Education, Social Studies, History, Civics, Current Issues

Book Review: Review of Student Research for Community Change: Tools to Develop Ethical Thinking and Analytic Problem Solving

Review of Student Research for Community Change: Tools to Develop Ethical Thinking and Analytic Problem Solving

by William Tobin and Valerie Feit, 2020. Teachers College Press, 127 pages.

Review by: Thomas Hansen, Ph.D.

This new text provides an explanation of a program – and a plan – for getting high school students involved in important hands-on research right in their communities. The two authors have become experts in encouraging young people to start on research early – not waiting for college. Despite more traditional approaches of letting students wait to become upperclassmen in college, the authors learned to forge ahead and assume students could do this work.

William Tobin is a research fellow with the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. The program explained in this book is an example of the community work Tobin and his students have been doing to help their neighbors. Valerie Feit is co-director of school counseling for Rye Neck, New York schools. This program has been used successfully in three different applications at Duke.

The authors talk in terms of “tools” for coming up with research problems and questions, plans for finding out information, and guidance in making recommendations to solve the problems (pp. 23-24). I think of this book’s content in terms of methods for approaching the work. This looks like a method, with many parts, with rules, with suggestions, and with potential.

The authors provide tools for this “method” of teaching and learning they hope will be applicable in other settings. They have already had students complete research projects using this method. They use a qualitative approach, overall, in their research. However, they do not stress this fact in the book. Interviews and protocols to conduct them ground us in qualitative approaches to getting information from people to help students – and the community ultimately — solve problems.

The method connects clearly (in terms of policy and application) to national standards in the different learning areas, plus Common Core college-ready and work-ready emphases. The method looks forward to more advanced levels of inquiry than the more traditional benchmarked studies of the past. It does this by assuming students can do more advanced and challenging work if they can see the purpose for it, the rewards for it, and the connections of it to real-life goals.

While I will not give away the content and all the goods here, I will say that this appears to be a good “method” for getting students working on purposeful projects earlier than traditionally done. Aspiring to more is always good, especially if there is a research basis telling us the method can work.

As an educator (and community member, advocate, and other roles) I have always been interested in the “why” of doing things in education. Do we respect different learning styles? Where did we as teachers “learn” to do xyz in classes? Is there a good research basis for using certain materials? Has anyone ever proven it makes sense to do abc this way? All of these kinds of questions enter my mind when I look at a new approach. I wonder if this book could work in my neighborhood. With students who need resources like a place to live? In a community not very interested in helping others in need?

The authors emphasize how they have already served communities and how they need partners and cooperation. They remind us that institutions of higher education are supposed to be helping with such endeavors (p. 111). Reminding the readers that IHEs have non-profit status because they are supposed to be assisting in important research projects in the community, the authors urge readers to seek faculty who will sign on and become excited to participate.

I would recommend this book for a couple different uses. First, I would encourage K-12 and college educators read it to see what is possible if we assume students can do more and can meet challenges. The book is important in that way. Second, I would encourage educators to attempt to use some of the tools in a mini-project to ascertain the value of the method. Then, if teachers and college researchers or others can come together to formulate a bigger project, more in-depth labor can be done. Students do the work and need guidance and advice. They need to learn about ethics and the role it plays in inquiry (pp. 12-13).

This method, overall, is another good example of the more mature and advanced kinds of ways of thinking about education for secondary students and underclassmen. As I said above, there is a clear connection to getting students ready for what comes at more advanced levels.

How to use the book in times of distance-learning? How would students find neighbors interested in participating? How would they work with other students to come up with questions? What about brainstorming? Planning?

This might be a method that calls for a hybrid approach. The majority of the discussions could occur online (p. xvii) because of the power of the Internet. This could be done especially during shared times – online meetings. Different teams of students and teachers could work on different steps or themes of the research project. However, it might be necessary to be out in the community to approach potential members and to set up some of the meetings (pp. 112-113) and the interviews. The teams could conduct the remaining work online, such as the interviews, the discussion of them and other input, the drawing of conclusions from the various input sources, the writing of recommendations for intervention (or similar activities), and the follow-up and assessment stages for the entire project.

Book Review: Teach, Reflect, Learn: Building Your Capacity for Success in the Classroom

Review of Teach, Reflect, Learn: Building Your Capacity for Success in the Classroom

by Pete Hall & Alisa Simeral. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. 2015, paper, 178 pages.

Reviewed by Thomas Hansen, Ph.D.

Hall and Simeral have set forth here three major stages to helping teachers reflect on what they are doing in an effort to improve the instruction in the classroom. The authors hope to help teachers learn how to reflect on a regular basis as part of the self-assessment process in which teachers should engage. Included are lots of scenarios of teachers and their comments about why things are working—or not—in their classrooms.

As in most of my reviews, I try to not give away all the content. Here, I will list the names of the nine main chapters of the book: If You Can Read This, Thank a Teacher; Reflections on Self-Reflection; Reflective Self-Assessment Tool; The Continuum of Self-Reflection; The Unaware Stage: What Does Unaware Mean, Anyway?; The Conscious Stage: Is the Knowing-Doing Gap Real?; The Action Stage: What Happens When Art and Science Collide?; and The Refinement Stage: Smoothing Out the Rough Edges.

Having attended a Jesuit institution for my Ph.D. in Education, I will have to admit I am fully aware of reflection as a major component of the teaching-improvement process. In most all of my courses, I had to reflect on what I had said, or written, or taught, or done. It was a very interesting reminder of the reflection process many successful and hard-working good educators already use in one form or another.

