Re-Forging Democracy in Schools Through the History of American Social Movements

West Chester University Digital Commons @ West Chester University West Chester University Master’s Theses Masters Theses and Doctoral Projects Spring 2020 Re-Forging Democracy in Schools through the History of American Social Movements Jonathan Privado [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/all_theses Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Secondary Education Commons, and the Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons Recommended Citation Privado, Jonathan, "Re-Forging Democracy in Schools through the History of American Social Movements" (2020). West Chester University Master’s Theses. 102. https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/all_theses/102 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Masters Theses and Doctoral Projects at Digital Commons @ West Chester University. It has been accepted for inclusion in West Chester University Master’s Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ West Chester University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Re-Forging Democracy in Schools through the History of American Social Movements A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies West Chester University West Chester, Pennsylvania In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science By Jonathan Privado May 2020 © Copyright 2020 Jonathan Privado Acknowledgements Because neither this journey, nor anything else in my life could be done without you, and all that you are, I dedicate this work to my best-friend, my constant partner, and the strongest person I know, Michelle Privado. Because you are the miracle that gives me new strength and purpose, I dedicate this work to Nora Jane Privado. I cannot wait to see the person you become, and hear the voice that is distinctly your own. Because you are the ones who inspire me to constantly reimagine what it means to be a teacher, and what is possible in education, I dedicate this work to my teachers, professors, colleagues, and students, both past and present. Abstract Democratic virtue and spirit are severely lacking in the traditional school setting. With so many threats to the planet, the nation, and democracy as a whole, direct action, and active civic engagement are more important than ever. The traditional social studies and history curriculums of schools, both sanitized and passive, often claim to prepare students for citizenry, but are actually ill preparing students for the challenge and the necessity of genuine civic engagement. In particular, one of the most egregious offenders within the domain of the social studies is the traditional American history curriculum. In most cases, as this study intends to prove, this curriculum contradicts democratic values, maintains racial hegemonies, and encourages apathy, or even hopelessness, toward civic action. These types of offenses, that the American history curriculum commits, are not new, but rather have been developing since the inception of public education in the 19th-century. With these problems, and these challenges, the implementation of a new history course, the History of American Social Movements, a course which both models successful social movements throughout the history of the United States and tasks students with creating their own action plans regarding issues they see in their communities, is nothing short of essential for the arduous journeys ahead. This paper provides a detailed examination and history of the faults and damages of the American history curriculum, before then pressing forward to propose the necessity, curriculum, theory, and evaluation of the course, the History of American Social Movements. Table of Contents Chapter One – Introduction & Positionality..................................……........….1 Chapter Two - Thematic Concern, Conceptual Framework and Definitions…….………………….…..….20 Chapter Three - Narrative.............................................................……………..24 Chapter Four – Design…………………………………………….…………...99 Unit #1………………………………………...….…………....127 Unit #2………………………………………...….…………....128 Unit #3………………………………………...….…………....132 Unit #4………………………………………...….…………....134 Unit #5………………………………………...….…………....137 Unit #6………………………………………...….…………....139 Chapter Five – Assessment & Evaluation……………………………….…….145 Pre & Post Evaluations…………………………………….…..150 References...…………………………………...………………………….…...155 Appendix….…………………………………...……………………………....166 Chapter 1 Introduction and Positionality The social studies are divisive. The social studies harness the past, but are molded to justify the narratives of current values. The values that are taught, the stories that are told, the methods that schools teach for interpreting the living past are all inherently controversial. For most parties involved, much is at stake, for even in the simplest of histories, and the implications of that history have tremendous ramifications of the present, and the direction of the future. This is nowhere truer than in the American history curriculum within high schools, with the greatest impact on urban or diverse settings, but so too affecting the nation as a whole. Curriculums are often battlegrounds, for what seems like innocuous lists of topics, contain a real power. For respect of this power, the methods of curriculum design, and the implementations of those curriculums, shall become a great inquiry and focus of my research and examination. Specifically, I seek to design and implement an American history curriculum that is both critical and democratic in nature. Through this study and proposal, there will be an exploration of the inherent characteristics of a democratic education, an analysis on the tremendously damaging qualities of the current American history curriculum, a review of history to offer both explanation of the current situation, as well as provide hope for the future, and finally, propose the creation and implementation of a new history course, the History of American Social Movements, a course designed to provide students with both the self-efficacy toward democratic involvement, as well as the practical tools of involvement. While the core details and philosophies behind this proposal will be provided in later chapters, it is imperative to begin with 1 an introduction both to the issue as a whole, and the aspects of my being which have led me to identify this problem. An Introduction to My Thematic Concern and Positionality It is often the case that a question of research, a problem of inquiry, is not the product of deliberate choice, but a response to inspiration, or of an issue that one cannot ignore. The reasons for one’s inability to look away are usually tied to the stake the researcher possesses, or of some trait that is ingrained in the fabric of the researcher, their positionality. My questions into American history curriculums are no exception to this pattern, as both my experiences, and positionality are inseparably linked to this research. Whatever Happened to Marcus Garvey?: An Overview of the Eagle High Curriculum For sake of anonymity, the high school of my current employment will from this point be referred to as “Eagle High.” Eagle High is a unique high school in southeastern Pennsylvania, on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Eagle High’s uniqueness is not merely because of its size, with almost four thousand students (4,000), but also due to its diversity. There are over seventy (70) different languages spoken in the halls of Eagle High, with languages such as Bengali, Urdu, and Liberian Creole far outnumbering the automatic assumption of Spanish in a diverse setting. Ironically, the majority of Eagle High students are minorities, and most come from middle to lower middle class backgrounds. Eagle High represents the living example of America as a nation of immigrants, and diverse cultures. This diversity of course leads to certain challenges, but mostly encourages learning opportunities that many students in homogenous schools do not experience. While the student body represents a microcosm of the world, the teaching and administrative staff are mostly comprised of Caucasian middle class men and women. The juxtaposition of the diverse student body and the community, compared to the homogeneous 2 nature of administration (representative of the old guard of Eagle High, before the decline in home values, and the diversification of the area) has led to a massive disconnect in values, especially in the American history curriculum. The American history curriculum currently in place in Eagle High represents the classic ethnocentric tenets of American history that perpetuates both the myths of what it means to be American, and that American history is one of constant and never-ending triumph. When the administration first gave me the curriculum to implement, I was shocked. The course begins with imperialism, in a unit clearly designed to praise America’s position of global influence, but then completely skips over the progressive era, and jumps straight into World War I. From there, the class enters the 1920s, in a unit which one colleague joked should be titled, “White people dancing.” There is no mention of the plight of immigrant populations, the eugenics movement, early civil rights leaders such as Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Du Bois, or even the Harlem Renaissance. The era is marked by upward expansion and change. The main focus of the unit is on the rise of big business,

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