Check out our Ethnic Studies padlet to find resources recommended by your OUSD colleagues. You can also leave a like or a comment. We welcome you to contribute to the padlet.

What is ethnic studies? What does it mean to be human? How are the experiences of oppressed peoples impacted by the dominant narrative? What is my story? How have my chosen and assigned identities informed who I am? How can telling our stories help us develop counter narratives of ourselves and our communities? 

Why start with autoethnography? Autoethnography [self-culture-process] uses multiple methods of research, writing and storytelling to connect personal experiences to the cultural, social and political. Autoethnography is a process of personal decolonization and a political act - deconstructing the way communities have been oppressed and dehumanized and reimagining how we see ourselves and connect to each other. Autoethnography represents a critical practice of ethnic studies that validates experiences and perspectives of marginalized peoples as a way of interrogating and challenging dominant narratives. Furthermore, engaging students in autoethnography provides powerful opportunities for students (and teachers) to share their experiences with one another, which is essential to creating a connected community in the classroom.

How have oppressive ideas been ingrained in our minds, culture and institutions as a society? How are our experiences of oppression related to each other? How can understanding power, privilege and oppression help us to create positive change in our communities?

This unit moves students from an exploration of their selves through the act of Autoethnography to the exploration of community through the understanding of the systems that govern us. During the first two weeks, the unit provides students a set of lenses that allows them to see the root causes of the injustice in our society, with a particular focus on white supremacy, patriarchy and classism. It guides students in understanding how systems of oppression are operating in their own lives, including how they see themselves, relate to others and are treated by institutions. In Week 3, students will explore the complexity of oppression and privilege and reflect on how the ways people are treated differently prevent us from building unity. Week 4 has been left open so teachers can decide what your class most needs to understand and be able to do in order to complete the performance task; there is an extensive toolkit of possible lesson plans depending on the needs of your students. The last two weeks of the unit are the performance task, which is designed as a peer education mini-action project through which students will explore one system of oppression in depth and use art to educate their community about this issue and how to address it. 

This is an emotionally heavy unit, because even though injustice, inequity and violence in our society are not new information for young people, it can feel disheartening to spend weeks exploring these topics and understanding how deep their roots are in our society. Building in time for reflection, celebration and community building will be key to keeping spirits high. Ultimately, we want students to feel empowered by learning to name their own experiences and observations and seeing how, despite their differences, they are deeply connected with each other. 

How does knowledge of self and connection to community & cultural wealth impact the learning experience of students? What roles have public schools played in U.S. histories of domination and resistance? How have groups resisted and transformed oppressive school experiences? What is an education for liberation?

At the core of this unit is a personal exploration of what types of knowledge are valued in school and what types of knowledge our students bring to school. The goal is for students to come to know themselves as learners and develop a sense of academic identity and agency over their own education. 

Content is delivered during the first three weeks of the unit. The unit starts with students studying their own educational experience, identifying the community and cultural wealth they bring with them to school, and reflecting on how unconscious bias and stereotype threat play out in student-adult relationships in the school environment. Students take their first actions at the end of Week 1, developing statements about their needs as learners to publicly share with their teachers and school community. At this point, the teacher introduces Freire’s ideas from Pedagogy of the Oppressed, in particular the banking model, as well as the approaches to popular education and critical pedagogy that have developed since that time. In Week 2, students apply the theoretical frameworks learned thus far to understand the American Indian experience with education. In Week 3, students are introduced to the ideas of hegemonic and counter-hegemonic education and then use these concepts to understand student movements for ethnic studies. Simultaneously, students will be observing their learning environments and at the end of Week 3 will be asked to depict their learning experiences using comic form and drawing upon the theories they’ve learned in its narration.

In the second half of this unit, students apply their learning to develop original lesson plans based on the principles of drawing on prior knowledge and experience of the learners and learning for purpose and liberation. During Week 4-5, students work in teams to develop their lesson plans. Weeks 5-6, students take over the classes and two student-facilitated workshops are taught each period. During the last two days of the unit, students engage in mastery writing and class discussion about the philosophical questions underpinning the unit. 

Do sports challenge or reinforce oppression in society? 

Week 1 begins with students considering the choice that athletes make to protest or not and the consequences they face from making those decisions. Students evaluate the actions of Muhammad Ali, Colin Kaepernick, and WNBA players to speak out against injustice.  Week 2 steps back and takes a look at the role sports in general have played in maintaining, challenging, or changing dominant narratives of different racial groups. This week looks at racialized narratives that have dehumanized different groups and athletes who also challenged those narratives. The focus is on the current controversy over Native American mascots.

Week 3 examines the role of sports in reinforcing or challenging gender hierarchies in society. Sports have historically been considered a male endeavor and has influenced gender norms and identity. Women, gender non-conforming, and queer athletes have challenged these arenas, changing who has access to participate. Students will consider how much has changed in terms of gender hierarchies.

Additional weeks ask students to explore the unit question through their own research. Students form groups of two or three and choose any of the athletes/events/issues mentioned during the week or research topics from a suggested list of possible topics. They can also research their own topic.  The last week is the culmination of the unit, with students writing a script for their sports debate show that responds to the unit question. Students draw from their research and any of the topics studied in the unit to create a script for a lively, informed conversation. They rehearse their script and then record a video.

The Taking Action Project is the 9th grade capstone project. The purpose of the project is to teach students the fundamentals of civic engagement and organizing for social change. In their senior year, students will complete a graduate capstone project in their pathways that represent their mastery of the skills taught over the course of their high school career - research, argumentative writing, and oral presentation.

After brainstorming problems they see in their communities, students will choose an issue of injustice, research the issue (secondary and primary), propose a plan of action to address the injustice, and take action. After taking action, they will reflect on their experiences and present what they did to the class. 

The action, reflection, and presentation are typically considered part of the final, but you can choose what works best for you.