Most good teachers will admit they are always trying to improve their skills, whether it is coming up with better ways to explain a phenomenon or inventing better ways to let students come to their understanding of how a process works. Good teachers probably apply it to their writing and their research and their service, also. At least that is what the literature says.

Becoming more efficient is important, and this book does have some interesting hints about looking at learning situations with different lenses. I recommend the book as a sort of self-study book, especially for teachers who want to consider some alternatives to learning about new methods or new materials. Sometimes it has to do more with looking directly at how we as individuals do our work. Once we have considered that, we can look outward.

I would recommend this text also in group settings where there are several different short paperbacks and small groups get to choose a book to discuss. The readings in this and similar shorter texts can be a good starting point for considering what it is we are doing in the classroom. Enjoyable and fruitful also are the stories of what other teachers use for methods and materials.

In a recent professional development session I worked on, several of the teachers said, “We never have enough time to talk to each other, simply about what we are doing in our classrooms.” I think this is a good message for principals and others charged with PD and other sessions for teachers. Helping them to reflect can be facilitated by books like this one by Hall and Simeral.

Book Review – Our Fragile Freedoms

Our Fragile Freedoms

By Dr. Eric Foner

Reviewed by Hank Bitten, NJCSS Executive Director

Four books that have influenced my teaching of U.S. history are: the volumes in the Jefferson Papers Project, The Life of Henry Adams, The Life of Arthur Schlesinger, and Our Fragile Freedoms. These books have left a profound influence on me because each of them included a perspective of 50 years or more.

Eric Foner’s Our Fragile Freedoms is a series of selected documents and book reviews that he has authored over 250 years of our history. It is a collection of human stories in addition to documents, perspectives, historiography, and scholarly insights. In my reading I discovered new information and perspectives about enslaved persons, laborers, immigrants, and women. I have also met Eric Foner, our lives share a similar chronology of the second half of the 20^th century and the first 25 years of the 21^st century. Just when I thought I had mastered everything that needs to be taught in high schools, colleges, and in public discussions, I discovered somethings that are new and important in his book.

“Our Fragile Freedoms gathers together nearly sixty book reviews and opinion pieces I have written over the past quarter century, Originally published in venues such as the New York Review of Books, London Review of Books, The Nation, and The New York Times, they reflect a period of remarkable creativity among American historians but also intense controversy over the teaching, writing and public presentation of history. The book examines history as refracted through the prism of some of the most influential recent works of scholarship, while at the same time shedding light on my own evolution as an historian.” (Introduction, page xv)

The insights into the U.S. history curriculum are helpful to teachers who want to engage their students in investigating history and discussing the concept of freedom. Here are some examples:

1.Colonial America: “In South Carolina and Georgia, however, the disruption of the War for independence produced not a weakening of commitment to slavery, but the demand that the Atlantic slave trade be reopened. At the insistence of these states, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 forbade Congress from abolishing the importation of slaves until 1808. Given this window of opportunity, South Carolina brought in tens of thousands of new slaves, further reinforcing the African presence in the low country Black society.” (page 22)

2. President Washington: “Thompson (Mary Thompson, author of “The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret: George Washington, Slavery, and the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon”, 2019) offers various explanations for Washington’s refusal to speak or act publicly against slavery. She points out that freeing his slaves would have meant financial disaster for his family. Like other Virginia planters, Washington was chronically in debt, largely because of his taste for luxury goods imported from Britain. Indeed, in 1789 he had to borrow money to pay for his journey to New York where his inauguration as the first president was to take place.” (page 35)

3. Fugitive Slave Law: “The first arrest under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 took place in New York-a city whose economic fortunes were closely tied to the cotton trade, and whose political establishment was decidedly pro-southern. On September 16, 1850, eight days after President Millard Fillmore signed the measure, two deputy U.S. marshals arrested James Hamlet at his job as a porter in a local store. Hamlet had escaped from Baltimore two years earlier and settled in Williamsburg, a Brooklyn village with a small Black population, along with his wife and three children, all born in Maryland.” (page 53)

4. Emancipation Proclamation: “’I cannot make it better known than it already is, that I strongly favor colonization,” Lincoln said in a message to Congress less than a month before he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Oakes (Professor James Oakes, CUNY) calls Lincoln’s August 1862 meeting with Black leaders (not including Douglass), where he urged them to support colonization, “bizarre,” and explains it as an effort to “make emancipation more palatable to white racists.” And he notes, Douglass reacted with one of his most bitter criticisms of the president, “Mr. Lincoln,” he wrote, “assumes the language and arguments of an itinerant colonization lecturer shows all his inconsistencies, his pride of race and blood, his contempt for Negroes and his canting hypocrisy. (page 72)

5. Reconstruction: “Grant’s contemporaries recognized the Civil War as an event of international significance. One hundred and fifty years after the conflict began, the meanings they ascribed to it offer a useful way if outlining why it was so pivotal in our own history. The Civil War changed the nature of warfare, gave rise to an empowered nation-state, vindicated the idea of free labor, and destroyed the modern world’s greatest slave society. Each of these outcomes laid the foundation for the country we live in today. But as with all historical events, each outcome carried with it ambiguous, even contradictory, consequences.” (page 85)

As teachers, we need to understand the big picture of historical decisions and events over time. This is why it is important for students to learn about continuity and change as one of the core skills of our discipline. Our Fragile Freedoms helped me to grasp the complexity of the concepts of freedom and equality that social studies teachers introduce in kindergarten.

