Education

   Education was an extremely important part of of Mexica civilization in the city of Tenochtitlan. It was so important that it was mandatory for all children, regardless of socio-economic position (source: Daily Life Of The Aztecs, Jaques Soustelle, Stanford University).

The school of the noble class was the Calmecac, and taught noble children in the higher aspects of education, with a military focus.
There was another school- the Telpochcalli - for the "common" children, which stressed military education.

Both types of schools stressed discipline and hard work.

One thing we must do for our children is educate them in their own interests. We must take control of their education by teaching them at home, helping to fund Chicano-centric (Mexica-centric) after-school programs, and support efforts to change the curricula in public schools and universities.

Do a simple exercise: type the words "Jewish education" in a search engine and see what pops up. This is what we Chicanos/Mexica need to have for our own people. We need to re-establish Calmecac's for our children, to teach them their heritage for pride, and skills for success in the modern world.

Chicanos have a very high dropout rate in schools. Actually, this is more like a "push-out" rate, because the schools don't teach for us, they teach for White kids! Even Mathematics is taught as if it was created by Europeans: do they teach us that the Maya developed the concept of "zero" centuries before the Hindus ?  

Do our Geometry teachers ever mention that the Aztecs and Maya had to have a firm grasp on the following concepts in order to construct their pyramids:

• right angles

• symmetry

• the "Pythagorean Theorem"

• volume

• parrallelograms

• optical illusions (as in the "moving serpent" shadow on the pyramid-temple of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza that occurs every Winter Solstice) 

And that the Aztecs did in fact have the concept of the wheel (search the Net for "Aztec wheel toy" and see for yourself)? But the steep, rugged terrain of the Valley Mexico made the wheel of little use, especially since there were no horses or oxen in Mexico!! You kinda' sorta' need a strong animal to pull a stagecoach, or it isn't going anywhere!

Do our Science teachers tell us of the genius of the Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec astronomical star mapping? That the Maya calculated a solar year to 365.22 days? That their calendar was more accurate than the calendar used in Europe at the time? What about the astronomical observatory at Monte Alban in the Mexican state of Oaxaca?

When's the last time you took an Arts or Humanities class and even a fraction of the course was about Olmec artistic style, or Maya sculptures or Aztec poetry? Probably never of course, because it's all taught as if Europe is the center of the universe! 

By and large, the schools stress a Euro-centric course focus and the result is our kids end up tuning out and dropping out from a system that doesn't tell them much about themselves. They are in effect, "pushed out."

When we are the majority populations in California and Texas, will we still be narrowly learning about George Washington's diaries and the Greek poetics, or will we be studying the works of our own peoples' genius?

Many Indigenous peoples have started their own "tribal colleges." This is a good idea. One such example in Davis, California is D-Q University. It is a two-year college that stresses Indigenous-Chicano studies, as well as the technical skills needed to continue on to a four-year degree. Studies have shown that Indigenous students from "tribal colleges" such as these, do better in four-year colleges/universities. They have a better graduation rate as well.