Subversive Criticality in an ELA Classroom
Subversive Criticality in an ELA Classroom
De
los Rios, Lopez & Morrell’s “Critical Ethnic Studies in High School Classrooms:
Academic Achievement via Social Action” makes a strong case for the need to
rethink educational practices in order to better represent the changing
demographic in America’s public schools. They point out, “Of the 6.9 million
students who are enrolled in the nation’s largest 60 school districts, 71% of
them are either African American or Latino.” Studying current trends in the
U.S. population, they point out, “While a generation ago, America’s schools
could have been identified as predominantly White, this group now compromises
just 52% of the national population and by 2023 it is projected that nationwide
White students will only compromise 45% of the U.S. population.” In light of
this fact, it seems hard to deny that educational practices need to be examined
in order to best serve all students, and if schools are becoming more
academically diverse, there is a need to consider this diversity when planning
and implementing curriculum. They point out that “In one generation, the U.S.
has fallen from second to eleventh worldwide in the percentage of 25-34 year
olds who have completed a college degree,” and, in considering the impact of
this change, they warn “a critically educated population is a nonnegotiable for
the strength of our multicultural democracy and our national character.” These
are just a few reasons why De los Rios, Lopez & Morrell argue that American
schools need to do away with “race neutral” curricula in our schools.
The
need for this shift in educational practices was well presented in Precious
Knowledge, a film depicting the impact of the implementation, and eventual removal
of, Ethnic Studies courses in Tucson, Arizona in 2008-2009. In the film, we see
a series of interviews, class discussions, and school lessons dealing with the
empowerment, or lack thereof, of Mexican American youth going to school in the
city. One young man explains, “Sometimes I feel like the education system is so
against me, that they don’t want me here.” He is not alone in feeling this way.
To further support the young man’s feelings, the film goes on to point out that
Mexican Americans dropout rate exceeds 50%, the highest among any minority
group in America. The film makes it abundantly clear that, for many minority
youth in this country, schools are not currently set up to serve their needs.
We see this point reinforced when we see Dr. Duncan- Andrade working with a
group of Tucson teachers during a professional development session. Pushing
back on one teacher’s claim that students today are lazy and unmotivated, he
explains that this is the same argument teachers have been making for
generations about their students without adapting to meet student needs. “I’ve
never met a kid with a dysfunctional relationship with learning,” he says. “I’ve
met a lot of kids with a dysfunctional relationship with school.” Against this
backdrop, we see the overwhelming anecdotal and statistical evidence that
Ethnic Studies education had a positive impact on the students of Tucson.
However,
Precious Things can also be viewed as a cautionary example of the
politicization of policy making around education. Too often, educational policy
is made and imposed on schools by non-educators. This was on full display in
the film when we saw John Huppenthal, then an Arizona senator who would go on
to become Commissioner of Education for the state, visit an Ethnic Studies
class. Rather than focusing on the stories that the students tell regarding the
positive impact of Ethnic Studies on their learning and their lives, he
expresses concerns that too many black and brown faces decorate the classroom walls
and wonders why Thomas Jefferson (a founding father of America who fathered
children with his slaves) isn’t displayed among them. In reflecting on the
quality of instruction delivered by the teacher, Huppenthal comments on his
grooming and professional dress as evidence of his competence. Without
intending to, Huppenthal’s comments show the privileged lens through which he
views education and implements policy.
This topic became all too real for me this week as I took breaks between reading and researching and turned on the national news. It would seem that a condemnation of Ethnic Studies and criticality around race in schools has become one of the most politically divisive topics in America. Below I have linked quotes made by Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, as well as Governor Ron Desantis, regarding race and education in just the past week. I include these clips to illustrate how truly divisive CRT has become in this country regardless of the positive impact instruction has had on students, and to make the case that teachers need to be ready to ensure that they present their students the opportunity to see the world through a critical lens, while considering the potential pushback they may receive regarding their instructional practices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuNaLRBBz_M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s1W48-Bny8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLAY-jaxIUo
To
this end, I think it is important to be pragmatic about policy making in
America’s schools. I think it is essential to understand the fear that too many
policy makers have regarding the “darkening of America”, and the lengths they
are willing to go to push back against it. To this end, I would take less of a
radical approach, but more of a subversive one. I don’t need to hang posters of
Karl Marx, a frightening thinker for many right-wing policy makers, on my
classroom walls in order to help students understand the impact of capitalism
on their lives. I don’t need to teach about Che Guevara, seen by many Americans
as a terrorist, in order to help students see systemic injustice and the need
to rebel against it. If I know what to anticipate regarding pushback against my
instruction, I can be more subversive in my approach so that I can allow my
students to discover the truth,
rather than for me to teach it explicitly.
One
lesson that I could use to help my students see the impact of race and equity
would be by study RI schools. I would provide students with RI property tax
rates by town, the most current RICAS results available, and cost per pupil
spent in RI districts. By asking students to overlap these three pieces of data
and look for trends through the lens of intersectionality, students will
organically begin to notice disparities regarding access to education. Once
these discrepancies are noted, we would engage in critical discussions centered
on what the contributing factors might be. It won’t take long for the
conversation to turn to racial differences between communities, and in this
manner, reach the conclusion that race is a major factor in terms of
educational access. By framing the
lesson in this manner, I feel that my students will reach the intended
conclusions in a manner less likely to be seen as divisive by uninformed policy
makers and more likely to allow me to bring a critical lens into the classroom.
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