An important article and commentary in the book is “Everyday Violence in the Jim Crow South.” (pp. 201-210) This review of By Hands Now Known: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners, by Margaret A. Burnham, New York Review of Books, April 6, 2023, provides specific examples of the abuse of power by people in local and state government against innocent citizens.

“In Westfield, a town near Birmingham, a female white clerk at a local store, claiming that a Black customer, William Daniel, had insulted her, called the police. When an officer arrived, he almost immediately shot and killed the alleged offender, even though, as Burnham laconically remarks, Daniel had committed no crime: ‘even in Alabama, there was no law against, ‘insulting a white woman.’” (p. 203)

Another commentary that engaged my interest as a high school teacher was “Tulsa: Forgetting and Remembering.” (pp. 211-220) The information in the Review of The Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice by Scott Ellsworth in the London Review of Books, September 9, 2011, provides new insights and perspectives to this horrific tragedy that began with a minor encounter between two teenagers. Scott Ellswoth is from Tulsa and became interested in this race riot in his research for a high school history paper. He pursued his passion of this massacre as a college student at Reed College, and throughout his adult life. The discussion about the importance of local research has relevance to the teaching of history and its relevance to project-based learning.

The review of Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad by Matthew F. Delmont and An Army Afire: How the U.S. Army Confronted Its Racial Crisis in the Vietnam Era by Beth Bailey 2023) left me feeling uncomfortable. I think many teachers emphasize the role of the Tuskegee Airmen in teaching World War II and follow it up with a five-minute talk on President Truman’s Executive Order to embrace “equality of treatment and opportunity” in the military regardless of race, religion, and national origin. Because of my ignorance in this area, I never included examples of Jim Crow discrimination and the race problem in our armed forces. Our Fragile Freedoms provides graphic examples. (pp. 232-243)

In the middle of the book there are some of the most important insights and perspectives for teachers of 20^th century United States History. They have a direct relationship to what students are thinking about today as they listen to or witness events that are challenging the values of liberty, equality and social justice. They offer teachers critical questions of inquiry regarding the continuity and change of America’s core values from the Declaration of Independence, Reconstruction Era, and Civil Rights movement. Allow me to summarize from examples on the New Deal and Civil Rights era from pages 243-267.

“We will never know precisely why Parks refused to leave her seat when ordered to do so, her decision was not premeditated but neither was it completely spontaneous. Perhaps it was because an all-white jury in Mississippi had just acquitted the murderers of Emmett Till, a Black teenager who had allegedly whistled at a white woman. Perhaps the reason was that she had inadvertently boarded a bus driven by the same driver who had evicted her twelve years earlier. Parks knew that talk of a boycott was in the air. In any event, in the wake of her arrest the boycott began.” (p. 248)

In the review of Riding for Freedom, teachers might ask if the foreign policy of the Kennedy Administration on the Cold War was mutually exclusive from the domestic policy of integration and racial justice. Many American presidents have faced challenging decisions regarding their promise for domestic reforms and unexpected international conflicts. Kennedy experienced this in his first year as president.

“Certainly, the photographs that flashed across the world embarrassed the White House. But the conflict with the Soviets also inspired deep distrust of any movement that included critics of American foreign policy. After a telephone conversation in which he urged Martin Luther King Jr. to restrain the riders, Robert Kennedy remarked to an aide, ‘I wonder whether they have the best interest of their country at heart.’” (pp. 253-254).

“The continuing distortion of the period (Reconstruction) by historians raised a troubling question, King had long identified the movement with core American values inherited from the nation’s founding. But what, in fact, were the nation’s deepest values? All men are created equal? Or something more sinister, exemplified by Reconstruction’s violent overthrow? King had originally believed, he told the journalist David Halberstam, that American society could be reformed through many small changes. Now, he said, he felt ‘quite differently,’ ‘I think you’ve got to have a reconstruction of the entire society, a revolution of values.’ Was the movement the fulfilment of American values or their repudiation?” (pp. 263-264)

These excerpts are only appetizers for the full meal that is within each review and the entire book. As students think about and debate the civil rights era, they gain an understanding of the civil rights movement, its brutality, its injustice, its inequality, and its struggle. Unfortunately, too many students only know one sentence from Martin Luther King’s speech, “I have a dream….” Teachers should have students read or watch the entire speech.

“We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence. . . . The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. . . .

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.

(https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/inline-pdfs/king.dreamspeech.excerpts.pdf)

The genius of this book is that each chapter offers a new insight, a scholarly perspective, and a valuable lesson. I learned something new about integration, voting, the censorship of speech, the Chicago riots in 1968, and progressivism. The section on History, Memory, Historians is a must read for every pre-service teacher and every social studies teacher. The lessons here about historical omissions, social and intellectual history, and the lessons of history. Our Fragile Freedoms should shape the generation of social studies/history teachers who will be teaching students in the second quarter of the 21^st century!

Book Review: Aztecs, Moors, and Christians: Festivals of Reconquest in Mexico and Spain, by Max Harris. Reviewed by Thomas Hansen, Ph.D.

Aztecs, Moors, and Christians: Festivals of Reconquest in Mexico and Spain, by Max Harris. Austin: University of Texas Press. 2000, paper, 309 pages.

Review by Thomas Hansen, Ph.D.

