Chatter filled Beatrice Mitchell’s 8th grade social studies class on a recent afternoon. “Two more minutes before the presentation starts,” Mitchell announced.
At each table, students took a quick vote to decide who would represent them. A girl with long red and black braids stood up first. Zaniyah Williams read her group’s response to Nat Turner, who in 1831 led the only effective slave rebellion in American history.
“He says he’s a preacher, but he’s killing people. It’s not right,” he said.
Mitchell asked him to explain. How does that make you feel? Was it justified?
Another student took a turn. “I’m in the middle,” he said. “Yes, he killed a lot of people. But slave owners also killed people and made them suffer.
The class at FD Moon Middle School in Oklahoma City is part of a pilot project for a social studies curriculum based on encouraging students to engage in civil discourse and celebrate American ideals while examines the darkest chapters of history.
Many of these important issues are underscored by race. slavery The Holocaust The Tulsa Race Massacre.
Overshadowing this teaching today is extreme political polarization and intense scrutiny of teachers. Oklahoma is one of at least 36 states that ban certain classroom discussions of race or gender, including those deemed “divisive concepts.”
Oklahoma’s law, House Bill 1775, passed in 2021, includes tough penalties. The state could downgrade school districts and strip educators of their teaching credentials. It’s part of a nationwide effort by some conservative activists to prevent schools from teaching what is considered “critical race theory,” an academic framework that examines how policies and laws uphold systemic racism.
But at the same time, there is an urgent push for more and better civics education. Many adults lack basic knowledge of American history and government and are not civically engaged.
The program Mitchell’s class is piloting wants to be a solution. It was created by iCivics, an organization founded by retired US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who was alarmed by Americans’ lack of understanding of how the country’s constitutional democracy is supposed to work.
iCivics began by creating digital games on topics such as constitutional rights and the branches of government that are used by millions of students each year.
The organization developed its core American History curriculum based on the Roadmap for Education for American Democracy, a joint project with iCivics, Harvard, Tufts and Arizona State universities.
Oklahoma City Public Schools is one of three districts piloting the curriculum; the others are in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Jefferson County, Colorado.
Mitchell, who has been teaching for 13 years, is a big fan.
Students retain the material and take ownership of their learning, he said.
“Up until this point (in their school), they’re being told what to think, what to do,” Mitchell said. “It blows their mind when I say ‘what do you think?'”
Mitchell said she used to imitate voices of historical figures like George Washington to keep her 13- and 14-year-old students engaged. This content is so rich that he didn’t have to do it this year. “It’s not the bland story that most people are used to,” he said.
Although it’s only the first year, there are signs that the pilot is working. All Mitchell 8th graders passed the US Naturalization Test, a new graduation requirement that begins this school year.
District-wide, 68% of 8th graders passed (students can take the quiz every year starting in 8th grade).
And a recent survey found that only 1 in 3 adults can pass the exam, even though 40 percent said U.S. history was their favorite subject in school. Oklahoma’s passing rate was even lower at 1 in 4 adults.
Most adults across the political spectrum agree that students need stronger social education. Scores released Wednesday show that American 8th graders’ knowledge of history and civics declined significantly between 2018 and 2022, according to the National’s Report Card.
But what is taught, how and which texts are used, remains a major source of disagreement and polarization.
iCivics has not avoided this controversy. While the organization is committed to nonpartisanship, it maintains moral imperatives such as racial justice, its director, Louise Dubé, said in an interview.
And its mission to provide equitable access to civics education has at times drawn criticism from conservatives. Equity is the E in DEI, another goal of politicians who say education has gone too “woke”.
The Oklahoma Board of Education last week requested a special report from all school districts on spending on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the request of state Superintendent Ryan Walters. Walters, a former history teacher, claimed that these programs are “Marxist at their core.”
It is unknown if this program would enter DEI’s spending.
The goal of iCivics is to ensure that all students have access to high-quality civics and history education by training teachers to feel confident through inquiry-based learning, which essentially guides students to use the critical thinking by asking the right questions.
“We’re not making a curriculum or a program for kids in red zones or blue zones or purple zones. We’re building curriculum and designing programs for every child in America, wherever they are,” said Emma Humphries, iCivics’ director of education.
Of the three states where iCivics is piloting its curriculum, Oklahoma is the only one with a so-called anti-criticism of race theory law. Humphries, however, said it wasn’t a problem. “I don’t think there was anything problematic or against the law,” he said.
The curriculum was customized to align with Oklahoma standards, but no changes were needed based on the law, which specifically protects teachers’ ability to teach concepts set forth in state standards.
The law prohibits teaching eight concepts, including that one race is superior to another, that someone is inherently racist because of their race, or that someone should feel discomfort or guilt because of their race or sex.
This is not to say that teachers are not afraid of breaking the law, intentionally or unintentionally, or of being accused of doing so. Many people misinterpret the law to mean that students can’t be uncomfortable at all.
“I would assume that lawmakers know that we can’t completely control how a person is going to feel at any given moment. But what we can control is what we present and the primary sources we use and the discussion questions we ask,” Humphries said.
Reading the language of the bill convinced Dave Corcoran, assistant professor of history and coordinator of social studies education at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, it was written by people who never spent time in classrooms.
“People don’t understand that education is a really dynamic process and there are a lot of emotions that will circulate for any subject,” said Corcoran, who has taught middle and high school and mentors student teachers and observes them in classroom
House Bill 1775, he said, has had little or no effect on how prepared educators are, other than causing fear.
But he’s also seeing a growing interest in teaching social studies, especially among women. Some of them resent not having received a solid civics education and want to do better.
“The responsibility of Social Science teachers is education for citizenship, right? It’s about developing students who are involved in communities. Voter turnout is just one indication of that, but it’s pathetic here,” Corcoran said.
