A CASE FOR ANTHROPOLOGY AS THE INTEGRATING FORCE IN PRE-COLLEGIATE SOCIAL STUDIES ty JOE ALLEN WEEDMAN, B.S. in Bus. A THESIS IN ANTHROPOLOGY Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved Accepted August 1976 HD^"*^^ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am greatly indebted to Professor Evelyn I. Montgomery for her many helpful criticisms, suggestions, and particu­ larly for her understanding and patience throughout the several drafts of this thesis. I would also like to thank the other members of my committee. Professors William J, Mayer-Oakes and Philip A. Dennis for their many helpful suggestions. 11 PREFACE It is this writer's conviction that anthropology, the youngest of the social sciences and the integrating science, has too long been omitted from pre-collegiate curricula and that our children have suffered from this omission. The primary audience to which this thesis is directed, therefore, is that of school-system administrators, ele­ mentary school principals, and elementary teachers. For this reason those readers who may be more familiar with the structure and content of anthropology and the various elementary anthropological projects may wish to by-pass Chapter II. In order to place anthropology in its proper perspec­ tive Chapter I consists of a brief history of the social studies in the United States and of the development of an­ thropology into the social studies curriculum. When Sputnik I began orbiting the earth in 1957» there developed in the United States a newly intense awareness of the importance of a quality education for our children. We also began questioning the content as well as the quali­ ty of our curricula. As part of this new awareness, an­ thropology's potential contribution to a pre-collegiate curriculum, particularly in the social studies, began to be recognized. However, that potential is, as yet, far from being realized for two reasons. One reason is that anthropology has seldom been viewed • • • 111 as the basic, integrating science of the social studies that I contend it is. In Chapter IV, by the creation of a social studies unit employing folklore material, I have attempted to demonstrate the integrating value and effec­ tiveness of anthropology for the teaching of the social studies, particularly in the primary grades. A second reason anthropology's potential has yet to be realized is that not only several of the project teams which created anthropological units but also many authors of social studies textbooks have failed in their initial planning to consider adequately the problems characteris­ tic of any school setting. Seven of what I believe to be the major problems are examined in Chapter III. The chap­ ter also includes a list of criteria used to judge the merits of social studies curriculum materials, a review of an elementary social studies textbook and a unit produced by the Anthropology Curriculum Project for the elementary grades. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii PREFACE iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS viii INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter I. THE EVOLUTION OF THE SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM IN THE UNITED STATES 9 Entry of Anthropology into the Curriculum . 11 Anthropology in the Curriculum Since i960 . 13 Summary . 17 II. STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND OF THE SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM MATERIAL ... 19 Archeology 19 Cultural Anthropology 20 Physical Anthropology 22 Elementary Level Anthropological Projects . 23 Local School Social Studies Text 29 Summary 31 III. STANDARD CRITERIA AND VARIOUS PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE SOCIAL STUDIES PROGRAMS 32 Criteria 3^ Ideal Versus Actual Performance 38 Individual Differences in Learning: Problem One 38 Drastic Versus Gradual Change: Problem Two , . kO V Prejudicial Attitudes and Behaviors: Problem Three * M Values in a Classroom: Problem Four ^2 Ethnic Studies and Values: Problem Five ... 44 Teacher Attitudes and Expectations: Problem Six 45 Textbooks and Resource Materials: Problem Seven 47 Other Problems 48 Review of The Concept of Culture 50 Review of Regions Around The World 54 Summary 58 IV. FOLKLORE AS A BASIS FOR A SOCIAL STUDIES UNIT . 59 Folklore as Curriculum Material 6o A Four Week Social Studies Unit 63 Folklore Unit: First Week (>1 Lesson One: String Figures 67 Lesson Two: Riddles 74 Lesson Three: Proverbs 80 Folklore Unit: Second Week 85 Lesson One: Animal Tales 85 Lesson Two: Ordinary Tales 96 Lesson Three: Ordinary Tales ...... 105 Folklore Unit: Third Week 113 Lesson One: Jokes and Anecdotes II3 Lesson Two: Formula Tales 123 vi Lesson Three: Review 128 Folklore Unit: Fourth Week 129 Lesson One: Folksongs: The Black Experience 129 Lesson Two: Folk Heroes 137 Lesson Three: Civil Rights Movement . 142 A Unit on Folklore: Its Rationale 150 Folklore and Different Learning Styles . , I5I Folklore and Change 152 Folklore and Prejudicial Attitudes and Behaviors 152 Folklore and Values 153 Folklore and Ethnic Studies 153 Folklore and Teacher Attitudes and Expectations 154 Folklore and Resource Material 154 CONCLUDING STATEMENT 155 NOTES 157 REFERENCES CITED . 