Max Harris gives us a thorough recounting of several interesting local festivals—some of which are still in existence—that show the influence of the Moors on Spain and the efforts of the Christians to rid the country of their dominance. Harris also shows us how parallel festivals have existed for hundreds of years in Mexico—with similar themes and players.

Although the native peoples of Mexico already had their own festivals, some of which were connected strongly to war and invasion, with the advent of the Spaniards came additional festivals focusing on the dangerous Moors, in some cases the Turks, and in some other cases unknown invaders. Harris gives us several different time periods of festivals to consider here.

Harris first tells of the importance of understanding the Moorish influence on Spanish culture and how it had to be fought back. He gives us one chapter each on beheadings of the Moors and on understanding the importance of the masks in the festivals. The more gruesome and bizarre the masks, the more frenzied the spectators watching the parading Moors and the zealous Christians who rout them.

Without giving all the content of the book away, I will say that the author paints very vivid descriptions of the masks, weapons, decorations, dances, music, chants, and cheering indeed. Each locale has its own flavor of festival, and the events are celebrated with great gusto in each case. The author does a very good job of explaining possible origins of some of the stranger customs and decorations, in addition to give giving a strong cultural and historical framework for all the events. Harris beings a great deal of expertise to this discussion.

Harris divides his content on the rest of the festivals this way: Spain 1150-1521; Mexico 1320-1521; Mexico 1521-1600; and Spain 1521-1600. The author has an obvious in-depth knowledge of Spanish, Mexican, and native peoples and their customs and beliefs. He also shows a facility for other languages and this helps him explain the festivals, in some cases adding possible origins of some of the events, traditions, and decorations being used.

Teachers of social studies will profit from using this text as background reading for units on religion, culture, and interaction among peoples from different continents. There are also clear uses for this book in history units, geography units, and world language projects for more advanced students. It is also perhaps interesting personal reading for teachers and administrators with an interest in history, Latino culture, and related topics.

I recommend the book for those uses and also as interesting reading for professional development discussions for teachers of social studies and other subjects. Harris provides a very thorough picture of several festivals in both Mexico and Spain. Certainly units and lessons on those countries can be based on information in this book.

The discussion of the Moors as “dangerous other” threatening other cultures is timely right now, given the fears of Muslim persons harbored by some persons who do not have a complete understanding of the religion and who have heard only parts of what has been happening in world events involving a very small number of Muslims. The fear of diverse people and different religions and customs is an important force to be understood in social studies lessons and units.

Book Review: A New History of Life: The Radical Discoveries about the Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth by Peter Ward & Joe Kischvink Reviewed by Thomas Hansen, Ph.D.

A New History of Life: The Radical New Discoveries about the Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth, by Peter Ward & Joe Kischvink. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2015, cloth, 391 pages.

Review by Thomas Hansen, Ph.D.

The authors have a great time presenting their exciting theories and arguments in this informative book. You can tell they really love the topics in this book and enjoy discussing them. This really comes out clearly upon reading.

Whether you are a botany teacher or a fan of dinosaurs, you also will enjoy the discussion of how life started on this planet. Without giving all the content away, I will say that even though my science background is limited (undergrad minor) I got a lot out of the book. It is entertaining and very interesting.

Some background in a lot of different science areas would be helpful for the readers, for the authors talk about Jurassic Park, plants, dinosaurs, oxygen, plate tectonics, chemistry, geology, paleontology, and on and on. The authors obviously have a great deal of interdisciplinary background and and make good use of their facility with many types of data, theories, schools of thought, and science traditions.

The authors make good use of humor, also, in putting forth their ideas. For example, they mention the period of time when many scientists feel nothing was happening in terms of major biological change, some calling this the boring billion years. The authors respond to this notion by saying, “A billion years is a long time for nothing to happen. But like so much else, the boring billion has recently been shown to be not so boring. New discoveries are showing us that life was not resting at all” (p. 90).

They mention on page 93 that there was no oxygen available during this same time, using a chart and this clever explanation: “Zero. Really zero. No whiffs.”

Regarding a theory about tectonic plate movement, they stress on page 141, “However, this would work only if Laurentia and Australia were roughly ninety degrees away from each other at the time (which—duh—had to be true if Australia was on the equator and Laurentia on the pole!)” as a way to emphasize their opinion about

On the same point, they joke, “With apologies to Tolkien, “One motion to move them all, one rotation to spin them, one translation from the pole, and on the globe we’ll find them!”

I recommend this book for several types of readers. Certainly, fans of evolution theories and science in general will want to grab a copy of this book. Teachers of science will also find a lot of interesting passages and theories to consider. Science in its many subfields will come into play for the reader, for the authors discuss planets, geology, meteorology, primates, amphibians, and a host of other characters and developments in the scheme of life on this planet.

The book contains some content that will dovetail into units and lessons on science language and technical content. The book can be used as background reading for the teacher, reference material for the classroom, and suggested reading for student projects and reports on evolution because of the information, theories, arguments, and conclusions set forth. For example, the book may connect to the following Common Core Standards for Grades 11-12:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.8
Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or technical text, verifying the data when possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of information.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.9
Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments, simulations) into a coherent understanding of a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information when possible.

For more advanced students and for those in honors and college-prep courses, the book can be used in relation to this standard:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.10
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

The book can also be used as required reading for graduate and advanced undergraduate science courses, suggested reading for seminars on evolution, and additional reading in a professional development (PD) session for teachers of science. As always, follow-up sessions, group discussions, interdisciplinary research, and self-reflection are beneficial additional activities for any advanced text being used in PD sessions over the summer or on several Saturdays during the school year.

