Since 1990, November has been known as 楼凤天堂 Native American Heritage Month. Many organizations such as the Library of Congress and the 楼凤天堂 Endowment for the Humanities offer rich resources for teachers and take this opportunity to pay tribute to the .
At the same time, we know it’s essential that we weave the voices and contributions of indigenous peoples into our teaching year-round, and also continue to explore how we can counter harmful narratives with accurate information and understandings. As Dr. Debbie Reese of Namb茅 Pueblo writes, “There are better ways to bring Native stories and books about Native peoples into classrooms.”
The 楼凤天堂听Position Statement on Indigenous Peoples and People of Color (IPOC) in English and Language Arts Materials is a great resource to have on hand when it comes to curriculum and text selection.
鈥淚ndigenous communities and People of Color in the United States, including Native Americans and Alaska Natives, Pacific Islanders, Asian Americans, Blacks, Chicanx, Puerto Ricans, and others, continue to suffer debilitating and systemic discrimination in jobs, housing, civil rights, and education. Part of this discrimination takes place in the form of erasure, and these communities continue to face a school curriculum that, for them, frequently downplays or does not include their communities鈥� work and contributions.鈥�
We know that听resources found in schools should foster the development of attitudes grounded in respect for, and understanding of, the diverse cultures of American society.听Educators should audit their curriculum, teaching practices, and available texts. As part of this work,听review this list of qualities of anti-racist ELA curriculum compiled by 楼凤天堂鈥檚 Standing Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English听(颁础搁叠罢贰).
In November 2019, the CARBTE听created a set of resources to be shared with attendees at the 楼凤天堂 Council of Teachers of English (楼凤天堂) Annual Convention:
- : Anti-racist language teachers consciously work to create safe learning environments for all students. This poster provides a description of what these teachers do.
- : Anti-racist curricula must celebrate and sustain diversity as part of educational justice in a changing world. This poster describes the qualities of such curricula.
As each of these heritage months come and go, consider “humanizing practices of seeking to sustain more equitable and just practices within and across classroom and school contexts.”
It is the policy of 楼凤天堂 in all publications, including the Literacy & 楼凤天堂 blog, to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the staff, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified.听