April 4th Forum: Learning “Our” History: Whose Stories Get Told

Learning “Our” History: Whose Stories Get Told

Forum Information:

4/4/2022, at 7:30 pm CST in the Linwood Community Recreation Center gymnasium (860 St Clair Ave, St Paul, MN 55105)

Speakers:

Jonathan Hamilton (Standards Committee Member)

Hallah Henderson (St. Paul Public School Board Member)

Allie Rogers (Minnetonka Social Studies Teacher)

Danyika Leonard (Standards Committee Member)

Senator Steve Cwodzinski (SD 48)

Jerome Treadwell (Youth Activist)

The Minnesota Social Studies Standards are currently under review. The changes have been widely discussed. Come learn more about the changes, and gain the words and context to have further conversations about the topic with your colleagues, family, and friends.

First we will hear from experts about the changes to the social studies standards in Minnesota, and look at how prior versions of the standards have left out important and relevant perspectives and narratives in our history. We will discuss how and why changes are necessary.

In the second part of the forum, we will open up the floor to attendees to discuss their concerns, comments, and questions about the changes. This open-floor discussion will provide community members with an opportunity to discuss the content of the changes and the implications for their students and the community.

Background on the Forum:

Minnesota’s Department of Education defines social studies on their website, saying “Social Studies is the interdisciplinary study of citizenship and government, economics, geography, history and other disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. Social Studies empowers learners to become inquisitive, informed, and engaged members of society who use critical thinking, inquiry, and literacy to prepare for college, careers and civic life.”

Minnesota’s state standards in education are revised on a ten year cycle, with a different content area coming up for review in different years. The creation of the committee who will evaluate the standards is the first step. Then, they submit proposed new standards, after meeting in committee, and then these standards are released to the public, and the statutory rulemaking process begins, with input from the public. This process is currently underway, and will end in the next 24 months, and then the new standards will be enacted or not.

During the 2021/2022 school year, the Minnesota Social Studies standards began that process of review, as a group of 36 educators, community members and members of interest groups reevaluated the standards and suggested changes for the next decade. They proposed the addition of ethnic studies standards, in addition to the existing standards in citizenship and government, economics, geography and history. These standards represent the minimum, and schools are allowed to add courses in archaeology, psychology, sociology and more under the social studies umbrella. A state exam in social studies is forbidden by state statute, although there is a state civics exam which public school students are required to take.

There have been mixed responses to the released proposed standards, and to the addition of ethnic studies as a so-called “fifth strand” of social studies. Some community members have published explosive op-eds in local newspapers within the state of Minnesota which questioned the need for ethnic studies, and attacked the new standards as harmful to children. Other community members view the standards as important to create a more equal society, and as pairing with the existing social studies strands in ways that reflect both the diversity and the history of the state of Minnesota. The goal of this forum is to provide space for the community to engage with the proposed standards, and with some of the actors who created them, and for all of us to better understand the purpose of the standards and how they might impact social studies education in our state.

After the forum, we hope that attendees will be able to answer why social studies are important, who is centered in current social studies standards, what it means to be student-centered, and whether learning a more honest history brings us together or pulls us apart.

Expected Audience/ Key Takeaways:

The expected audience for this forum consists of educators, administrators, students and parents in Minnesota public schools (and more specifically St. Paul and Minneapolis public schools), as well as members of education interest groups and nonprofit organizations within the Twin Cities. Macalester students, and other university students may also be present, and can also act as stakeholders in this conversation.

From this forum, our goal is for community members to take away a more thorough understanding about the goals of the Minnesota social studies standards. Our speakers and our conversations with community members should help individuals further their knowledge of the importance of social studies teaching and what is chosen to be taught to students. For parents this means becoming more informed about what their children are learning and the values of the school system, for students it means taking control through knowledge of what is being taught to them, for educators it means that they can voice their opinions on what they will be teaching, and for all community members it means being educated about the histories that the young people of Minnesota are learning.

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