Review of A New History of Life: The Radical New Discoveries about the Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth, by Peter Ward & Joe Kischvink. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2015, cloth, 391 pages.

They mention on page 93 that there was no oxygen available during this same time, using a chart and this clever explanation: “Zero. Really zero. No whiffs.”

On the same point, they joke, “With apologies to Tolkien, “One motion to move them all, one rotation to spin them, one translation from the pole, and on the globe we’ll find them!”

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.8
Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or technical text, verifying the data when possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of information.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.9
Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments, simulations) into a coherent understanding of a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information when possible.

For more advanced students and for those in honors and college-prep courses, the book can be used in relation to this standard:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.10
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Review of A New History of Life: The Radical New Discoveries about the Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth, by Peter Ward & Joe Kischvink. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2015, cloth, 391 pages.

Review by Thomas Hansen, Ph.D.

They mention on page 93 that there was no oxygen available during this same time, using a chart and this clever explanation: “Zero. Really zero. No whiffs.”

On the same point, they joke, “With apologies to Tolkien, “One motion to move them all, one rotation to spin them, one translation from the pole, and on the globe we’ll find them!”

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.8
Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or technical text, verifying the data when possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of information.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.9
Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments, simulations) into a coherent understanding of a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information when possible.

For more advanced students and for those in honors and college-prep courses, the book can be used in relation to this standard:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.10
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Book Review-From the Republic of the Rio Grande: A Personal History of the Place and the People by Beatriz de la Garza Reviewed by Thomas Hansen, Ph.D.

Review of From the Republic of the Rio Grande: A Personal History of the Place and the People, by Beatriz de la Garza. Austin: University of Texas Press. 2013.

Reviewed by Thomas Hansen. Ph.D.

This interesting account of a small republic that existed only briefly between Mexico and the USA shows some very interesting histories and traditions that can teach us a lot. From 1839 to 1840, there was a nation between Mexico and the Republic of Texas called the Republic of the Rio Grande, with its capital in Laredo. Some do not know of this temporary republic, jostled between two mega-powers but firmly connected to both by trade, tradition, and blood.

Families from this region had connections to both other republics, often, and there are many documents still in existence showing sale and purchase of land, marriages, and bills becoming laws—all relating to the inhabitants of the area that was called briefly the Republic of the Rio Grande. The author does a very good job of painting a full picture that not involves commerce, history, culture, and politics, but also connects the story of this republic to the author’s own family.

De la Garza mixes the history of the republic with the family history she is able to ascertain through personal records, archives, and the story of the region as found on legal and financial documents. The story is very important to the author, and it can tell us very much about human nature—and about different political forces brought into conflict by a variety of factors: war, environment, need, tradition, and hope.

The author uses vivid language to tell us of the days of the republic, explaining details down to how the dwellings were constructed and including notes on dating, courting, and marriage traditions. The author also shows us the connections among families and the ironic way in which things can change over time, enemies becoming connected in ways their ancestors would have never imagined. There are also stories of love, of loss, and of hope.

The author provides a very valuable service indeed, reminding us of the republic and explaining so much about its short life. We owe her a lot, and we need to teach young people about this important chapter in history lest it be forgotten.

I will not give away the content of the book, something I always avoid doing in my reviews, but will urge teachers of history, of social studies, and of geography to consider reading the book. Both cultural and physical geography are involved in the story, as the people in the region had come from different lands to reach the site and the environment plays a huge role in the commerce and the very existence of the republic. The damming of rivers and the role of agriculture are two central issues in the story of this region.

I would recommend this story be read by all educators near where the republic once existed. It is important history and it is also an important way to enrich one’s perspective of the region. In addition, teachers of the subjects mentioned above can use the book as background reading, to build lessons and units on the history and geography of the area, and to enrich the curriculum on Texas, Mexico, and immigration.

Book Review – Erasing History: How Fascist Rewrite the Past to Control the Future by Jason Stanley

Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future

By Jason Stanley

Reviewed by Hank Bitten, NJCSS Executive Director

“Wars are won by teachers.” Vladimir Putin

This quote published in the Washington Post on May 7, 2024 is the opening statement in Chapter 1 of Erasing History. It is a powerful statement and thesis for this book and a compelling reason for teachers to read the arguments presented by Jason Stanley, Yale University Professor of Philosophy. There are numerous examples in this book explaining the biased perspective of American history regarding Black Americans, Latinx, Native Americans, women, children, etc. and there are examples of how history has been erased in Kenya, Palestine, India, China, and Ukraine.

Every teacher of U.S. history teaches the different views of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois to assimilate into American society at the turn of the 20^th century. However, the perspective presented by Jason Stanley offers students in our classes the opportunity for a critical debate regarding two different paths towards assimilation.

“In his public writings, Washington urged Black Americans to prioritize industrial education over political education, and thus to place greater emphasis on their productive potential as workers than on their identity as democratic citizens. As Du Bois saw it, this approach served white supremacy. He counseled Black American citizens instead to seek a liberal education, whose purpose was not only to elevate the soul but also to give them skills to democratically advance their own interests.” (page 39)

Some societies and governments favor a part of their population as the dominant or protected class and discount or “erase” the contributions of other people in their state. The technological advances of artificial intelligence present new challenges for teachers as history can easily be revised from quoting textbooks, historical papers, and extremist views from the past and make them appear as valid scholarship. The increasing popularity of PraegerU is an example of how school districts, Departments of Education, and individual teachers are accepting the information and lessons provided by non-academic institutions. Teachers have a unique responsibility and position because they are trusted by students and what they say is transformed from sight and sound to memory.

