I am a second-grade teacher. Many people ask me, “You teach second-graders about slavery, Jim Crow, sweatshops…?” Yes, I do! My students—young children—can understand complex systems of oppression and resistance by seeing justice as fairness, solidarity and collective power as teamwork, nonviolence as not hurting others and Jim Crow as unfair rules.
“¡Sí se puede!” and “Jim Crow must go!” are just two examples of the statements that my students have written, spoken, sung and chanted in my classroom. Students expressed these phrases within the context of a yearlong multidisciplinary social studies curriculum that traces the process of creating cotton clothing. Now you may ask, why focus on cotton clothing? It is a familiar garment to students and a lens through which we can examine systems of oppression—enslavement, sharecropping and sweatshops—and the mass movements that grew in response.
The curriculum engages and inspires my students to produce sophisticated, high-quality work—and to develop a social justice spirit. They learn that Frederick Douglass and Phillis Wheatley struggled to read and write, yet used these skills to confront slavery. They learn that the Nashville sit-ins were part of strategic campaigns to defy Jim Crow and that women and immigrants led the struggle for justice in the mills and garment shops. The curriculum shows students that people of color and women used the power of literacy, language, numeracy and other academic skills to defeat oppression—and that people can join together with allies to form mass movements that overcome bias. Students engage with these ideas through hands-on activities, including composing and presenting abolitionist speeches and organizing against unfair labor conditions in a workplace role-play.
Anti-bias topics are often taught in ways that burden—and even harm—young children. Tailoring the curriculum to the developmental level of 7- and 8-year-olds involves reminding myself not to focus on horror and despair. Instead, I focus on showing that resistance and collective action can—and has—overcome injustice. As I was told many years ago by diversity educator Dr. Clem Marshall, “Focus on the flames, not the ashes!” In my experience, this focus on the “flames” allows children to gain pride in their identities and fully engage in their studies.
What about the kids in my classroom whose identities reflect the dominant culture? How do I ensure that my teaching does not lead to feelings of guilt? My strategy involves teaching about white allies—William Lloyd Garrison, John Woolman, Pete Seeger and Freedom Riders. These people show us that anyone can be an ally in the struggle for human justice.
It is not fate that slavery was abolished, that women gained the right to vote, that polluted rivers have been cleaned or that our school is equipped with smoke detectors and fire sprinklers. All children need to learn that social movements do not just happen, but require the work and sacrifices of real people striving to improve the world. This awareness allows them to see the legacies of courage and collective resistance that we inherit and to understand that it will take continued struggles to face the power of polluters, corrupt bankers, homophobic legislators, xenophobic mobs and anti-labor groups.
I feel passionately that curricula infused with anti-bias and social justice principles are essential components of “high academic standards.” Just as we must teach children to read critically and to write clearly, we must also provide them with curricula that support the development of strong identities dedicated to justice for all.
!Sí se puede!
Hoeh is a second-grade teacher at Cambridge Friends School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is also a recipient of the 2014 Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching.
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