One Teacher's Reflections
Booker T. Washington called for and acted upon the need for education of the freedmen of the South. Julius Rosenwald responded to the call with funding for school construction at the turn of the 20th Century. They were criticized for within the social constraints of their generation; however, successful in starting a movement. Change extended to Union County, the home of Jessie Helms and Robert Williams, known for their clashing views of and politics of racism.
Reading for the Rosenwald project, I learned that the Confederate philosophy, attitudes and values were submerged in Union County after the Civil War under cover of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction. The result of terror on the election process was enactment of Jim Crow laws which handicapped the education of African Americans for 150 years. Racial attitudes continue to affect the economic and social status of a diverse people today.
How the Project Helped Me
Prejudice is so pervasive and accepted as normal that conscious self-reflection is required of professional practitioners in school. Critical evaluation of lesson planning, selection of classroom materials, and development of assessment methods is needed. Creating the digital presentation for the web required me to reflect on my own cultural competency. Elements of cultural competency are part of the N.C. Standard Course of Study in elementary grades: 1) Recognize that groups have cultural differences; 2) Realize personal culture; 3) Assess self-awareness and behaviors related to cultural differences; and 4) Gather information in order to change personal behavior within cultural contexts.
Connections to the Standards
Common N.C. Standard Course of Study and national goals for elementary social studies incorporate topics such as how individual and groups differ; individual roles and responsibilities as members of a group; how people, places, government and activities change over time; and elements of geography. Geography elements are location, place, human-environment interaction, movement and regions. Concepts of economics are how limited resources are distributed, how technology changes environment and activities, how geography affects economics, culture and interaction with the rest of the world. These were all touched upon in the project.
Autumn Smith
Graduate Student
Certificate to Teach Elementary
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
[email protected]
Reading for the Rosenwald project, I learned that the Confederate philosophy, attitudes and values were submerged in Union County after the Civil War under cover of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction. The result of terror on the election process was enactment of Jim Crow laws which handicapped the education of African Americans for 150 years. Racial attitudes continue to affect the economic and social status of a diverse people today.
How the Project Helped Me
Prejudice is so pervasive and accepted as normal that conscious self-reflection is required of professional practitioners in school. Critical evaluation of lesson planning, selection of classroom materials, and development of assessment methods is needed. Creating the digital presentation for the web required me to reflect on my own cultural competency. Elements of cultural competency are part of the N.C. Standard Course of Study in elementary grades: 1) Recognize that groups have cultural differences; 2) Realize personal culture; 3) Assess self-awareness and behaviors related to cultural differences; and 4) Gather information in order to change personal behavior within cultural contexts.
Connections to the Standards
Common N.C. Standard Course of Study and national goals for elementary social studies incorporate topics such as how individual and groups differ; individual roles and responsibilities as members of a group; how people, places, government and activities change over time; and elements of geography. Geography elements are location, place, human-environment interaction, movement and regions. Concepts of economics are how limited resources are distributed, how technology changes environment and activities, how geography affects economics, culture and interaction with the rest of the world. These were all touched upon in the project.
Autumn Smith
Graduate Student
Certificate to Teach Elementary
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
[email protected]
