“Certain Terms Have Been Made the Boogeyman”: Teachers’ Perspectives of the Indiana Ethnic Studies Standards

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Teachers' Perspectives on Anti–Critical Race Theory, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), and the Boogeyman (Table 26)

Abstract

Since 2010, more than a dozen states in the U.S. have introduced legislation supporting K-12 ethnic studies. Yet, we know little about the experiences of policy actors establishing ethnic studies courses. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, this paper focuses on the perspectives of seven ethnic studies teachers in Indiana. The data indicates that three factors play a role in how teachers make sense of ethnic studies policy: (1) level of experience, (2) racial/ethnic identification, and (3) sociopolitical climate. The author argues that the implementation of ethnic studies courses cannot be understood without being embedded with the experiences, racial identity, and sociopolitical climate of policy actors. Ultimately, the paper advocates for the support of teachers through local-based approaches that contextualize their needs.

Author

• Jasmin Patron-Vargas, Texas A&M University