Determined to ascend above the muck and mire of society, civilization and humanity, I choose to believe that we are all on the rise. We are all ascending to higher ground where peace and prosperity are the norm. We’re magnetizing a life of joy, justice, and balance to surround each and every one of us. We are proclaiming happiness and fulfillment.
2011 is the INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT
Curriculum for Black History – K-12
Sherrilyn Scott at the Miami-Dade Public Schools district office heads the Division of Life Skills. M-D schools were among the first to act as if they were implementing the State mandate to “infuse” the curriculum with African American History and Heritage. I believe there are some curriculum packages that have been developed.
Among the better things done along these lines is the work of Darlene Clark Hine, who developed one or more history textbooks.
Broward Schools had the annual African Heritage Forum for middle-schoolers. I developed quite a bit of material for that, under the aegis of Ernestine Ray’s company, but a lot of it never got used. The problem was the history began with slavery rather than where African American heritage really began – in Africa.
“Understanding the Legacy” should have been much more inclusive but the original documents for that (scared the bejeebers out of Powers-That-Were) were produced on one of my old computers, in an outdated program that is irretrievable. What they DID choose to use is in some of the handout booklets for the Forum coordinated by the Office of Multiculturalism.
Your inquiry has added timeliness, of course, because of 2011 being declared by the UN as the International Year for People of African Descent, and this being the first year of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, with the official theme of African Americans and the Civil War, both of which invite fresh new looks at “his story” and some diligent effort to retrieve more of our own. Applying that to the idea of K-12 curriculum means more than just history per se, but also application of the knowledge to science, math, art, music, geography, language(s), etc., etc.
The ASALH has curriculum and guidelines or past themes and the current one. The National Parks has resources, too.
In the recent past, many of us applied ourselves to the fascinating study of African cultural “retentions and reinventions.” This year looks like the time to simply “retain and reinvent” Africa itself, meaning the total popular perception of the continent and its people, including and especially the Diaspora.
I hope these notes help in some way.
Best,
DGT
September 25, 2011
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January 12, 2011
I do have several models of curriculum on Black History. I need to know what you are specifically interested in. I can help.
Drc
Patrick C. Coggins, Ph.D.,J.D.,LLD.(Hon.)
Jesse Ball duPont Endowed Chair Professor &
Founder/Director Multicultural Education Institute
College of Arts and Sciences
Stetson University
421 N. Woodland Blvd., Unit 8419
DeLand, Florida 32720
386.822.7360 (office)
561-707-0766 (cell)
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