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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 110 377 - 50-D08-501-- AUTHOR Banks, James A. TITLE Ethnic Studies as a pOcess of Curriculum Reform. SPONS AGM. 'National Academy of Education, Stanford, Calif. PUB DATE Apr 75 0 NOTE 38p.; Paper presented at the Anti-DefamationL4ague of Binai B'rith Conference on Cultural Plutalism .(Tarrytown, New York. April 4-6, 1975). EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$1.95 PLUS POSTAGE . -DE5 RIPTORS Conceptual Schemes; *Cultural Pluralism; *Curiiculum . Development; *Curriculum Problems; ecizion Making; Educational Development; Elementiry Secondary Education;,*Ethnic Studies; Minority Groups; . Relevance (Education); *Social Studies; Teaching Techniques - ABSTRACT There are several widespread assumptions aboutethnic studies which*havetadversely affected the. development of ethnic studies programs in the schools. Five of, thse assumptions are that ethnic stiAles are(1) the study of ethnic minority groups, (2) 0 designed for ethnic minorities,(3) suppl mentary to tile curriculum, (4) the study of strange customs, And (5)' he celebration of ethnic holidays. Instead, ethnic studies should bconceptualized as a process of curr,icuqumreform that will result in theformulation of a new curriculum with novelassumptions, goalsi'and means. Three major interdependent goals for curriculum reform and ethnic studiesinclude helping individuals to clarify their ethnic identities andfunction effectively within their own ethnic communities, 'to develop a, sensitivity to and understanding of other ethnic cultures andto function effectively within them, and to develop theability to make, reflective decisions on social issues and to, take effectiveactions to resolve social problems. With these goalsin mind, ethnic studies should become a study of historical and contemporarysocial event's from a multiethnic perspective rather than from anAnglo-Aierican perspective. Specific steps and teaching strategieswhich social studies teachers can take to implement a multiethnicsocial studies curriculum are outlined. (Author/JR) *40*t*************************************************#**************** Documents acquired by. ERIC include many informalunpublished * materials not available from other sources. ERICmakes every effort * * tb obtain the best copy available.nevertheless, items of marginal * - *-reproducibility are often encountered and this affectsthe quality *, * of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERICmakes available * * via the ERIC Document ReproductionService (EDRS) :EDRS is not * responsible for the quality of the originaldocument. Reproductions * * supplied by. EDRS are the best that canbe made from the original. * *************************4****************************************A**** U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO OuCE0 EXACTLY AS RECEIVEO FROM ,THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN AspNG IT PONTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS SYATEO DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENTOFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDULA O "PERMISSION TO REPROD9CE THIS RIGHTED MATERIAL COPY. aim-sank-5HAS BEEN GRANTEDBY TO ERIC AND ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THE ttATIONAL IN. STITUTE OF EDUCATION DUCTION OUTSIDE FURTHER_ REPRO. THE ERIC SYSTEM DUPES PERMiSSIOh RE. OWNER' OF, THE COPYRIGHT ETHNICItTUDIES AS A PROCESS .c U OF CURRICULUM REFORM by Jarnes A. Banks Professor of Education Social Studies Education Univt rsity of Washington, Seattle COPYRIGHT (C) 1975 by James A. Banks. All rights reserved, Reproduction in whole or part without written Permission is prohibited. 00002 4 O O ILLVSTRATIONS- -'\ Figures Page 1 Ethnic Studie§ as a Process of Curriculum Change i 11 2 The Sociocultural Envtronm6nt of Ethnic Youths 16 r 3 The Deoision-making Process . 20 4 Organizing Concepts for Ethnic Studies Curricula 26 . 5 Key Ideas and Teaching Strategies 29. 6 Data Retrieval Chart on Iminigration' 31 Chart 1 A Conceptual Framevork for a Multiethnic Socia14, Studies Curriculum 27 A 00003 4t? THNJC STUDIES AS A PROCESS OF CURRICULUM REFORM*' James\A. Banks' 0 Profdssor of Educatibn Social Studies Education University of Washington, Seattle ., There are several widespread assumptions about ethnic studies which' have Adversely affected the developRorkoLethnic -studig programs in the schools. We need to examine and to challenge these assumptions and related school prac- tices and to formulate new assumptions and goals ft ethnic studies if the ethnic studies movement is going to serve as a. catalyst for curriculum reform. The greatest promise of ethnic studies is that it will scr're as a vehicle for general curriculum reform'.If we merely add ethnic content to the traditional curricu- lum, which is highly dysfunctiOnal, our