DOCUMENT RESUME ED 350 247 SO 022 642 AUTHOR Townsend, Catherine M., Ed.; McAbee,Patti, Ed. TITLE Incorporating Local Culture into theClassroom: An In-Service for Teachers. INSTITUTION Savannah Valley Cultural ConservationConsortium. PUB DATE 92 NOTE 100p.; A product of theCross-Curricular Resources for Humanities in the ClassroomProject. Some photographs and photocopied documentswill not reproduce well. PUB TYPE Guides Non-Classroom Use (055) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC04 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Community Resources; CulturalEducation; Educational Resources; Elementary SecondaryEducation; *Folk Culture; *Inservice Teacher Education;Instructional Materials; *Local History; SocialStudies; *Teaching Methods IDENTIFIERS *South Carolina ABSTRACT These materials are designedto serve as an in-service program for South Carolina teachers interested inusing local history and culture in their classrooms. The materialsare organized around four different topics, each of which stems froman interview with educators expert in the incorporation oflocal culture in the classroom. The four topics and expertsare: Getting Started in the Right Direction (Mark Wetherington); Getting It Straightfrom the Horses' Mouths: Regional Literature and Non-TraditionalSources (Charles Joyner); Bringing It Home to Roost: Using Folkloreto Stimulate Learning (Gail Matthews-DeNatale); and Smack inthe Middle of It All: Student-Centered Learning (Eliot Wigginton).Materials organized under each of these topics have been written bypracticing classroom teachers and include suggested activities. Transcriptsof the expert interviews anda list of additional resources and suggested readings alsoare included. (DB) ********************************************************************** 1.eprucluc1ions suppilea oy 1uc * are me best that can be mate from the original document. *********************************************************************** e --AIL_ _.-........ U S DEPARTMENT Office of Educational OF EDUCATION Resear0 and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 3.1rhisdocument has been received from the personreproduced as originating it or organization O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction duality Points of view or opinions went do not necessarilyslated in this docu OERI positron or policy represent official "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Ca -V t.N_.tn. -10L0t-JS'c-Nib TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC" EST COPYMILK Incorporating Local Culture Into the Classroom An In-Service for Teachers Learning Kit Contents A Videotape of the interviews with Dr. Mark Wetherington, Dr. Charles Joyner, Dr. Gail Matthews-DeNatale, and Eliot Wiggtinton Teaching Guide Edited by Cate Townsend and Patti McAbee to accompany the video tapes "Shining Moments: The FOXFIRE Approach to Teaching" Video tape and companion book ON DOING LOCAL HISTORY by Carol Kammen COLLECTING FOLK ARTS from the McKissick Museum COMMUNITY AS CLASSROOM from the S.C. Department of Archives and History Bibliography on Local History Materials published by Jan Rosenberg FOLKLIFE AND FIELDWORK from the American Folk Life Center LEARNING FROM YOUR COMMUNITY by Dr. Gail Matthews- DeNatale Reprints of ERIC Documentts About Local History Celebrating Diversity: A Global Approach to Literature and World Culture Classroom Activities for Cross-Cultural Learning Multicultural Folktales: A Golden Mine of Literature Planning for Multicultural Education at the Elementary and Middle . School Sharing Stories: Multicultural Traditions iii Incorporating Local Culture Into the Clasisroorn S CAROLINA HEAR An In-Service for Teachers Teaching Guide Edited by Cate Townsend Patti McAbee Spring 1992 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Incorporating LocalCulture Into the Classroom An In-Service for Teachers Table of Contents Teaching Guide Preface... Written by Patti McAbee, McCormick Arts Council Introduction.... Written by Cate Town lend, Project REACH Any Family Can Make I listory" Ellen J. Miller A Review of RelevantResearch and Articles ... Written by Cate Townsend 5 lumanitas: A Thematic Curriculum" ....PamelaR. Archer "A.s.sessmcnt as Theater: Stagingan Exposition" .... Thomas Barone "('hanging 'The Way Things Are DoneAround I !ere'.... Bonne Sue Adams Comments on SpecificInterviews, Summaries of views, suggestions approaches and 21 Getting Started in the Right DirectionDr. Mark Wetherington 25 "Kids Care About Social Action"....Barbara A. Lewis "Don't Know Much About I listory ?" .....leanGrasso Fitzpatrick Getting It Straight From theHorses' Mouths: Regional Literatureand Non-Traditional Sources-- Dr. Charles Joyner 39 Sample Documents: 13111 of Sale of Wife T.1). Goodwyn, Mayor of Columbia Written Document Analysis