Groups Pushing Liberated Ethnic Studies in Schools
Resources
- Issues
- Ethnic Studies
(This is preliminary list of the groups currently pushing liberated ethnic studies in K-12 schools. We will add to it as we learn more.)
Community Responsive Education Corp
Community Responsive Education Corps is a consulting group that offers Ethnic Studies teacher and curriculum development, Community Responsive teacher development, equity audits, and strategic planning and coaching. According to their website, this for-profit group aims “to use education as a vehicle for liberation through the awakening of student’s critical consciousness that leads to actions that promote wellness through racial and social justice in their personal lives, families, communities, and our world.” Community Responsive Education Corps measures its success and the success of ethnic studies curriculums through a “Youth Wellness ‘Educmetric”.
Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium
The Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium (LESMCC) is an organization that formed after the California Department of Education’s amended its proposed Ethnic Studies curriculum. According to its website, the group believes that “the state’s submission to rightwing demagogues and lobbyists has emboldened the Ethnic Studies Movement. More than 50 Ethnic Studies educators and activists from throughout California, committed to contesting white supremacist notions of academic knowledge, convened to develop and implement a Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.” The group provides assistance to school districts wishing to implement Ethnic Studies courses, provides two-day “institutes” for school districts to establish “anti-racist and culturally responsive school climates” and provides custom educator trainings.
Read more about this organization here.
Quetzal Education Consulting offers ethnic studies curriculum development to K-12 schools. According to their website, they are “interested in partnering with educational institutions committed to dismantling oppression and creating new possibilities for liberation in education, understanding that this work is a forever thing.” The group partners with the Abolitionist Teaching Network, Woke Kindergarten, Mycelium Youth Network, The People’s Conservatory, and Too Dope Teachers.
Our Transformation of Education
Our Transformation of Education was created by R. Tolkien Cuauhtin to train teachers, compile reading materials for high school students, and to develop ethnic studies programs in K-12 schools. Recently the organization was hired by the Salina Union High School District to assist in developing its ethnic studies curriculum.
Arab Resource and Organizing Center
The Arab Resource & Organizing Center is a Bay Area organization pushing for Ethnic Studies, specifically curriculum on the inclusion of Arab American Studies in California’s ethnic studies curriculum. Working alongside the Arab Youth Organization, AROC has developed surveys for Bay Area students and teachers that include questions such as “how does racist curriculum and lack of Arab histories and narratives in schools affect how youth perceive Arabs?” AROC also works closely with the Save Arab American Studies Coalition.
Middle East Children’s Alliance
The Middle East Children’s Alliance is a group that works to protect children’s rights in the Middle East. Recently, the Middle East Children Alliance created a Teach Palestine Project, which, according to its website, is “a collaborative project by and for K-12 teachers who are bringing Palestine into their classrooms.” This project offers webinars, books for educators, and lesson plans, including “Stolen Land” and “Why Isn’t Palestine on Our Maps?”
Ehecatl Wind Philosophy offers consultation and instructional models to school districts looking to implement Ethnic Studies courses. According to their website, educators who use their services “learn culturally relevant pedagogical approaches that lead towards the development of students’ critical consciousness by drawing from the funds of knowledge and community cultural wealth they encounter the classroom with.”
Xicanx Institute for Teach and Organizing (XITO)
XITO is a consulting collective made up of urban education experts who provide ethnic studies professional development, ethnic studies curriculum development, teacher training workshops, and racial justice and equity training. The organization uses the TIAUI model for teaching Ethnic Studies, which according to their website, is a “decolonial framework for pedagogy & practice.” XITO also is involved with the PRAXIS youth organizing conference, which is a youth-centered conference for those with “a shared commitment to liberation and transforming the world through education and organizing.”
The Ethnic Studies Now Coalition aims to make an ethnic studies course a high school graduation requirement in every district in California. They provide an Ethnic Studies Tool Kit to assist activists pushing for Liberated Ethnic Studies curriculum and are active in the ERUSD, LAUSD, SFUSD, Montebello USD, Sacramento USD, San Diego USD, Coachella Valley USD, Santa Barbara USD, Ventura County, Centinela Valley Union HS District, Compton USD, Santa Ana School Districts.
Boston Teachers Union Ethnic Studies Now
According to their website, ““The goal of the Boston Teachers Union Ethnic Studies Now Organizing Committee is to build a popular movement of people (parents, families, students, educators, community members) to advocate for the funding, staffing and professional training needed to develop, implement, and sustain ethnic studies in all BPS schools.” BTU Ethnic Studies Now is also working to recruit educators to teach Ethnic Studies and has created an Ethnic Studies pilot curriculum.
Washington Ethnic Studies Now aims to implement “Ethnic Studies in every classroom of WA State, taught by anti-racist educators committed to centering the history and lived experiences of black, indigenous, and people of Color.” The group’s goals include protecting the integrity of liberated ethnic studies and implementing K-12 Education curriculum reform. According to their website the group aims to build “systemic power by advocating with educator associations, education service districts, and state-level education committees and organizations.” Washington Ethnic Studies Now provides professional development and consulting services and hosts summer institutes to promote its mission.
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