Assignment J -Multiple Perspectives

"The democratic idea (that all are equal in the eyes of God) is one of the grand contributions of the age of Europe even given the imperial expansion, the colonial subjugation of Africa and Asia, the pernicious and vicious crimes against working people and people of color and so forth. So ambiguous a legacy means... we have got to keep two ideas in our minds at the same time. The achievements as well as the downfalls. The grand contributions and the vicious crimes."-Cornel West

The findings of Barton and Levstik show that students have difficulties reconciling the ideals of America with the ambiguities of American history.

Students are able to identify major themes and trends in U.S. History. According to the study, students see the idea of freedom as a uniquely American concept. The Bill of Rights granted freedoms that helped make the United States a "good and moral society". The study showed that students saw the progressive expansion of rights, opportunities and freedoms as a central theme in American history. While students understand that American history is filled with injustices and historic hardships, they see the extension of rights and opportunities as part of a process of creating a more fair and just society. Students are also able to identify the importance of technological advances in making contemporary life possible.

Where students run into trouble is with ambiguous and controversial events in history. According to the study, most students viewed events that signified changes in culture, as opposed to advances in freedom or technology, as being historically insignificant. Students also had a difficult time determining why World War II and Vietnam were historically important. For some students, military involvement on behalf of foreigners in need was proof of America’s moral superiority. Students viewed these wars from the perspective of their impact on the United States, rather than from a global context. According to the study, students did not understand why there were protests against the Vietnam War, and did not understand that other wars in U.S. history had also been protested. Students also had a difficult time assessing the significance of the Great Depression. Students were unsure of the causes for the Great Depression; students often felt that the Depression was a punishment for American hubris. Students in the study saw the Great Depression as an exception to a uniformly prosperous history, students failed to understand that there have been other periods of economic decline in American history.

The biggest contradictions that students saw in American history involved racism and sexism. According to the study, students believed that “rights were given, not wrested from a resistant society. Oppressed or disenfranchised people noticed that they did not have the same rights as others and asked for amelioration, redress was granted (or was in process), and reconciliation followed”. Students see that racism an sexism still exist in society, and have a difficult time grappling with the reality that having rights does not equate to having equality. This reality does not fit into the narrative of the expansion of rights, freedoms and opportunities.

Students are able to recognize the grand contribution of the democratic idea in history. Where students have difficulties is seeing how the vicious crimes of history fit into the framework of the official history. As history teachers, we need to make sure that our students do not accept the official history without question and are aware of the ambiguities of the present. Students need to be presented with multiple perspectives of historical events, so that they can determine the historical significance of the past for themselves. Students need to be provided with the tools to critically examine history and with a forum to talk about history and its implications on the present so students can develop a framework for making sense out of the past.


Articles Cited: Keith C. Barton and Linda S. Levstik "It Wasn't a Good Part of History":National Identity and Students' Explanations of Historical Significance

Doppen, Frans. "Teaching and Learning Multiple Perspectives: The Atomic Bomb." The Social Studies (2000) 91 no. 4. pp 159-169.

