Community Responsive Curriculum in Practice: Tensions and Takeaways From a District-Wide Ethnic Studies Initiative

• In Event: Who Decides: Teachers, Administrators, and Publics Negotiating Curriculum

Abstract

While there is growing literature on what community responsive ethnic studies should look like in theory, few empirical studies look at how this aspect is integrated into district and site-level curricular policies and practice. Using case study and qualitative methods, data from an external evaluation study of a large southern California school district were analyzed to determine how community responsive ethnic studies curriculum is conceptualized in practice. While educators communicate a desire to be community-responsive, findings indicate they commonly define “community” solely as a racial or ethnic group. Limited examples of localized ethnic studies curriculum-thinking emerged from the data. This, we argue, has implications for policy, professional development, and teacher preparation for this growing school discipline.

Authors

• Kelly C. León, University of San Diego

• Sherilyn C. Shepard, University of San Diego

• James Fabionar, University of San Diego