Developing Pedagogical Toolkits in Support of the Ethnic Studies Mandate

• In Event: Implementing Ethnic Studies in Bay Area Schools: Research on Teachers, Pedagogy, and Curriculum

Abstract

As members of the California Subject Matter Project (CSMP) and the California History-Social Science Project (CHSSP), our local History-Social Science has been tasked with providing professional learning related to the ethnic studies mandate for teachers. This work is informed by our professional expertise, as well as our understanding of the guidance provided by state-sanctioned documents like the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum and the History-Social Science Framework.

Theoretical Framework
In this paper, we present findings from our work over the past two years supporting the implementation of Ethnic Studies programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, as we worked to assist and train those who are or will be teaching this curriculum. CHSSP’s support is shaped by state-sanctioned guidance, including the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum and History-Social Science Framework, as well as critical pedagogical frameworks (Sleeter & Zavala, 2020) on which we have drawn in this work. These guide our efforts to co-construct curriculum that honors local context and promotes critical consciousness.

Methods
To support teachers, schools and districts in the San Francisco Bay Area in implementing ethnic studies, we provided opportunities for K-12 teachers to design toolkits so that they could construct curriculum tailored to their specific environment. Through these toolkits, developed and tested in classrooms of different contexts, educators were supported to integrate instructional pedagogies and resources that foster civic engagement. Our data sources include the tool kits, teachers' evaluations of the PD, and meeting minutes from debriefing sessions following each PD. We engaged in artifact analysis of the toolkits, as well as qualitative coding of teacher evaluations and meeting minutes.

Findings
Findings from our work speak to the importance of providing teachers with the skills to implement Ethnic Studies rather than providing finalized lesson plans and materials. We also found that approaches that focus on inquiry models of course design created greater opportunities to enable students think critically about challenges that face their communities in the pursuit of constructing answers to course, unit, and lesson-level questions.


Significance
As Ethnic Studies transitions from an elective to a mandated high school graduation requirement in California, the need for high-quality, community-responsive professional learning grows. Our work offers a replicable model for supporting teachers through contextualized, inquiry-based, and equity-driven approaches. Further, these findings illustrate how university-school partnerships can sustain transformative teaching and learning in the face of both political resistance and institutional challenges.

Author

• Jason Muniz, University of California - Berkeley