Abstract
Previous research has found that implementing a humanist social science curriculum with post-secondary students increases self-agency in advocacy for historically marginalized and underserved communities. This approach enhances students’ understanding of racial divisions and strategies to reconcile these tensions systematically. This study aims to expand researchers’ understanding of how a humanist curriculum impacts engagement with racial identity and perception of role in cross-racial relationships among secondary students. The experimental curriculum, which adopts an inclusive and empathetic portrayal of Euro-American and BIPOC historical humanist figures, presented middle schoolers with pictures of 10 American humanist historical figures arranged in two equally stacked rows. The first row of figures was presented first, followed by the figures in the bottom row. Each image was displayed individually. While viewing the figures, students completed a handout asking them to identify each person. After the first trial, researchers displayed a slide with all ten humanist figures again, each image labeled with the corresponding humanist’s name. Students were asked to report the total number of figures they identified correctly. They answered four questions about their perceptions and thoughts regarding the activity, their new understanding of the figures’ roles in American history, and their perception of their role in bridging the racial divide. Students were then taught the experimental curriculum. The study found that learning about humanist historical figures enabled students to connect more effectively with the content, think critically to identify the root causes of race-based divisions, collaboratively develop solutions, and acknowledge their agency in advocating for marginalized groups.
Presenters
Araceli FelizInterim Director and Associate Professor, Doctorate in Educational Leadership, California State University, Sacramento, California, United States Rose Borunda
Professor, Doctorate in Educational Leadership, California State University, Sacramento, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Education and Learning Worlds of Differences
KEYWORDS
Advocacy; Belonging; Humanist; Inclusion; Self-Agency
