Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/20186
Teaching culturally sensitive ? Stories by Sherry Posnick-Goodwin • Photos by Scott Buschman Is Columbus Day about a bold explorer “discovering” America? Or is it a day to commemorate the acts of cruelty, enslave- ment and genocide against Native Ameri- cans already here? Is Thanksgiving a time for students to wear paper vests, headdresses and feathers portraying Indians feasting with Pilgrims? Or is this a cartoonish stereotype that would never be tolerated if it depicted other ethnic minority groups? Things have changed since we learned “In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” Some school districts have done away with Columbus Day altogether and instead celebrate Indigenous People’s Day. It’s not easy to teach about holidays and his- tory in a way that is culturally sensitive and ac- curate. History books still gloss over unpleasant facts, as shown in Lies My Teacher Told Me: Ev- erything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen, which describes in detail how Columbus enslaved natives, muti- lated and tortured them, forced them to work in gold mines, and was both a “heroic navigator and plunderer” in the name of religion. “If textbooks included these facts, they might induce students to think intelligently about why the West dominates the world to- day,” says Loewen, a former history teacher at the University of Vermont. “That is un- fortunate, because Columbus’ voyages con- stitute a splendid teachable moment.” Offering cultural perspective Matthew De Lucia-Zeltzer, a third-grade teacher at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in San Francisco, enjoys the challenge of 20 California Educator | NOVEMBER 2010 turning a lesson about Columbus into an exercise in critical thinking. He believes in teaching history in a way that’s “progressive, not in terms of the status quo,” and observes that many of his Latino students also have indigenous roots. The Friday before Columbus Day, the teacher known as “Mr. D-Z” asks students to look at an ambiguous picture. Half of them see a duck; the other half see a bunny. “What you see depends on your experiences and your point of view,” says the United Educa- tors of San Francisco member. “How you see something might not be how someone else sees it. This happens in class. It also happens throughout history.” Next he reads aloud from En- counter by Jane Yolen, which tells the story of Columbus from the perspective of a child belonging to the Taino tribe. Columbus and his men appear friendly, but the boy sees that they are greedy for gold. The invaders at- tempt to enslave the boy with other Indians they have taken captive, but he escapes. holid As part of the lesson, students are asked to write essays from the point of view of the Taino Indians and also through the eyes of Columbus. He wants his students to think critically about past historical events and their ramifications today. “Just because you put your flag in a piece of land doesn’t make it yours,” says student Ashley Cunanan. “That’s just rude.” “If not for Columbus, we would not be here,” points out classmate Dar- win Mendoza. “He was brave, and his goal was making things better for his own people.” The students are young and Marty Meeden CTA Board member spared from hearing about some of the worst atrocities commit- ted by Columbus against native peoples. But Don Steinruck, who teaches at the Smith River Ele- mentary School, does not hold back during social studies les- sons for middle schoolers. Columbus brought famine and disease to Haiti, the island where he first set foot on North American soil, and terrorized the Tai- nos into supplying food and labor, Steinruck informs his students. Those who defied Co- lumbus were pursued into the hills and mur- dered, while thousands decided to take their own LEFT: Ashley Cunanan, Isa- bel Martinez and Adrian Parra at Cesar Chavez Elementary gain a new perspective on Columbus Day.