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And the data are telling us that we're not serving them and we're not meeting their needs," Castro-Gill said. "Increasingly, our demographics are (majority) students of color. It's an idea that started gaining traction in Seattle's school district in 2016. Talking to a friend about her offensive Halloween costume and why cultural appropriation is disrespectfulĬlasses might also talk about how different cultures have practiced math, such as how Aztecs used a base-20 number system, as opposed to the base-10 system Americans use. "The numbers are objective," she said, "but how we use it is not objective." Another might be a lesson on ratios that discusses gaps in incarceration rates and how the weight of a type of drug determines the length of a sentence. One example teachers might mention in an ethnic studies math class, she said, is how black voters in the South were given literacy and numeracy tests before they could cast their ballot. "It's how math is used as a tool for oppression."
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"Nowhere in this document says that math is inherently racist," she said. It's not that the formulas and equations taught in current math classes are racist, Castro-Gill said it's about how they're used in daily life. "That's why identity is so core to math and science." It affects their efficacy, their ability to engage in that kind of learning," she said. "There are studies that talk about specifically black and brown students not being seen as scientists or mathematicians. This mindset extends to mathematics and science, Castro-Gill said. Structural racism in the country has mistaught white people about themselves that they don't have culture, that they don't have roots." "And, it can help white students understand themselves better.
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"When students can see themselves in curriculum and see diversity in curriculum, they respond better," Au said. There were significant effects on GPA specific to math and science, the study said, and boys and Hispanic students improved the most. Here’s why teacher activism is on the rise.Ī 2016 Stanford University report looked at ethnic-studies classes in San Francisco high schools and found that attendance increased by 21% and GPA increased by 1.4 grade points. Tracy Castro-Gill, the SPS ethnic-studies program manager, added that these themes are rooted in research that suggests there are immense academic and social benefits to learning ethnic studies.Ĭhicago’s striking teachers helped spark a new wave of teacher activists. "We do talk about institutionalized racism and the histories and trajectories of racism in the country, but that doesn't mean white kids need to be demonized in that process," he said. Some detractors, Au said, don't understand what ethnic studies is. It's not the first time the project has been attacked. Several online critics voiced their disapproval, insisting that Seattle schools were trying to politicize a subject that often serves as a universal language with clear, objective answers. Seattle's recently released proposal includes questions like, "Where does Power and Oppression show up in our math experiences?" and "How is math manipulated to allow inequality and oppression to persist?" history class, for example, histories of oppression, institutionalized racism, community organizing and resistance can be worked into the lesson plan, said Wayne Au, a professor at the University of Washington, Bothell, who has helped lead Seattle's ethnic-studies initiative.