Mid Year Update Since launching our Interrogating and Reimagining Representations project for Ethnic Studies, we have been thrilled with the level of excitement and engagement from educators and community members. Taking inspiration from across various disciplines, local educators have been developing Ethnic Studies…
Historical events and individuals, cross-cutting themes and concepts, essential skills and dispositions, connections to multiple communities and the present—a history/social science teacher’s course and scope and sequence is far-ranging and crowded to say the least. To teach their students well, teachers know all…
This past summer (2021), over 90 teachers and several renowned scholars came together to explore the history of racial categories for a three-day workshop supported by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program. We looked at different historical case studies to…
The last of three commemorative mission bells in Santa Cruz was removed August 28, 2021 from where it has stood since 1906. This act of healing signals concerted efforts by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to remove these symbols celebrating the colonial…
California adopted the State Seal of Civic Engagement in the Fall of 2020. It is designed to honor and award students who demonstrate extended and deep civic engagement through meeting five criteria. We are excited about this initiative, not only because it explicitly…
If you were raised in California, perhaps you remember choosing a mission to learn about and subsequently constructing a model out of popsicle sticks or clay during your fourth-grade year. Today, learning about the California mission system continues to occupy a central place…
Three weeks from an election that many argue will determine the future of our democracy, teachers are grappling with how to adequately guide their students through the constant stream of news about efforts to imperil voting for specific groups. From felons’ voting rights…
One hundred and fifty (!) educators came to talk and think together June 24 in the Northern California Call to Action for History Educators. We talked about honoring Black Lives Matter and working towards a more just future. Teachers shared resources and had…
What was the Bracero Program, and why is it important to recognize its importance beyond the World War II era? How did the program change over time? The Bracero Program began during WWII but it spanned 22 years (1942-1964). What are the lasting…
How do I effectively use primary sources to engage my diverse students in historical inquiry and thinking? How do I integrate the environment and environmental literacy into my curricula? In the summer of 2019, 22 teachers joined us in a four-day workshop, sponsored…
What would it mean to mark the nation’s birth with the date 1619, the year that 20-30 enslaved Africans were brought as cargo to Point Comfort, Virginia, and sold to colonists, rather than 1776? How might a new periodization shape our understandings of…
Content, Inquiry, Literacy and Civics! High quality history and civics education is vital to building a more just society and preparing all students to be literate, knowledgeable, and engaged citizens. In California, the new Framework for History-Social Science outlines a focus on integrating more student…