Teachers will find the historiography and analysis of the concepts of nationalism, American exceptionalism, and colonialism to be helpful for the development of lesson plans in both U.S. history and world history. It is less about ‘erasing’ history than changing history or emphasizing certain historical themes while ignoring others. Curriculum designers and teachers have both power and responsibility in how lessons are structured, implemented, and assessed. One example from the book is including the “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and ignoring his many contributions in the civil rights movement.

This is an important debate regarding assimilation in a society with a dominant class. A current example is the debate of how the working class earning an hourly wage without benefits can assimilate into the middle class. Is the best way to address this through subsidized education, new tax policies, or paying a living wage?

Teachers must have a strong content background in the westward movement, labor, Reconstruction, civil rights, Ukraine, Palestine, etc. to be aware of what is missing in the sources and resources they are using with students. The example below provides different points of view on the 1932-33 engineered famine that killed millions of people in Ukraine.

“The most significant of these omissions pertains to Holodomor a genocide of the Ukrainian people, in which millions of Ukrainian peasants starved to death after Stalin demanded draconian requisitions of grain from them, knowing full well that this would have devastating consequences. In Ukrainian and Russian, the term “Holodomor” consists of two parts: “famine” and “to kill” or “make someone suffer” – the closest translation is essentially “someone making others starve intentionally.” Importantly, although the word “Holodomor” and the tragedy it represents are well known throughout both countries, Russian textbooks describe the event using the generic term for “famine,” implying that Holodomor was merely a bureaucratic accident, and one that affected all of the USSR equally. In Ukrainian textbooks, it is represented as a famine that Stalin inflicted specifically upon the Ukrainians, which is considerably closer to the truth.” (pages 67-68)

Fascism is not taught is most high schools and college courses may not have provided this instruction for teachers. Fascism, socialism, Marxism, communism, and Naziism are critical movements in world history and they are complicated to teach because the are not monolithic. Professor Stanley provides five major themes that are part of a fascist education: (page 78)

National greatness
National purity
National innocence
Strict gender roles
Vilification of the left

The strategy that wins the support of people is often fear and patriotism. In the United States, the theme of national greatness is most visible with “Make America Great Again” and defining the United States as the greatest nation or what is defined as American exceptionalism. However, associating crime, poverty, homelessness, unemployment, etc. with a specific demographic group is part of the fascist goal of national purity. In Germany, it was the Aryan population. In the United States it is critical race theory, structural racism, and making white Americans feel guilty. We see the theme of strict gender roles in the directives to teach traditional roles of women and banning references to the contributions of the LGBTQ persons. The placing of blame for everything on a past president or a specific political party is another effective strategy. Teachers should be aware of these five signs and why populations embrace it.

President Trump delivered a speech in September 2020 when he introduced the White House Conference on American History. Particularly, in the 250^th anniversary year of the signing of the declaration of Independence, teachers need to be aware of how President Trump understands the teaching of patriotic history.

“Our mission is to defend the legacy of America’s founding, the virtue of America’s heroes, and the nobility of the American character. We must clear away the twisted web of lies in our schools and classrooms, and teach our children the magnificent truth about our country. We want our sons and daughters to know that they are citizen of the most exceptional nation in the history of the world.” (page 81)

Erasing History dedicates three chapters to the importance of education in both preventing and promoting authoritarian rulers or advocating against democracy and for authoritarianism. Teachers of social studies, history, and literature have a responsibility to recognize bias and ignorance and to select the sources and perspectives that lead to an understanding of the American values of equality, liberty, and the rule of law.

“The dismantling of public education is backed by oligarchs and business elites alike, who see in democracy a threat to their power, and in the taxes required for public goods a threat to their wealth. Public schools are the foundational democratic public good. It is therefore perfectly logical that those who are opposed to democracy, including fascist and fascist-leaning movements, would join forces with right-wing libertarians in undermining the institution of public education entirely.” (pages 121,122)

The movement for school vouchers, criticisms of curriculum, the attack on the 1619 Project, and the emphasis on America’s greatness contribute to distrust about public schools and confuses parents.

“The goal of anti-education is not only to render a population ignorant of the nation’s history and problems but also to fracture those citizens into a multitude of different groups with no possibility of mutual understanding, and hence no possibility of mass unified action. As a consequence, anti-education renders a population apathetic – leaving the task of running the country to others, be they autocrats, plutocrats, or theocrats.” (page 133)

I found Professor Stanley’s analysis of classical education to be exceptional. The extreme right and the extreme left (and those in between) support the teaching of Greek and Roman civilizations. What I found interesting is how each side selects the leaders and documents that support their perspective of government. For example, Pericles Funeral Oration describes Athenian democracy:

“Its administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if to social standing, advancement in public life fall to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition….We throw open our city to the world, and never by alien acts exclude foreigners from any opportunity of learning or observing…while in education, where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger.” (page 143)

While the above speech favors democracy, others look to Plato as evidence of a strong ruler with a clear authoritarian philosophy. The Greeks and Romans supported gender and racial superiority, owned slaves, favored landowners and intellectuals, and had colonies. These examples support a fascist ideology. Teachers have the responsibility to teach historical context, provide the reasons for social changes, help students to analyze how freedom is related to continuity and change over time, and an understanding of equality, reason, liberty, and power. Concepts we thought had clear definitions have become complicated.

