Ethnic Studies Continues to Expand Throughout California Schools
New history ethnic studies will be offered as an option for students for the 2024-25 school year.
By Jocelyn Cosgrove
New history ethnic studies will be offered as an option for students for the 2024-25 school year.
By Jocelyn Cosgrove
After the implementation of ethnic studies literature during the 2022-23 school year, U.S. ethnic studies has been added to the class options for junior year social studies for the upcoming school year.
In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law that students are required to take at least one ethnic studies course to graduate, starting with the 2029-30 senior class. The law also states that high schools must begin implementing these classes into the course list by the 2025-26 school year. This new class will be offered to juniors and will be centered around teaching the stories of different ethnic groups during U.S. history.
“The course will follow the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, which focuses on four foundational disciplines: African American, Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x, Native American, and Asian American (and) Pacific Islander studies,” said Assistant Principal of Instruction Alison Zuniga in an email. “The focus on the experiences of these four disciplines provides an opportunity for students to learn of the histories, cultures, struggles, and contributions to American society of these historically marginalized people.”
The new course will be taught by history teacher Alan Smart, who volunteered to take the class when it was given to the department.
“I found it interesting. And I talked to (Priya) Talreja who also teaches the ninth grade level one, so I have also been interested in it. Once they decided to offer it, I decided I wanted to be the one who taught it,” said Smart.
Smart feels the new ethnic studies course will shine light on the point of views of minority groups from before the formation of the U.S. to the present day.
“So the standpoint of most U.S. history comes from those written by white Americans and now this one will be more of an ethnic background,” said Smart. “So it will be taking the backgrounds of Chicano Americans during the time, Native Americans and other individuals and kind of get their side of the story in the U.S. and the development of the United States.”
English teacher Ashley Pham, who has taught ethnic studies literature for two years now, feels that these classes are important for high school students to learn about so that they have a better grasp of different historical perspectives and literature by people of other ethnicities.
“I think the best thing that comes out of ethnic studies is the idea that there is enough with what we already have,” said Pham. “I think we get to tap into a lot of cultures that are rich and diverse and we probably wouldn’t hear about if we continued to teach the same curriculum of U.S. history, European history, like classic romantic Shakespeare in English.”
With the other ethnic studies classes, English teacher Stephanie Harvey feels students going from ethnic studies literature to U.S. ethnic studies will aid in the growth of how they look at the world.
“I think its been really cool that people to this day, they come up to me and they are like ‘you know, like I watched this movie and now I am noticing the oppression that is happening or I am noticing the voices that aren’t heard’ and I think that is really great that people are able actually to take the skills and things we talk about and actually apply it to things they see in real life. I think that just makes you such a stronger observer and it just makes you a stronger thinker as well,” said Harvey.
As Smart prepares for the training needed for this new class, he hopes students will be able to learn more about their own opinions and the opinions of others who have stories to tell about U.S. history.
“I’m hoping they learn to actually learn about their own biases and then learn how to see from different points of views and not just what is taught to them, but to look outside of what’s just seen and see the other elements that make up anything and everything that they learn,” said Smart. “So they don’t narrow their focus on just their beliefs or what's taught to them, but they look at all the different things and come to a conclusion from multiple sources.”
In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law that students are required to take at least one ethnic studies course to graduate, starting with the 2029-30 senior class. The law also states that high schools must begin implementing these classes into the course list by the 2025-26 school year. This new class will be offered to juniors and will be centered around teaching the stories of different ethnic groups during U.S. history.
“The course will follow the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, which focuses on four foundational disciplines: African American, Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x, Native American, and Asian American (and) Pacific Islander studies,” said Assistant Principal of Instruction Alison Zuniga in an email. “The focus on the experiences of these four disciplines provides an opportunity for students to learn of the histories, cultures, struggles, and contributions to American society of these historically marginalized people.”
The new course will be taught by history teacher Alan Smart, who volunteered to take the class when it was given to the department.
“I found it interesting. And I talked to (Priya) Talreja who also teaches the ninth grade level one, so I have also been interested in it. Once they decided to offer it, I decided I wanted to be the one who taught it,” said Smart.
Smart feels the new ethnic studies course will shine light on the point of views of minority groups from before the formation of the U.S. to the present day.
“So the standpoint of most U.S. history comes from those written by white Americans and now this one will be more of an ethnic background,” said Smart. “So it will be taking the backgrounds of Chicano Americans during the time, Native Americans and other individuals and kind of get their side of the story in the U.S. and the development of the United States.”
English teacher Ashley Pham, who has taught ethnic studies literature for two years now, feels that these classes are important for high school students to learn about so that they have a better grasp of different historical perspectives and literature by people of other ethnicities.
“I think the best thing that comes out of ethnic studies is the idea that there is enough with what we already have,” said Pham. “I think we get to tap into a lot of cultures that are rich and diverse and we probably wouldn’t hear about if we continued to teach the same curriculum of U.S. history, European history, like classic romantic Shakespeare in English.”
With the other ethnic studies classes, English teacher Stephanie Harvey feels students going from ethnic studies literature to U.S. ethnic studies will aid in the growth of how they look at the world.
“I think its been really cool that people to this day, they come up to me and they are like ‘you know, like I watched this movie and now I am noticing the oppression that is happening or I am noticing the voices that aren’t heard’ and I think that is really great that people are able actually to take the skills and things we talk about and actually apply it to things they see in real life. I think that just makes you such a stronger observer and it just makes you a stronger thinker as well,” said Harvey.
As Smart prepares for the training needed for this new class, he hopes students will be able to learn more about their own opinions and the opinions of others who have stories to tell about U.S. history.
“I’m hoping they learn to actually learn about their own biases and then learn how to see from different points of views and not just what is taught to them, but to look outside of what’s just seen and see the other elements that make up anything and everything that they learn,” said Smart. “So they don’t narrow their focus on just their beliefs or what's taught to them, but they look at all the different things and come to a conclusion from multiple sources.”