One of the things that struck me about this week's topic is how challenging it must be for K-8 educators to teach hard history. It's challenging at any age, but I feel there are more resources and guidance for high school teachers to address these topics than there are for educators of younger students. Also, the idea of even presenting a topic like slavery to 3-5th graders sounds really intimidating to me.
What I loved about our Teaching Hard History resource this week as that it really breaks down not only age appropriate topics, but also age appropriate language when speaking to children about these topics.
For example, the three Essential Knowledge points below all address the economic pursuits of enslavers, but the language is presented quite differently depending on the grade level.
Essential Knowledge Point number 7.B for K-2 students states: Although most enslaved people could not make money from their work, their enslaver did (A Quick Reference Guide... p. 7).
Essential Knowledge point 11.B for 3-5 students states: Because enslavers were trying to make money, regardless of their impact on other people, they did not pay the people they enslaved and provided them with only the minimum food, housing and clothing needed to keep them working (A Quick Reference Guide... p. 8).
Essential Knowledge 2.B point for grades 6-12 is All European colonies enslaved Indigenous people for profit, justifying the practice because of perceived racial and cultural inferiority. Many enslaved Indigenous people were forced to labor far from home, as evidenced by the mass export of women and children to Europe and the Caribbean, often called the “Reverse Middle Passage.” Sometimes the profit from these sales was used to purchase enslaved Africans to work in the American colonies (A Quick Reference Guide... p. 11).
As you can see, the length, complexity of the vocabulary, and the specificity of the essential knowledge increases as the students get older. If I was working with students who had gaps in their knowledge of US history, I might even pull some essential knowledge points from the K-5 grade, as I really like the simplicity of those statements and they don't require students to have had prior knowledge on the topic.
It's one thing to present and teach these topics to young people, it's another thing to field questions.
I had a student ask a very complex question a couple of weeks ago: We were discussing the Middle Passage, and a student was pointing out that he didn't understand why some enslavers engaged in "relationships" with some of their slaves, because aren't they supposed to not "like" their slaves?
I was taken aback by that question, because I really didn't know how to answer it.
All I said was: "That's a good question, with a complicated answer" and then we moved on to a new topic. I feel as though I missed an opportunity to provide an open discussion on that topic, but I felt unprepared to do so at that time.
If I had the chance to do it over again, I would ask the question: "What makes a healthy relationship?" and I would ask "Do you think a relationships between an enslaver and their slave meets those qualifications? Why or why not?" That topic could really yield some healthy conversations that would extend beyond the topic of slavery, but about the topic of healthy relationships.
This week's readings were eye-opening for me, and got me to reflect on how I can present hard history into the classroom. The biggest thing I've taken from this is that there is no need to be afraid to discuss these topics with your students... Just make sure the topics are age appropriate, that you have a strong understanding of the topic beforehand, and that you have a plan for how you will present the information and field questions. Oh, and be willing to lean into the discomfort.
-Hattie
Citations:
The Southern Poverty Law Center. (n.d.-c). A Quick Reference Guide to Teaching Hard History. Learning for Justice. https://www.learningforjustice.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/LFJ-Quick-Reference-Guide-Teaching-Hard-History-K-12-Framework-WEB-April2023-04202023.pdf
Hattie,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you recognized a moment where you could've opened up an SEL discussion, even if it came afterwards. In our school system, when students ask a question that elicits that response of "That's a good question, with a complicated answer." we actually backpocket it and use it for a Circle (SEL) discussion. You could easily take "What makes a healthy relationship?" especially with that age group and formulate a discussion time outside of social studies.
Hattie,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog this week. Thank you for pointing out the essential knowledge and how it is discussed. It's important to notice what is talked about and to grasp that at each grade level more is discussed and built upon from the prior years.
Jennifer