At the end of 2018, the District Board approved Ethnic Studies, a one semester social studies course focused on the study of race, ethnicity, nationality and sexuality. District policy allows students to take Ethnic Studies instead of Contemporary World Studies at Cappuccino High School.
Superintendent Kevin Skelly said the course was first proposed last year, and that after discussion the school district decided to implement the course this school year.
“The board received a proposal last year mainly driven by Cappuccino, who is doing a pilot of the course where all freshman were taking Ethnic Studies in lieu of CWS,” Skelly said.
Cappuccino, San Mateo, Hillsdale and Aragon currently offer the Ethnic Studies course.
At Aragon, however, the Ethnic Studies course is a one semester elective course taught in conjunction with Street Law.
“Hillsdale and Aragon are doing it similarly,” said Ethnic Studies teacher Cristina Trujillo, “whereas the Cappuccino model is replacing CWS with Ethnic Studies as a mandatory course for freshman.
Although nothing has been decided yet by the district, Trujillo believes Ethnic Studies and CWS hold the same weight and neither should be replaced by the other.
“I’m not the district head, nor can I speak for the district, but I can tell you what I hope. I would hope that CWS isn’t replaced by Ethnic Studies,” Trujillo said. “I don’t know if Ethnic Studies should stay an elective or not, but I don’t think it can replace Contemporary World Studies. The two courses teach such different things, but both teach valid skills needed in society today.”
Some schools in the district have chosen not to implement the course this first pilot year. At Aragon there is one class section.
“Currently all of our schools offer [Ethnic Studies] except for Burlingame and Mills and I know Mills is planning on offering it next year,” said Samia Shoman, manager of english learning programs. “They wanted more time to prepare and train teachers. I believe BHS is exploring offering the course.”
Shoman explained that the Ethnic Studies/Street Law class was not difficult to implement, due to the unique topics being studied.
“In terms of the course of study, there was not much opposition to getting it approved,” Shoman said. “The state of California is currently considering a bill to make [Ethnic Studies] required of all high school students in the coming years. We are working with a team of teachers this year to provide professional learning and collaboration opportunities so that we can continue to refine the course of study to best meet students interest and need.”
A main difference of this course, Trujillo describes, is that the course focuses on groups of people not recorded in most history classes.
“I think that one of the ways that I taught U.S. history, there was a lot of focus on the dominant narrative,” said Trujillo. “When we talk about, ‘Oh the U.S. did this thing’ we usually mean the majority of the culture of the U.S. did this thing. I think Ethnic Studies gives students the opportunity to learn what the groups other than the majority group did … [students] don’t learn about those groups because of how history classes are set up.”
Aragon students are currently in the Street Law semester of the two semester course. Some students, like junior Leila Tamale, feel that if the class were implemented as an alternative to CWS sophomores should take it.
“It’s refreshing to take something completely new and unlike the other courses, and for most students, that newness is welcomed,” Tamale said. “ I don’t think that’s it’s necessarily more important than world studies, as it’s essential to learn about the world’s past to avoid repeating mistakes, but I do believe that it’s also very important to incorporate history as it relates specifically to minorities and people of color, as well as relevant issues involving ethnic studies.”
The first semester revolves around discussion of controversial legal issues, as well as learning legal jargon and methodology.
“Right now, we just had a heated discussion about what the crimes are in this article we just read about a young man who had just been detained for planning a potential school shooting,” Trujillo said. “He had not committed the act so he was let go…[and] we were discussing whether or not the law could hold him on that act.
Additionally, it gives the school district more insight about how to go about setting up classes similar to Ethnic Studies.
“Different schools are taking the Ethnic Studies class in different directions, and right now we’re fine with that,” Skelly said. “I think it’s a good chance for us to learn and see what’s going well and what’s not. In a class like social studies there is so much material to teach, and what makes some information more valuable than others?”
