Gender, Race, and Class in Today’s America

Teaching Strategies

Inquiry-Based Learning

One of the education buzzwords that has gained traction in recent years, inquiry-based learning is quite simply about triggering student curiosity through provocative, real-world questions and allowing students the space and time for investigation.³⁶ Inquiry based learning, like problem-based learning or project-based learning, is focused on making the classroom more student-centered and developing independent learners.³⁷ The International Baccalaureate Program which my anthropology course is designed for has long used an inquiry-based approach. The IB learning process involves “cycles of inquiry, action, and reflection.”³⁸ Indeed, the root of an IB unit plan is “inquiry questions” which help students dig into the content, concepts, and skills that they need to succeed.

My overarching approach for this unit is that I will provide students with inquiry questions, help them generate their own supplemental questions, and use these as drivers for learning and discussion. For example, one model of inquiry-based learning involves a cycle of the three Ds: discovery, discussion, and demonstration.³⁹ For this unit, this cycle could look like reading part of Renegade Dreams and supplemental videos or reading; discussing the texts as a class and helping students ask their own questions; and then providing students with opportunities to deepen their learning, perhaps by giving them an opportunity to do an ethnographic observation on a topic of interest. While there are many ways that inquiry-based learning can be implemented, the central point to keep in mind is that learning should be generated largely from student questions and insights.

Thought, Question, Epiphany Discussion Method

One of the key parts of inquiry learning is discussion, but as all experienced teachers know, facilitating rich discussion is much easier said than done. Since the core of this unit is ethnography, it will be important to provide an effective and clear structure for student discussion that supports rather than detracts from student reading itself. The thought, question, epiphany, or TQE, discussion method can help here.⁴⁰ With TQE, students are not assessed on teacher-created reading questions, but solely on their participation in discussion. After completing the assigned reading at home or in previous class time, class begins with small group discussion where students generate thoughts, questions, and epiphanies they have regarding the reading. The small groups select two top TQEs that become the basis for a whole class discussion moderated by the teacher, where students are assessed on participation (although alternative assessment can be provided for students who are deeply uncomfortable with contributing). TQE is similar to other discussion methods, but I have found that the framing of “thought, question, epiphany” is uniquely successful in pushing students to share their insights.

Modern Classrooms Project Instructional Model

The content part of the unit plan, including historical background and anthropological theories, will be presented through supplemental readings and instructional videos. Since it is not essential that students receive this information at the same place in the inquiry cycle, nor imperative that they have this material to participate in a discussion of Renegade Dreams, it will be provided in a self-paced format following the Modern Classrooms Project (MCP) instructional model. I used this model for all my classes this past year and it has been transformative in helping me to organize and measure student learning, as well as drive student inquiry into topics of interest. In brief, MCP involves self-paced learning through teacher-created instructional videos and activities; categorization of tasks as Must Do, Should Do, or Aspire to Do; and assessment of mastery checks at the end of each lesson.

For this unit, a lesson on Isabel Wilkerson’s thesis in Caste: The Origin of our Discontents may include an instructional video on the book, a reflection activity where students show how the concept of caste applies or does not apply to Renegade Dreams, an optional reading from Caste, and a mastery check assessing whether they understand Wilkerson’s central argument. In this way, students can supplement their reading of the anchor text without being overwhelmed by the requirements or pace and having flexibility to focus on their own interests. If they do not show mastery, there will be an opportunity to review the concepts with the teacher and in discussion with peers before attempting the mastery check again. In MCP model, students move onto the next lesson when they have shown their understanding on the previous lesson. Consequently, I plan for there to be two parallel structures for this unit: a self-paced lesson structure and a time-sensitive reading schedule. In this way, I hope to accommodate the necessity of having both whole class discussion and differentiated learning.

Social and Emotional Learning

I hope for another education buzzword, social and emotional learning (SEL), to take on genuine meaning in this unit. Since we will engage with the deeply emotional topics of belonging, exclusion, and racism, and since anthropology as a discipline is about our personal and collective relations to society, I believe it is essential to frame this unit around SEL. Moreover, we will be discussing emotionally charged content like gang violence, police brutality, and drug addiction; there must be structures in place to support students and make them feel safe amidst these difficult conversations.

According to CASEL, the main organization for SEL, social and emotional learning involves five key competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.⁴¹ In order to cultivate social awareness of how our words in discussion may impact other students, it is important to have clear guidelines for appropriate classroom conversation and to frequently revisit the classroom contract we make at the beginning of the year. We will also use journaling as a processing tool and to promote self-awareness of how we are feeling about the content. Social and emotional learning enables students to feel safe in the classroom, helps them to learn social and emotional skills through anthropology, and leverages their emotional connections to the text and to each other for deeper learning.

Adapting the Unit to a History, ELA, or Sociology Classroom

Very few high schools in the United States offer anthropology. However, this unit can be adapted to a history, English Language Arts (ELA), or sociology course. For a U.S. history class, the emphasis can be placed on the historical context explored above regarding housing discrimination, the war on drugs, and mass incarceration, rather than the abstractions of belonging and exclusion. Renegade Dreams, or excerpts from it, could be used as a link to the 21st century; it is an ethnographic example of how history and past governmental policies continue to impact communities today. Chapter 1, on Development, may be useful here.

For an ELA class, Renegade Dreams could be read in its entirety as an introduction to academic non-fiction or excerpts could be read as exposure to the genre of ethnography. For ELA, it would be helpful to focus on a deep reading of parts of the text and its connections to key themes, such as belonging and exclusion. Ethnography may also provide an opening to talk about how we should discuss and understand people in non-fiction texts versus characters in fiction. It would create opportunities to talk about how authors construct arguments through both examples, as in ethnographic excerpts, and direct argumentation. Chapters 2 and 3 may be most helpful for ELA teachers, since they have rich ethnographic anecdotes. Alternatively, ELA teachers studying a novel about belonging may find Part II of this unit plan helpful as for theoretical and conceptual framing.

This unit is perhaps most easily adapted to a sociology classroom. It would be effective to supplement the ethnographic text, read in full or in part, with quantitative data from the historical periods mentioned and the present. In this way, the unit could become an entry point for discussing how sociologists use a variety of methods and angles to draw conclusions. Renegade Dreams also draws on and responds to a variety of sociological theories, taking quarrel with the “culture of poverty” thesis of past sociologists. For a more advanced sociology classroom, these theories could be explored more deeply than they are in this unit.