efforts to modify the curriculum with ethnic content are likely to lead to a dead end. We must radically change the total school curriculum. Assumptions Abett Ethnic studies Ethnic Studies as Ethnic Minority Studies One pervasive assumption embraced by many educators is that ethnic studies deals exclusively or primarily with non-White minority groups, such as Asian - Americans, Native Americans, and Afro-Americans. This assumption *A paper prepared for presentation at the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith Conference on Cultural Pluralism, Tarrytown, New York, April 4-6, 1975. The author is grateful to. the National Academy of Education for providing financial assistance, in the form of a Spencer Fellowship, which helped to cover the expenses incurred in preparing this paper. 00004 2 s widespread within the schools. School ethnic studies programs areoften based upon and reflect it.In many school ethnic studies prograths, for example, little or no attention is devoted to the experiences of European American ethnic groups, such as Jewish-Americans, Polish-Americans, andItalian-Americans. This narrow conceptualization of ethnic studies emerged out of the social forces O which gave rise to the ethnic studies ,movement. In the 1960s, Afro- Americans staged a fight for their civil rights that Was unprecedented in their history. They demanded control of various social, economic, and political institutions within the Black community. Blacks were keenly aware of the extent to which written history influences how a group views itself and how others view it.Consequently, they also demanded that versions of history be written that were more consistent with their experiences in thist nation and that textbooks which they considered biased be banned from the public schools.1 Blacks claimed, with much validity, that many school books perpetu-. ated stereotypic views of their expeience in the Americas. Other ethhic minority groups, made acutelyAaware of their own ethnic identity by the Black Revolt, also called for new versions of school history that would more accurately reflect their experiences in the Amerie,as. Native American:3 argued. that their longhistory in his land prior to 1492 should be 2 .highlighted in the curriculum.Mexican-Americans Called for a new interpre- tation of the "winning of the West" and the fateful Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848.3 Asian-American activists and scholars set forth refreshing interpre- tations of events, such as the anti-Chinese movement in the late 1800s, the internment of Japanese-Americans, and the anti-Filipino riots in California in the1920s.4' They wanted these interpretations of hisioiical events to be in- eluded in the school curriculum. Puerto Rican-American scholars argued that the Treaty of Paris (1898), which ended the Spanish-American War, needed to 00605 4 o 3 be interpreted from a Pueito Rican perspecfitre.5 . .The types of ethnic' studies programs which have been formulated in most. school districts and-colteges refreet the political al an-d-s-oVial-demands that-have been made within local communities. Responding largely to crises andpublic pressured, curriculumsacialistshave devised ethnic studies programs without giving serious-,thought to the basic issues which should be considered when curri- culum chAnges are made. The nature of learning, the social and ,psychological needs of students, and social science theory and research are the types of proba lems and issues which received little if any consideration in the hurriedly formu- lated ethnic studies programs which. now exist hi many schools.Rather, the overriding consideration was to create sonic kinds of.prograrnsso/that ethnic ,/ demands would be met and militant ethnic students and fadulty Would be silenced. Consequently, ethnic studies became defined as the study of ethnic minority groups; and most df the programsthat were formulated wereparochial in scope, "fragmented, and were structured without careful planning and clear rationales. Ethnic Studies and Ethnic M inorities . A related assumption which schoOlpcopoc often'inake about ethnic studies is that only students who are members of a particular ethnic minority group should study that group's history and culture. This assumptiOn, too, grew out of the historical and social forces of the 1960s. Blacks argued that Black students needed Black history in order to augment their self-concepts andidentities.6 Mexican-Americans, Native Americans, Puerto Rican-Americans, and other ethnic minority groups set forth similar arguments about why specialized ethnic studies courses, such as Puerto Rican-American Studies and Chicano Studies, were needed. Using these arguments, many schoolpeople convenientlycon- cluded that only Blacks needed Black Studies and only Mexican-American students needed Chicano Studies. 00006 9 's , .. -: I School ethnic,