![]() ![]() In East Oakland, California, Iyer helps youngsters at Greenleaf Elementary School make connections between the past and the present by teaching lessons steeped in black history and culture. Yet, signs of progress are emerging, as a growing number of educators are confronting America’s racial past - combating myths and misrepresentations in the classroom. Because the status quo is unacceptable, some teachers and scholars say. Among the difficulties he named are courses in history methods that fail to address black history in teacher preparation, and racial biases and assumptions that prevent some teachers from seeing black history as relevant to their white students’ lives.Įnder said that to overcome these barriers, schools of education and teacher educators must shift the culture of teaching to one that views studying black history as indispensable to all students. Tommy Ender, a postdoctoral fellow in social studies education at Loyola University Maryland, supervises college students preparing to become teachers. What’s more, the racial makeup of the teaching force - about 80 percent of public school teachers are white - is an obstacle, with many educators lacking the knowledge and willingness to teach black history content. Another point of contention is how black people as historical actors are commonly presented: as a sidebar to American history, relegated to February, and limited to iconic figures and events - Harriet Tubman, slavery, Martin Luther King Jr. Carr cited the link between the history curriculum and society’s values and priorities, with the staunch belief in America's “exceptionalism” drowning out exceptionally difficult historical truths. ![]()
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