Abstract
The educational system in the United States is failing students of color (Heubert & Hauser, 1999; Irvine, 1990; Jencks & Phillips, 1998; McNeil, 2000; Miller, 1995; Viadero, 2000). Currently, the capitalist society we live in uses democracy as well as education as one factor to restrain students of color into succeeding socioeconomically (Apple, 1982; Carnoy & Levin, 1985; Dale, Esland, Fergusson, & MacDonald, 1981). Sorting the students who will succeed and the ones who will fail, namely students of color, occurs through different mechanism such as standardized testing, standardized curriculum and tracking in which systems are used to label students (Apple, 1982; Bowles & Gintis, 1976; Carspecken, 1991; Freire, 1985; Giroux, 1983; Hansen, 2001; McLaren, 1986; Solomon, 1992). This project seeks to counter this notion of banking which often occurs through standardization, in a problem posing education. Thus this project is curriculum developed using a critical pedagogy framework first developed by Alma Flor Ada (2003) in literacy. This project has applied this critical pedagogy framework in a history, social science context by creating a unit on the gilded era in United States history. A curriculum analysis was conducted on existing lessons on the gilded era using a curriculum analysis tool modified from varied curriculum theorists and used by Lisa William-White. It is these findings that indicate the need for a curriculum that allows students to realize the oppression that still occurs. Thus a 10-lesson unit with two alternative lessons was created to bring students through a process of attaining concientization, through dialogue and discussion in both small and large group. In these 10 lessons, students also undergo a process of critical analysis and reflection through gallery walks that have students analyze current and historical events in order to find similarities of oppression that still occur today. Finally, transformative action occurs in the end of the lessons as students decide to take action to counter current oppressive forms of disenfranchising. However, this is only one factor that would help students bring about this concientization and there is still a need for curriculum based on critical pedagogy that would not only support students of color but create engaged citizens who want to make influential changes to counter oppression faced by people of color.