Assignment H- Globalization, Immigration and Citizenship

Globalization has led to increased immigration world wide. According the 2000 census, 32.5 million people in the United States, approximately 11.5 percent of the total population are immigrants. The unprecedented movement of people “threatens both the identities of the original residents of the areas in which newcomers settle and those of the immigrants and their children” (173). Today’s immigrants are increasingly diverse and a vulnerable to the social traumas of prejudice and social exclusion. Phenotypic racial differences can have considerable implications for the ease of assimilation of immigrants into the dominant culture. Even as immigrants gain language and cultural fluency, immigrants of color can face “perpetual foreigner syndrome” making full assimilation into a new culture impossible (178). Societal barriers, intolerance, and racism encountered by many immigrants’ increases the stresses of immigration.
Immigrant youth in particular are challenged to navigate between achieved identities and ascribed or imposed identities. Individuals with achieved identity develop a sense of belonging. Ascribed identity is imposed from either the members of their own group or members of the dominant culture. Identity formation for immigrant children can also be hindered by “cultural distance” between the parent and the new culture (179). The greater the difference between the native and dominant culture the greater the identity confusion. Immigrant youth are faced with the challenge of “double-consciousness”, a sense of seeing themselves through the eyes of others. Negative stereotypes towards immigrants held by the dominant culture can have a detrimental effect on immigrant youth. In these circumstances immigrant youth can fall victim to “stereotype threat”. Youth become resigned to the negative reflections of the dominant culture, leading to low aspirations, low academic performance and engagement, and self depreciating behaviors. Immigrant youth may develop an adversarial stance, identities that are based on rejecting the institutions of the dominant culture. Among these immigrant youth who develop an adversarial stance, embracing aspects of the dominant culture is seen as giving up one’s own cultural identity, for example, doing well in school can be seen as a signal for ethnic betrayal (189-190).
Identity formation for immigrant youth does not always have negative consequences. Many immigrant youth are able to fuse aspects of their parent culture and their new culture. Immigrants who do this synthesize an identity that allows them to incorporate aspects and fuse elements of each culture (192). Immigrant youth who acquire these competencies might be at an advantage in the globalized economy. “The cognitive flexibility that this multiple perspective taking requires is becoming an ever more essential trait for the global citizen” (174).


article cited:
Suarez-Orozco, C (2004)Formulating Identity in a Globalized World. In M. Suarez-Orozco and Qin-Hilliard (eds.) Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millennium.

Assignment G- Globalization

I believe that the teaching and learning concepts in Preparing Citizens for a Global Community, a position statement presented by the National Council for the Social Studies addresses the concerns about the impact of globalization on education as outlined by M. Suarez-Orozco and Qin-Hilliard’s article Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millennium. Both recognize that globalization is changing the world, and that the current education system needs to be rethought in order to prepare students to engage in this changing world.
Suarez-Orozco and Qin-Hilliard believe that in order to prepare students for the changes that are taking place due to globalization, education needs to develop students’ cognitive skills, interpersonal sensibilities, and cultural sophistication (3). Students need to be able to understand the global system, have the ability to think analytically and creatively both within and outside disciplinary boundaries, have knowledge of the culture and traditions of others as well as respect for ones own cultural traditions, be able to cultivate hybrid identities, and foster tolerance and appreciation across racial, linguistic, national, and cultural boundaries (23-24).
The NCSS thinks that social studies can be means of providing students with a global and international education. Global and international education aims for students to: gain knowledge of world cultures; understand the historical, geographic, economic, political, cultural, and environmental relationships among world regions and people; examine the nature of cultural differences and national or regional conflicts; act to influence public policy and private behavior on behalf of international understanding; act with tolerance and empathy (2). In order to engage students in global education, educators should use an interdisciplinary approach, take advantage of technology, use primary sources from other countries, include “internationally experienced” members of the community in the classroom, emphasize interactive methodology (Model U.N. etc), address global issues, and encourage multiple perspectives (7).
The NCSS addresses the concerns about globalization that were presented by Suarez-Orozco and Qin-Hilliard. The NCSS agrees that the world is rapidly changing, information technology is increasing contact among people, political changes have lead to increased interaction among governments and a growing influence of Non-Government Organizations, and that the world economy is progressively more connected and interdependent. Students need to be able to learn about, appreciate, and tolerate people of different cultures. The NCSS also agrees that in order to prepare students to successfully engage in the globalized world, an interdisciplinary approach is required and that students need to be able to approach global issues from multiple perspectives. What are missing from each article are models and methods for transferring these ideas into the classroom. While it is important to be aware of problems that exist in education; it does teachers little good if there are no models for implementing these new approaches into the curriculum.

Articles Cited:
Suarez-Orozco, M and Qin-Hilliard D (2004) Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millennium , Berkeley, CA: Univ of CA Press

NCSS, Preparing Citizens for a Global Community