Push for Deeper Understanding of Culture and Background
State bill prompts sophomore honors English curriculum to be replaced with Ethnic Studies Literature.
By Ariella Just Milender
State bill prompts sophomore honors English curriculum to be replaced with Ethnic Studies Literature.
By Ariella Just Milender
California is a melting pot of culture and diversity. With the state encompassing over 39 million people, education leaders have added a graduation requirement in an effort to educate high school students on various backgrounds and cultural ideas.
On October 8, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 101 into law, requiring California high school students to take Ethnic Studies to graduate, starting with the class of 2030. The goal of this requirement is for students to learn the histories and cultures of marginalized communities, and San Jose Unified has already taken steps to meet this new requirement.
As part of the change, San Jose Unified has added a new course, Ethnic Studies Literature. As described in the course catalog for the 2022-23 school year, “This honors 10th grade Ethnic Studies Literature course centers the experiences of historically marginalized communities, voices and identities. The course is built around essential questions related to the issues and intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, language, tradition, colonization and colonialism.”
Replacing English 3-4 Honors, as seen in previous years, the new course, now offered at Pioneer, is a popular choice for many students. Currently, three teachers teach the class spanning over seven class periods throughout the day.
So far, English teacher Ashley Pham has felt that the course has been very well received by students, even from the very start.
“On the first Friday of school, scholars wrote Post-Its expressing their excitement to read texts from authors of different backgrounds. I think my group of scholars bring such a great energy and willingness to learn,” said Pham.
Veteran sophomore teacher Chanel Sulc also agrees that students seem to be excited about the course.
“I think it's a class that talks about things that unfortunately aren’t talked about in other classes and I think that students are excited to have that space to do that,” said Sulc.
In order to prepare for the change in course curriculum, teachers met online to build the course curriculum and collaborate.
“We had sort of monthly meetings last school year via Zoom and WebEx and it was mostly sort of collaboration on the main ideas of it and then we had a couple days this summer at the beginning and end of the summer to work together,” said Jason Goldman-Hall, who has taught sophomore English for all of his 14 years at Pioneer.
Pioneer also offers an elective course, Ethnic Studies, which is offered to freshmen. After taking the elective course last year, Alexandra Silva, 10, decided to take the new course as a continuation of the topics.
“I decided to take this class because I wished to further my Ethnic Studies education, seeing as I had taken the elective course last year. I enjoyed that class and felt the foundation of it was very important,” said Silva.
Sophomore Makena Thigpen also took the course this year as a continuation of the elective Ethnic Studies course.
“I decided to take this class because I wanted a challenge and I took Intro to Ethnic Studies last year and I really liked it,” said Thigpen.
Since this course discusses many issues regarding culture, Gabrielle Leonor Acosta, 10, believes that the course is an important addition to Pioneer’s campus.
“Ethnic Studies in any school is very important for uneducated students whether they're (people of color) or white, a part of a minority, feeling oppressed or a part of an oppressed community. The topics we learn and discuss in Ethnic Studies help others understand more about society and also give a broader perspective on literature,” said Acosta. “As a (person of color) and someone from an oppressed community I feel it is important for those who aren't to learn about the diversity of culture and history that has happened that is usually not discussed in your average English class.”
On October 8, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 101 into law, requiring California high school students to take Ethnic Studies to graduate, starting with the class of 2030. The goal of this requirement is for students to learn the histories and cultures of marginalized communities, and San Jose Unified has already taken steps to meet this new requirement.
As part of the change, San Jose Unified has added a new course, Ethnic Studies Literature. As described in the course catalog for the 2022-23 school year, “This honors 10th grade Ethnic Studies Literature course centers the experiences of historically marginalized communities, voices and identities. The course is built around essential questions related to the issues and intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, language, tradition, colonization and colonialism.”
Replacing English 3-4 Honors, as seen in previous years, the new course, now offered at Pioneer, is a popular choice for many students. Currently, three teachers teach the class spanning over seven class periods throughout the day.
So far, English teacher Ashley Pham has felt that the course has been very well received by students, even from the very start.
“On the first Friday of school, scholars wrote Post-Its expressing their excitement to read texts from authors of different backgrounds. I think my group of scholars bring such a great energy and willingness to learn,” said Pham.
Veteran sophomore teacher Chanel Sulc also agrees that students seem to be excited about the course.
“I think it's a class that talks about things that unfortunately aren’t talked about in other classes and I think that students are excited to have that space to do that,” said Sulc.
In order to prepare for the change in course curriculum, teachers met online to build the course curriculum and collaborate.
“We had sort of monthly meetings last school year via Zoom and WebEx and it was mostly sort of collaboration on the main ideas of it and then we had a couple days this summer at the beginning and end of the summer to work together,” said Jason Goldman-Hall, who has taught sophomore English for all of his 14 years at Pioneer.
Pioneer also offers an elective course, Ethnic Studies, which is offered to freshmen. After taking the elective course last year, Alexandra Silva, 10, decided to take the new course as a continuation of the topics.
“I decided to take this class because I wished to further my Ethnic Studies education, seeing as I had taken the elective course last year. I enjoyed that class and felt the foundation of it was very important,” said Silva.
Sophomore Makena Thigpen also took the course this year as a continuation of the elective Ethnic Studies course.
“I decided to take this class because I wanted a challenge and I took Intro to Ethnic Studies last year and I really liked it,” said Thigpen.
Since this course discusses many issues regarding culture, Gabrielle Leonor Acosta, 10, believes that the course is an important addition to Pioneer’s campus.
“Ethnic Studies in any school is very important for uneducated students whether they're (people of color) or white, a part of a minority, feeling oppressed or a part of an oppressed community. The topics we learn and discuss in Ethnic Studies help others understand more about society and also give a broader perspective on literature,” said Acosta. “As a (person of color) and someone from an oppressed community I feel it is important for those who aren't to learn about the diversity of culture and history that has happened that is usually not discussed in your average English class.”