A Tool for Teaching the Movement
Not long ago, Learning for Justice, then Teaching Tolerance, issued Teaching the Movement, a report evaluating how well social studies standards in all 50 states support teaching about the modern civil rights movement. Our report showed that few states emphasize the movement or provide classroom support for teaching this history effectively.
We followed up these findings by releasing The March Continues: Five Essential Practices for Teaching the Civil Rights Movement, a set of guiding principles for educators who want to improve upon the simplified King-and-Parks-centered narrative many state standards offer. Those essential practices are
- Educate for empowerment.
- Know how to talk about race.
- Capture the unseen.
- Resist telling a simple story.
- Connect to the present.
Civil Rights Done Right offers a detailed set of curriculum improvement strategies for classroom instructors who want to apply these practices. In five discrete steps, we identify specific suggestions and procedures for building robust, meaningful lessons that cultivate a deeper understanding of modern civil rights history.
We invite you to begin the process and thank you for your efforts to teach effectively about this great movement for freedom, opportunity and democracy. By using this tool, you can give students the tools they need to create a better future and to continue the march.
