The Diverse Concepts Movement Is Coming for Your Teaching License

• In Event: Teaching in the Shadow of "Divisive Concepts": The Impact of Anti-Equity Legislation on Teachers' Work

Abstract

This case will center around the explosive impact of the divisive concepts movement on teachers and administrators in Ames, Iowa. This case features a teacher whose teaching license is under threat from an ethics complaint filed with the Iowa State Licensing Board. The complaint labels her work as “inciting revolt” and “encouraging violence against parents.” This complaint flows from her work teaching a course focused on critical consciousness curriculum. It alleges that the teacher is in violation of Iowa’s HF802, commonly referred to as the divisive concepts law. This case will highlight the way the purposefully vague and dangerously broad language of HF802 and copycat laws place teachers in jeopardy, even as they enact district-approved curriculum.

The curriculum at issue in this case was spearheaded by equity-focused administrators flowing from the work of scholars at Iowa State University (Ames Area School District, 2018). Nevertheless, because the language of HF802 makes illegal the teaching of materials that “consciously or unconsciously, and by virtue of persons’ race or sex, member of any race are inherently racist or are inherently inclined to oppress others…” (An Act Relating to: Anti-Racism and Anti-Sexism, 2021), teachers enacting any curriculum that might be adversely interpreted as “divisive” can find themselves facing a savage community backlash including sanctions that can strip teachers of their livelihoods.

In August of 2020, Ames Middle School administrators began an expansion of critical consciousness work based on widely-accepted scholarship that encourages schools to introduce students to concepts such as bias, privilege, and an examination of their own intersecting identities as part of anti-racist work in schools (Gorski & Swalwell, 2015, Styslinger, et al., 2019). As a result of this work, an elective, non-graded course was offered to all Ames Middle School students. The course helped students examine their own identities and discuss how those identities influence their views and experiences with social and political concepts in their everyday lives, school, community, and world. The biracial leadership team responsible for this course correctly anticipated that the class could lead to backlash. The eventual backlash included accusations that the teacher was a “Communist,” a “bitch,” and “abuser of power.” Nevertheless, the team felt that this response during the implementation of this critical curriculum was evidence of the need for this course, so they persevered. However, after the passage of HF802 in June of 2021, the instructor received notification that her teaching license was under review and was subject to revocation as a result of this equity work.

This session will provide insight into the context and conditions of teachers and administrators as they navigated the discomfort of white students and parents, their own discomfort and ultimately fear in the shadow of HF802. Panelists will describe that their concerns go beyond fielding personal and classroom level attacks to wondering if their very jobs would be made illegal, and how administrators grapple with implementing curriculum that may put a target on teachers’ backs.

Authors

• Yonas W Michael, Iowa State University

• Melissa Springsteen-Haupt, Iowa State University