Beatrice Mitchell’s 8th grade social studies class at F.D. Moon Middle School in Oklahoma City is part of a pilot for a social studies curriculum built on encouraging students to engage in civil discourse and celebrate American ideals while also examining darker chapters of history.
Overshadowing that teaching today is extreme political polarization and an intense scrutiny of teachers. Oklahoma’s one of at least 36 states that prohibits certain classroom discussions on race or gender, including what are considered “divisive concepts.”
In this week’s Long Story Short, Oklahoma Watch reporter Jennifer Palmer reports on a proposed solution created by iCivics, an organization founded by retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who was alarmed by Americans’ lack of understanding in how the country’s constitutional democracy is supposed to work.
Oklahoma City Public Schools is one of three districts piloting the curriculum; the others are in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Jefferson County, Colorado.
