ERIC Number: EJ1441353
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0037-7724
EISSN: EISSN-1930-3653
In Defense of a Critical Education
Anthony Downer II; Nadia Behizadeh
Social Education, v88 n4 p228-233 2024
In Georgia, the recent "Protect Students First Act," or GA HB 1084, states that curricula and training programs should refrain from judging others based on race or advocate for divisive concepts such as "One race is inherently superior to another race," or that "the United States of America is fundamentally racist." In the face of this type of legislation, teachers and teacher educators across the nation are grappling with how to respond. How are teachers and students to discuss the racist origins of the United States? How are they to reckon with the foundations of slavery and Native American genocide at the roots of the country's founding? How are teachers to include discussion of LGBTQ experiences, socioeconomic inequalities, religious persecution, and other topics that might be considered "too political" in the current climate? In the context of divisive concepts legislation, Anthony, a high school social studies teacher who identifies as a Black cisgender man, and Nadia, a teacher educator who identifies as a White-presenting mixed race cisgender woman, discuss ways teachers can provide a critical, culturally sustaining education in the face of contemporary pushback. The authors organized their thinking around Mica Pollock and colleagues' five forms of backup. For each backup, they provide examples from their own teaching and engagements in professional development. They also suggest a sixth form of backup: creative reappropriation. Both authors are engaged in community organizing and activism in Atlanta, Georgia, through their work with the Teach for Freedom Collective, and this lens is brought to their recommendations.
Descriptors: Critical Thinking, Social Studies, State Legislation, Educational Legislation, Controversial Issues (Course Content), Teacher Education, Secondary Education, Teaching Methods, Gender Issues, Racism
National Council for the Social Studies. 8555 Sixteenth Street #500, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 800-683-0812; Tel: 301-588-1800; Fax: 301-588-2049; e-mail: membership@ncss.org; Web site: http://www.socialstudies.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Georgia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A