How and Why Elementary Teachers Integrate Antiracist Local Histories Into Student Inquiries

• In Event: The Who, What, When, Where, and Why of Inquiry in Elementary Social Studies

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand the impact of elementary teachers’ participation in an online professional development course about the local history of anti-Black racism with relation to their: 1) content knowledge, 2) racial attitudes, 3) beliefs about the inclusion of this content in the elementary curriculum, and 4) their actual curricular decisions.

This paper examines the impact of learning “critical history” (Segall, 1999, p.129) related to anti-Black racism (Dumas, 2016) on teachers’ curricular decision-making (Cherryholmes, 2013) as they build inquiry-based lessons/units that use local history resources (Crocco & Marino, 2015; Waring, 2008) in order to understand the narratives being constructed (Penuel & Wertsch, 1998) about the history of racism in the U.S. (Hall, 2005; Swalwell, Pellegrino, & View, 2015).

Data for this paper was generated through interviews with elementary teachers (n=5) who took the course. The curriculum materials they created afterwards as well as participation data from the online course were also included.

Pre- and post-surveys as well as analysis of teachers’ online comments showed that participation in the course increased elementary teachers’ content knowledge, reduced color blindness, and inspired a commitment to attend to anti-Black racism in their curriculum. Data analysis for the second question is ongoing, though preliminary findings suggest that the curricular choices they have made both disrupted and reinforced the dominant narrative of the Civil Rights Movement.

While researchers have extolled the promise of local history as a powerful strategy for inspiring students to be change agents in their communities (e.g., Marino & Crocco, 2012), less is known about what helps teachers make curricular decisions that encourage inquiry rooted in these histories. This paper begins to identify what supports may help teachers engage in more anti-racist local historical inquiries with students.

Cherryholmes, C. (2013). What to teach? Theory and Research in Social Education, 41, 566-574.

Crocco, M. S., & Marino, M. P. (2015). Promoting inquiry-oriented teacher preparation in social studies through the use of local history. The Journal of Social Studies Research.

Dumas, M. J. (2016). Against the dark: Antiblackness in education policy and discourse. Theory Into Practice, 55(1), 11-19.

Hall, J. D. (2005). The long civil rights movement and the political uses of the past. The Journal of American History, 91(4), 1233-1263.

Marino, M. P., & Crocco, M. S. (2012). Doing local history: A case study of New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Social Studies, 103(6), 233-240.

Penuel, W. R., & Wertsch, J. V. (1998). Historical representation as mediated action: Official history as a tool. International review of history education, 2, 23-38.

Segall, A. (1999). Critical history: Implications for history/social studies education. Theory & Research in Social Education, 27(3), 358-374.

Author

• Katy Swalwell, Iowa State University