Working Hard or Hardly Working? Texas State Curriculum Standards and the Neglect of Labor History

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 5:10 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Intersecting Histories, Ideologies, and Identities: Unpacking Curriculum Representations in Social Studies Education (Table 9)

Abstract

In this critical text analysis, the four core high school social studies courses (World Geography, US History, World History, and Government/Economics) of the Texas’ official state curricula were examined. Analysis focused on how narratives regarding labor, unions, and related constructs (e.g. fair wages) were presented within each set of standards. In addition, the text was evaluated to determine if the curriculum standards unevenly valorized, denigrated, and/or erased labor’s contributions to American society. Findings indicate that labor narratives were neglected across all of the core courses and a capitalist (free enterprise) rationale was pervasive (with overwhelming frequency) through both neutral if not overtly lauded language.

Authors

• Mathew Baker, Georgia Southern University

• Cinthia S. Salinas, University of Texas at Austin