To approach controversial moments in history with dignity, it is imperative that the teacher remains unbiased. Of particular concern with this unit is not the content of the history being studied, but the strong emotional response that sometimes accompanies a discussion about homosexuality. My unit is designed for eleventh and twelfth grade students. Also, I believe it is imperative that as teachers that we challenge our students on both the intellectual and academic level as long as we do so in with a safe, productive lessons that are rooted in rigorous pedagogy. In my unit design and classroom instruction, it will be necessary that the conversation and lessons are structured enough to allow all voices to be heard and validated, and that students are given an authentic occasion to express their views.
Rationale
I mostly teach 11th and 12th grade at New Haven Academy, a small interdistrict magnet school in New Haven, Connecticut. The size of the school helps to foster an environment rich in intense and close relationships among the members of the school community. Black and Hispanic students make up 80% of the student body, the remaining 20% are Caucasian. Also, roughly 65% of the students are from New Haven while the remaining 35% reside in the suburbs of the city. A large portion of the student body qualifies for free or reduced lunch, and the school qualifies for a free breakfast program. Classes at New Haven Academy are small, are sixty to seventy minutes in length, and in the Humanities Department, meet daily. Therefore, students are able to spend a significant amount of time investigating and studying each unit of study. Finally, New Haven Academy does not track students, and there is no leveling of students based on ability. Therefore, at any given moment I will have students whose abilities differ greatly. Therefore, it is imperative that all of my activities are accessible and meaningful for a variety of students.
New Haven Academy has an intense relationship with an outside organization, Facing History and Ourselves. A not for profit international organization, Facing History's mission as on organization is to foster a critical understanding of the choices we make and to force students to take responsibility for their community. The Facing History network is large and each member school participates differently with a varying amount of intensity. At New Haven Academy, participation is intense, and we utilize the Facing History curriculum extensively. In the ninth grade students take a seminar titled the Holocaust and Human Behavior. The course is a study of the Wiemar Republic and the events that lead to the Holocaust. In the tenth grade students take a course that applies the scope and sequence of studied in the Holocaust course to three additional atrocities: the Armenian Genocide, Apartheid in South Africa, and the Rwandan Genocide. The basic goal of the second course is to examine the connections and patterns that emerge in history. In the eleventh and twelfth grade student do not take a specific Facing History Course. However, the themes explored by this curriculum model continue to place an integral part of the upper level elective offerings. In the twelve grade students complete an independent Social Action project. In this project students choose a local, national, or international issue, and design and implement an independent community service project to address the issue. Each year the elective offerings vary based on student interest. However, these offerings are always centered on the common themes of the traditional Civics course, a requirement in the state of Connecticut. In the fall of 2009 this unit will be taught as part of my Crime, Punishment, and Justice course. The course will explore the theoretical and practical nature of crime and how the community, through official and unofficial means, regulates the behavior of its citizens, and punishes those who deviate from the norm.
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