly prohibited. 

Updated: March 30, 2003