0 158 ADDITIONAL REFERENCES I68 Vll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Partially Constructed String Figure . 71 2, Completed Cat's Cradle String Figure 72 Vlll INTRODUCTION In Minneapolis, a small group of students reflect upon a reproduction of an ancient statutette, speculating as to the kind of society that might have produced it. In Berkeley, California, high school seniors read a scholarly article comparing the European conception of authority with the very different conceptions that underlie the individualism of certain American Indian groups. In Illi­ nois, fourth grade pupils work through sets of picture cards, sorting scenes of urban and rural life, the begin­ ning steps of a substantial inquiry into the origins and nature of cities. In Buffalo, New York, pupils watch a color movie on the child-rearing practices of the Netsilik Eskimos. These separate classroom events have a common context. They all occur in connection with experimental units de­ signed to test the contribution of anthropology to the social studies. Anthropology has been the most under­ utilized social science in the traditional social studies program. However, evidence from several quarters suggests that that period of neglect is almost over (Nimkoff I966; Michaelis I968; Jarolimek 1971; Lee 1974). Certain developments in the social studies have created a need for the specialties offered by anthropolo­ gists. Among these developments is the interest in non- 1 2 Western cultures and in Western ethnic studies. The ma­ terial frequently includes brief overviews of various cul­ tures and ethnic groups. Anthropologists, whose methods demand intensive work in the field and whose training develops a sensitivity for the wholeness of cultures, will, by providing in-depth studies of specific groups, be able to offer a complementary approach to the brief overviews as they are currently presented. This approach will be characterized by case materials that make in-depth study possible and by an emphasis on the interrelatedness of an economy, social organization, political system, technology, and the many other factors that comprise a culture. Those who wish anthropology to play a part in the social studies do not imagine that the discipline can play more than a part. Yet the role of anthropology can be an important one, adding significantly to the impact of the social studies. The explicit curriculum of the schools probably has less influence on the pupils than any teacher would care to admit (Lortie 1975). Nevertheless, the influence of the social studies prograins could be increased if such pro­ grams provided young minds with the opportunity to see hu­ man affairs and their role in it, in a larger perspective, with new power to explain and with a greater depth of under^ standing of social phenomena. In such a social studies prograjn, anthropology will have a significant contribution to make. There are, however, many problems in developing rele­ vant curricula for public school prograins. This thesis will be centered around an examination of several of those problems - teachers' attitudes and expectations, ethnic studies and values, individual differences in learning, textbooks and resource materials, prejudicial attitudes and behaviors, drastic versus gradual change, and values in a classroom- An elementary school curriculum unit, em­ ploying folklore as the primary instructional discipline, will then be created that will take into consideration the various problems discussed. The unit will further attempt to turn into a working reality a suggestion by two profes­ sional anthropologists (See Gearing I970 and Dundes 1974) that folklore is excellent material for an elementary so­ cial studies curriculum. Before proceeding to the design and creation of an anthropological unit for the social studies, it will be helpful to designate exactly what is meant by the terms social studies, anthropology, and culture. The Social Studies Clements, Fielder, and Tabachnick regard the social studies as an activity: "...it is the effort to pose and ajiswer questions about people as they may be, or have been 4 found in the various cities, villages, nations, and terri­ tories on our planet" (Clements et al 1966:3). The authors later expand upon their earlier defini­ tion: By social study, then we mean: 1. The process of learning about variety and change in the actions of people as they arrange to live together in groups. This learning goes on through the gathering and interpreting of social data, as well as through critical examination of the conclusions and generalizations of social scientists. 2. The development of intellectual skill appropriate to this study. a. Acquiring a language whose content and struc­ ture are capable of patterning, ordering, and communicating social realities. b. Acquiring the "suppleness of mind" that per­ mits the examination of alien individual and cultural forms (Clements et_ al 1966:13). This expanded definition of the social studies is quite similar to the definition of a working anthropolo­ gist.