EDU 202: Schooling in a Diverse American Society

Title of Activity/Assignment: History of American Education timeline. 

Artifact description: Students will dive into a critical discussion of the history of schooling in the United States. In groups they will produce an interactive timeline recounting the story of people of color (African Americans, Native Americans, Latinx, and Chinese Americans, and Pacific Islanders) and their struggles to provide an equitable schooling to their children. In groups, students will create a digital timeline of the accounts, legislations, and efforts of each of these communities. 

Rationale:

The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate to pre-service teachers how digital platforms such as Knightlab can be used to enhance their classroom content. Through learning about the history of schooling in the United States, pre-service teachers will make connections between prior events and the current state of education and educational policy. The Teacher Education Department at BMCC prepares future teachers of colors thought the lens of equity and inclusion. This activity will enhance their understanding of how schools continue to perpetuate inequality. We decided to create timelines for this topic because it will support students’ understanding of how history relates to their lived experiences with schooling and their communities.

Computational Thinking:

Decomposition, abstraction, algorithmic thinking, debugging, and Pattern Recognition: analyzing data and generalizing to broader social issues.

Course Learning Outcome:

Students will collect, evaluate and interpret data. a. Students will effectively use data to inform advocacy and practice. 2b. Students will use digital platforms.

Directions

Viewed historically, education operates compliant to the values and beliefs of the dominant group. It aimed to reinforce and support social dominance and assure control by reinforcing the dominant ethos. For racial groups, both the negation and control of educational opportunity became the process for measured dominance and strict control. This was how schooling distorted and constrained racial progress. In presuming to lead the way, education truly thwarted freedom; hence the reason why some minority leaders viewed education with concern and suspicion. Its purpose was not to serve the needs of a full and equitable society but to reflect stratified ideals, usurping the intellectual capacity of certain students by subjugating their personal drive. (p.64-65).

Noboa-Rios, A. (2019). The Story of Latinos and Education in American History. New York: Peter Lang.

History of American Education timeline

In order to understand the development of schooling in the United States, we will produce interactive online timelines recounting the story of people of color (African Americans, Native Americans, Latinx, and Chinese Americans) and their struggles to provide an equitable schooling to their children. In groups, we will create a digital timeline of the accounts, legislations, and efforts of each of these communities.

Before coming to our class session, please read Abdin Noboa-Rios’ The Story of Latinos and Education in American History (chapters 1 and 2). These chapters are provided on Blackboard in the History of American Education folder. 

PART 1:  Preparation for timeline:

  • In class, you will be assigned to a group and a specific ethnic/racial group: (African Americans, Native Americans, Latinx, or Chinese Americans)
  • Respond to the following questions:
    • Name the events, specify the dates when they occurred, and describe it in a sentence or two (in your own words).
    • What message does this particular moment convey? In what ways does it advance equity in education for students of color? In what ways does it threaten educational equity for students of color? Use text-based evidence, expand your research by searching different websites.
    • Include some media to go along with your post. SOME CHOICES:
      • Paste a link to a YouTube video (no longer than 2 minutes).
      • Paste an image – make sure you cite it with as much info as you have about it.

PART 2: Putting the Timeline Together (In Class)

STEP 1: Determine the most important events of your ethnic/racial group. Answer the above questions for each event, find media that supports your post. Remember to cite your sources.

STEP 2: On the timeline home page (Knightlab.com) you will find the timeline creator and tips to help you get started.

  1. Download the spreadsheet.
  2. Start with the headline (your ethnic/racial group).
  3. Enter the text (your most important events and answers to the questions above).
  4. Enter the dates (start and ending-if any).
    1. Include media in the section (google image, YouTube video, audio, or tweets). Make sure that you give credit to the sources where you got the media. Format for credits:
      1. IMAGES: Photographer, F.M. (Photographer). (Year, Month Date of Publication). Title of Photograph[digital image]. Retrieved from URL
      1. VIDEOS: Last Name, F.M. [Username]. (Year, Month Date).Title of video. [Video File]. Retrieved from URL

Note: For more information on what media to use click here: http://timeline.knightlab.com/docs/media-types.html

  • Do not edit the column headers, do not leave empty rows.
  • In the next row, continue inputting the following event from your timeline, answers to the questions, dates, and media. Make sure you cite your sources.
  • Repeat 1-6 for the remainder of the events until you have inputted all events.

STEP 3: Publish your timeline.

  1. Go to file and then publish to web. Copy the URL and paste it into the space in step 3 (from website).
  2. Preview your timeline. Troubleshoot. Go back to your spreadsheet to make edits.
  3. When your timeline is ready, copy the embedded code in step 4 (from website) and paste it on the Blackboard Discussion board for the History of American Education unit.

STEP 4:  Be ready to present your timeline to your classmates. Be prepared to answer questions.

Sample of the activity/assignment: You can see a sample timeline here.