“The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies” by Christine E. Sleeter
“A Short History of Public Schooling” excerpt from the film “Class
Dismissed”
Connections to film “Precious Knowledge”
The film “Precious Knowledge” begins with several Chicano students
explaining how they feel like the school doesn’t want them there and that it
feels like they should just drop out. These students do not want to go to
school. One teacher from their school states that he feels the students are lazy,
culturally damaged, and do not care about what they are studying historically. The
film shows the statistic that at that time nationwide the dropout rate for
Mexican American’s was over 50%. Another teacher explains his own experience,
telling the viewers that when he was in school, many Chicano students were sent
into vocational programs. Upon high school graduation, they were not able to go
to college.
In Sleeter’s “The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic
Studies,” she begins by describing a student’s schooling journey. Similar to
the students in the film, this student found school boring and did not want to
go. Many of his friends dropped out, but he did graduate from high school and join
the military. When he returned home he was able to get a minimum wage job.
In both the film and Sleeter’s research review, the students
go on to express enthusiasm and interest in learning when it related more to
their own lives and culture. Sleeter states, “for the first time in his [the student’s]
life, the curriculum was centered on his reality […] for many years I have
witnessed similar impacts on students, especially, but not exclusively, students
of color” (1). In the film one student states “what they started teaching us
was just so interesting, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
Sleeter explains the breakdown of the ethnicities of people
mentioned in California’s History and Social Science Framework. At the
elementary level 77% of the American’s mentioned are white and at the secondary
level 79% of the American’s mentioned are white (3). Current education has a
focus on “Euro-American studies.” Over time there has been content added to
textbooks that includes African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans; however,
this typically is from a narrative that reflects Euro-American Experiences and
worldviews (p. 2). Immigration is often presented as a historical period and racial
issues of today are omitted.
Sleeter lists one focus of ethnic studies is the examination
of US colonialism historically and how reflections of colonialism continue to
play out today. In “Precious Minds” one of the teachers they show is teaching
this topic to his students. He also includes the histories of his student’s Chicano
culture. “Beginning as early as elementary school, students have been found to
respond to curricula based partly on what they learn and experience in their
homes and communities” (Sleeter 3).
Sleeter states that middle school students express a desire
to learn amore about Black people in school and believe that it would make it
more interesting. High school students list the Euro-American bias in the
curriculum as a major cause of their disengagement. She ends her review with
the point that ethnic studies can reverse students’ disengagement, from
elementary school to university level. In “Precious Minds,” the students, their
parents, and their teachers have witnessed/felt an increase in interest, enthusiasm,
and motivation for learning when ethnic studies are a part of their schooling.
In the video “A Short History of Public Schooling,” we learn
about the history of compulsory attendance laws and school. In 1918 all states had
laws that required children to attend elementary school. These schools taught
the values of obedience to authority, promptness, and attendance. They made
students into a “docile, factory, military workforce” and created “subordinate
children… to grow up to be subordinate adults.” Sleeter states that Black
students learn to distrust the history taught in schools and feel anger that African
American history is often portrayed through victimization. Students begin to
articulate this sense of racial oppression as early as elementary school. Through
the history of public schooling, white people have had the power and this comes
across in the curriculum.
Below: The percentage of books for children and teens published in 2022 received by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center. https://education.wisc.edu/news/ccbcs-latest-diversity-statistics-show-increasing-number-of-diverse-books-for-children-and-teens/
Article: “Ed Trust Finds an Alarming Number of Negative Stereotypes and Underrepresentation of People of Color in the Curriculum Taught in U.S. Schools” from 2023. This article states that “of the books banned from July 2021 to June 202, 40% of the banned titles has protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color, and 21% had titles indicating issues of race or racism. Examples of banned books include I am Rosa Parks, I Am Martin Luther King Jr., and The Bluest Eye.”
Hi Taylor! I agree with what you have said in your blog. This also relates to S.C.W.A.A.M.P. because as you have mentioned, it teaches students that white people have power so it shows that whiteness, specifically white males are valued in society. From an early age, children are learning that oppression through systemic racism because the practices that are in place when it comes to the curriculum teaches them that white people hold all the power and limits the stories of other ethnic and racial groups. Ethnic studies are important because they can help to not only eliminate that bias, but also get the students more interested in school.
ReplyDeleteI loved how much information you put into your blog! You really touched on everything. I, too, wrote about how important ethnic studies is in classrooms. Kids are becoming disengaged with school because they are not learning about anything that interests them, or involves their culture. Even personally if I am not interested in what I am learning about I will just chatGPT it so I have to do less work. But in this class, I do all the work because what we learn about is so interesting.
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