Save Arab American Studies!

Educators Fight for Authentic Ethnic Studies

Jody Sokolower

At first it seemed that ethnic studies advocates had won a major victory in California, but then a backlash targeted Arab American studies.

Arranged Marriages, Rearranged Ideas

Stan Karp

One teacher’s efforts to deal with the issues and value judgments raised by a student whose culture calls for arranged marriages.

Standardizing Imperialism

Christine Sleeter

A look at how California’s standards discourage students from looking critically at U.S. foreign policy, and implicitly teach imperialism.

Inclusivity is Not a Guessing Game

Chelsea Vaught

An elementary teacher tells how she works to include her Muslim students in the life of her classroom. “We can use or create curriculum and projects that allow students to learn about and incorporate their culture and religious practices if they want to. We can be deliberate in including, making space for, and recognizing our students in all aspects of their identities. Making schools inclusive doesn’t have to be a guessing game.”

Resources 20.1

Check out these valuable resources, reviewed by Rethinking Schools editors and Teaching for Change colleagues.

In Our Hands

The Editors of Rethinking Schools

In the introduction to her new anthology, The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, Jesmyn Ward quotes James Baldwin: “Everything now, we must assume, is in our […]

“Baghdad Burning” Heats Up World History

Jody Sokolower

It’s always a struggle to work current events into history classes. A blog by a young Iraqi woman about her day-to-day life in Baghdad provides an opportunity to connect the medieval Abbasid Empire to today’s news.