There are more compelling insights in this book than I can comment on in a book review. Teachers of all subjects should read this book, but in particular history, social studies, and teachers of literature. Pre-service teachers also need to read and discuss this book. Let me conclude with these observations:

Critical thinking is essential.
Understanding a point of view and historical perspective are essential.
The current movement away from democracy has been part of our American history for a long time. We see it in the separate but equal policy on race, segregation laws, imperialism, xenophobia, criticisms of the New Deal, Brown v. Board of Education decision, McCarthyism, civil rights protests, Nixon’s imperial presidency, supply-side economics, and in the reaction to the decline of the United States as a world power.
Democracy ended in Athens, and in the Roman Republic. We need to understand how and why this happened.

As a teacher of history and/or social studies, you are on the front line and can expect to be criticized! Our responsibility as teachers is to include the experiences and contributions of all people – especially women, children, immigrants, people of different faiths, Black and Native Americans, laborers, individuals with disabilities, individuals who are LGBTQ, etc. Teaching history includes compassion, empathy, struggles, contributions, and the untold stories that you will discover. Erasing History is about forgotten and neglected history.

Book Review: Ring Shout, Wheel About: The Racial Politics of Music and Dance in North American Slavery, by Katrina Dyonne Thompson

Ring Shout, Wheel About: The Racial Politics of Music and Dance in North American Slavery, by Katrina Dyonne Thompson (University of Illinois Press, 2014)

Reviewed by Dr. Thomas Hansen

Katrina Dyonne Thompson draws on her work over the years as a student and then a faculty member doing research on not only the role of African music and dance in the lives of Black slaves in the US but also on the impressions made upon White observers. The lack of the background music of slaves singing while picking cotton in the fields is an important factor in the scenery. There were 200 years of song and dance among the slaves. Some Whites clung to the stereotype of the “irrepressibly cheerful” Black man singing in the streets despite how “ragged or forlorn” he might actually be (p. 1). However, the days of the happy singing slave who had a natural talent for performing and appearing light-hearted (p. 2) were disappearing.

At the same time Blacks were becoming more successful financially as bondsmen, and as they connected with the entertainment world and more able to access highly successful careers in music and dance, the image of the docile Black who loved to sing and accept their abuse was fading quickly.

Already by the early 20^th Century in America, White observers noticed a change in the thrill level of Blacks vis-à-vis their celebrations. Laments one White Georgian on this noticeable change in that they “…don’t sing as they used to… (p. 1) and telling the readers they should have seen the dancing “…of the old darkeys on the plantation.” This change in demeanor and enthusiasm was happening at the same time Blacks were beginning to speak up for themselves as a group.

The “New Negro” was threatening to the established order and some Whites were nervous, indeed. There were a lot of Black persons in the US by the end of the 19^th Century, and the notion they were more and more of them unhappy was unsettling to many Whites. Lack of enthusiasm in their dance and movement was a strong and obvious reminder there were many Blacks who were losing their sense of humor.

Actually more a part of an “imagined South” with happy slaves singing in the fields, the music and dance with an African beat often celebrated not only the culture from another continent but also hidden meanings and realities among the slaves here in the US. Many readers have probably heard that the lyrics and melodies had a varity of “hidden meanings” (pp. 108-109). They could be used simply for relating information from farm to farm or in other cases making fun of the White owner being so down on his luck he could not contribute to the holiday celebrations of the slaves.

Still more well-known are the songs of chariots coming to whisk the slaves away to freedom. Ironically, it is some of these songs with the most dramatic lyrics that came to be the most well-loved. With great passion, the slaves sang and danced as they prayed for better lives—usually far from the often rapacious and abusive owners. Slave owners could break up families, selling different members to the highest bidder. Thus, slave auction days came to symbolize frightening events indeed to families with “marketable” workers and healthy children.

Regarding the more technical aspects of the book, Katrina Dyonne Thompson frames the story told here as a performance, dividing into steps the art to be revealed. The author organizes her work into six chapters and an epilogue: 1) The Script: “Africa was but a blank canvas for Europe’s imagination;” 2) Casting: “They sang their home-songs, and danced, each with his free foot slapping the deck;” 3) Onstage: “Dance you damned n’s, dance;” 4. Backstage: “White folks do as they please, and the darkies do as they can: 5) Advertisement: “Dancing through the Streets and act lively;” 6) Same Script, Different Actors: “Eb’ry time I wheel about, I jump Him Crow;” and Epilogue: The Show Must Go On.

Without giving too much of the content away, I will say the book provide a great deal of information in a short space and the author demonstrates the changes of a People as their lives, livelihood, and status change immensely.

The author does a good job of showing how the Blacks transitioned away from giving off images of the happy and irrepressibly cheerful slaves and embracing their roles as performers, becoming successful business people, and welcoming their new voice as they created a distinct sound. They had taken the complex patterns of the West African song and dance (pp. 23-24) of their past, tied to new styles of Native American and other rhythms, and developed a rich urban beat with stylized sequences and a completely new sound.

It is this great change in the origins of the music to something very modern sounding that makes this book a good candidate for use in courses and seminars on the history of the Black sound in the US.

A second use of the book is the connection of music, dance, and historical events.

A third use is the insight the book gives into cultural and linguistic changes of Blacks as they and their art moved away from plantations and into urban centers.

