Students need to see themselves in the curriculum in order to
believe they have a stake in the society. Textbooks for California
schools are selected by the State Board of Education based upon recommendations
of their Curriculum Committees and the state frameworks and
standards. The current Framework reflects the historiography of the
1950’s. It was written in 1986 by senior scholars, they in turn were educated
in the early 1970’s or before. It is substantially out of date.
Standards and frameworks are products of the people who make the
decisions. Frameworks like standards pick winners and
losers; the choices which committees make favor one group over
another group. These choices are
based upon the political power of those represented on the committees. The
Framework is supposed to be revised each 7 years but it has not been
revised. The current Framework reflects the
historiography of the 1970’s and the political balance of
power of the 1980’s.
During the winter
and spring of 2009, a committee of teachers and other educators appointed by
the State Board of Education met to review the current History-Social Science
Curriculum Framework and to recommend revisions. The committee met
in a series of two-day public sessions which were well attended by
professionals and civic advocates, including myself, a representative of MALDEF,
and other concerned with the
content of history and social studies education in California.
The 1987 California Framework still in use today expanded
African American, Native American, and women’s history coverage but remains
totally inadequate in the coverage of Latinos and Asians. The only significant
change between the 1985 and the 2005 adopted Framework was the addition of a
new cover, a cover letter, and a photo of Cesar Chavez.
When the 48.72 % of
students who are Latino , and the 11.5 % who are Asian do not see themselves as
part of history, for many their sense of self is
marginalized. Marginalization negatively impacts their
connections with school and their success at school. It contributes
to an up to 50% drop out rate for
Latinos and some Asian students. An accurate
history would provide some students with a a sense of self,
of direction, of purpose, even a sense that they should stay in school and learn
more. History and social science classes should help
young people acquire and learn to use the civics skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will prepare them to be
competent and responsible citizens throughout their
lives. Instead, the current history textbooks tell a fairy
tale of what happened here in the Southwest.
Working
through our Education and Democracy Institute and the Mexican American Digital
History effort, we hope to advance the revision of the state framework in a
manner that includes Mexican American/Latino history. We seek assistance from others of good
will. In our view, this is
an essential part of civic learning.
For example, several current
civic learning projects focus on registering 17 and 18 year olds to vote. As we know, some 30% or more of Latino
youth have already left school long before they reach registration age. If students don’t feel that they belong, that their history is part of
the California history, then they are unlikely to stay in school and even less
likely to engage in civic learning
projects.
Duane Campbell
campd22702@gmail.com
http://www.choosingdemocracy.blogspot.com
http://www.democracyeducationinstitute.org
http://MexicanAmericanDigitalHistory.org
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