Worksheet Cartoon Analysis Worksheet Map Analysis Worksheet Sound Recording Analysis Worksheet Poster Analysis Worksheet Bringing It Home To Roost: Using Folklore to Stimulate Learning- Dr. Gail 57 Matthews-DeNatale Teacher Related Activities Centered on the Idea of Folklore in tile Classroom.... Written by Sally KaulTmann "Our Stories of the Storm".... Gail Matthews "Back to the Future: Pendleton Then andNow" RF,ACI I Project Pendleton Junior High Schcxrl "Reaching Back to Go Forward".... REACI I Project Jasper County I ligh School Smack in the Middle of It AU:Student-Centered Learning-- Eliot VVigginton. FOXFIRE 72 Suggested activities and classroom applicationswritten by Patricia Davis "Culture Begins At I tome".... Eliot Wigginton Interview Transcripts 82 List of Additional Resources andSuggested Readings 92 Preface All too often we as members ofthe community rely on the "system" of education to instillwithin our students the critical understanding of our world. Somehow we expect that through the study of social studies,history, current events, and civics our children will learnof their own community. Perhaps more importantly, thatthey will develop the desire to become an involved citizen who makesriccis..i,,nm ha=ed nn a knowledge of the community, itshistory, its culture and its specialness. But how woefully wrong weare to simply assume that the "system" can be the universalintellect which imparts the unique knowledge of a place to its students. This group I've referred toas members of the community must assume a larger role in assisting educatorsthrough the process of student learning in manyways, particularly in learning about the students own community, culture andheritage. Through this in-service package the McCormick ArtsCouncil at the Keturah has supported this notion of community involvementby building partnerships with teachers, school districts,the state education department, and other groups to assist studentsin learning. Taking the partnership farther will involvethe students in determining much of what is studied and theform of learning. This "fox fire" approach to student-centeredlearning is far more than writing about traditional methods ofcommunity living. To fully involve the students by 11introducing access to previously collected knowledge and 2) guiding them througha process of choosing the methods through which theymay gain more knowledge is the core of the last section of thismaterial entitled "Smack in the Middle ofIt All". The case is made over and over in the bodyof this package for the issue of studying local culture. The scholars which have been interviewed by teachers have repeatedly riotedthat a student-centered study of local culture bringsenthusiasm, awareness, and concern into the learning process for the people involved. Dr. Mark Wetherington imparts that "thesense of place is extremely important in our society today". And Dr. Gail Matthews-DeNatale shares that when students have the opportunity to study their own culture and history then theyare empowered to choose what to continue in their cultureor what may not endure. But only through an acute awareness of localculture and history are students able to capture the opportunity to cognitively accept or change the forces which shape their lives withintheir own community. For teachers, it is important to note that thefour primary sections of this in-service package were written byteachers. The teachers are in various disciplines and employedat various schools. Each of them, however, shares the pursuit fordeeper student involvement in learning- particularly in learning about the student's cultural identity. Sally Kauffmann, a music teacher in McCormick, SC, says that folk arts and folk music is reflective of a particular locale and that the studentcan best IX learn by working along with the artist. This is far from the long-held practice of requiring a student to read pages of social studies to learn "American culture". The study of various cultures is keenly important and is also best done in throughan involved process however the point to be made here is that the basis of cultural knowledge is the rapt understanding of one's own culture and history. It is the sole intent of this in-service publication to serve as an aid to the process of guiding students through a process of learning their own culture and local history so that they may fully develop their unique potential as discriminating citizens. There are many resources included for ready reference which are augmented by a myriad of additional resources and suggested readings. Finally, a sincere word of appreciation to those involved in the partnership which has developed this material. Cate Townsend, educator and leader, has been the single reason that the publication went to press. Cate has devote:: much time and