A fourth use of this book is a sort of guide for setting out some basics that could be used in interdisciplinary units and lesson plans in K-12 classrooms.

A fifth use of the book is background reading for educators contemplating making the connections among slavery as a social studies and history topic to other fields (e.g., music, movement, singing).

I recommend the book for these five uses and also for a clear candidate for professional development (PD) sessions. The book would work well in a basic reading course for discussion over 2 to 3 sessions. The book would also work well over 5 to 6 longer sessions during which lesson plans, assignments, and assessment instruments could be developed—whether on site or through a hybrid course structure.

Book Review: Enrique’s Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother

Enrique’s Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother, edition adapted for young people, by Sonia Nazario. (Delacorte Press/Random House. 2006)

Reviewed by Dr. Thomas Hansen

I was very happy to come across this young readers’ version of this book, giving the background of who Enrique is, his family, the mother who works in the United States, and the famous journey to the US to reunite. This story, which covers about five years of time, is an important one for understanding why people leave children in other countries to come to the US to work, what such distances can provoke in the human spirit, and the complex means of trying to legally reunite family members living on opposite sides of a major border.

This story deals with Enrique’s mother leaving him and three other children in Guatemala to come to the US and work. This move will allow her to make a great deal more than the money available in her own country. It is only 12 years later that Maria breaks down and tells the woman she cleans house for about the four children in another land. A single mother with four kids and a husband who has run off with another woman, she must do whatever she can to support them. She tells the story as her employer listens.

Astonished, the employer embraces the story and makes it her mission not just to try to reunite the estranged family but also to get any and all legal charges dropped against the parents. This book provides some explanations on why immigrants face great danger to come here, take on work, and try to move ahead despite missing family members, their home, and their way of life. The children and other family members in the other country are going through their own loss, confusion, and grief as they try to choke down the tears, study hard in school, work, and persevere as well as they can.

The book presents very clearly some of the most common problems felt on both sides of the border. The grief and the daily burden of being so far away from their kin are two sources of psychological stress that can show up in a myriad of ways—including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The separation is dramatic for children, and for their parents.

I discovered hints of PTSD among the 11 students I myself conducted for my dissertation on Generation 1.5 Mexican American students learning English in two different Illinois community colleges (2010).

This book by Nazario is full of great social sciences content, cross cultural issues, federal legal procedures, and other information good for use in units and lessons in the regular classroom, social studies classes, and course time in general for students to do the readings and prepare for class projects and discussions.

I recommend the book as a “first source social studies text” for students old enough to appreciate what is here. Teachers and parents can review the book to look at the usual language issues and other considerations used to evaluate and recommend or not recommend the book for the classroom.

The book can also be used as good professional development source for conversations among educators because of the content found here.

Yet another use is personal reading for educators, parents, and stakeholders who can benefit from getting a better handle on the causes and attractions of immigration to this country. My job is to get people thinking about these kinds of books and the benefits for students.

Book Review: Civic Capitalism, by Colin Hay and Anthony Payne (Polity Press, 2015)

Civic Capitalism, by Colin Hay and Anthony Payne (Polity Press, 2015)

Reviewed by Dr. Thomas Hansen

Hay and Payne have assembled in this brief book 11 readings about capitalism and the realities of looking at modern economies through the lens of capitalism. The book is a result of a blog created and refreshed on the topic of the global crisis of the last few years.

Hay and Payne discuss and assemble readings here related to what they call “civic capitalism.” This is the “governance of the market, by the state, in the name of the people, to deliver collective public goods, equity, and social justice” (p. 3). They explain that this term has as its core the requirement that citizens must now “…ask what we can do for us and not what capitalism can do for us” (p. 4). Citizens must turn around the notion that they serve capitalism and must respond to its rules

This, in a nutshell, describes what the spirit of this book is and what the readings cover. The book deals further with the implications for all economies since commerce among nations is so complex now.

The book has to do with getting right what was done wrong. The book contains a variety of readings current on the disastrous complications of the recent recession and away from a traditional growth model and toward one that takes into account more cultural differences worldwide, the context in which growth (or on-growth happens) and the social side of capitalism.

Without giving away too much content in this review, I will say that there is very interesting information to read about here related to the workings of civic capitalism, and one does not need to be an expert in Economics to understand the explanations and recommendations coming from these savvy people. This is a readable and essential book for educators to grab onto. We must understand much more about the world economic situation if we are to be able to help struggling families, sway political thought, make changes in society, influence others, and convince elected officials how to vote.

These are all activities in which educators must be involved. I maintain that we must be involved in them at least to some extent. Teachers, administrators, and others who teach other persons at whatever level need to have a good sense of how we got to where we are financially and some ideas on how to move ahead.

Although the contributors are a little idealistic at some points (can one person really change the international flow of dollars for investment? Really?) they nonetheless do explain a great deal of information that is essential for understanding the benefits, drawbacks, workings, and potential of capitalism.

It is up to the educator to read this assembly of authentic texts and see how to incorporate them in their own worldview, use them in their plans to influence others, write lesson plans for more advanced level high school courses, make use of them in courses for college students, and take from the readings information good for use in debates and negotiations with other professionals interested in discussing and working on the work world economy. At least in some smaller fashion.

I recommend the book and especially the introductory chapter on “civic capitalism” because of the clarity and the definitions found there. Hay and Payne are able to explain a great deal of technical information in that chapter so that the reader will be comfortable diving into the discussions of big changes. Those big changes—mainly in perspective—make up the rest of the readings in the book.