By Maridith Yahl
NKyTribune reporter
The Thomas Clark Foundation is hosting a workshop, “Teaching Black History & Culture: A Workshop for Educators.” The workshop is a celebration of black history and culture in Kentucky but aims to teach understanding and provide resources.
Scripps Howard Center at NKU is providing support for the program, after hosting a webinar in July, in which about 130 teachers from Boone, Campbell, and Kenton County’s participated. Those at the Scripps Howard Center who organized the event saw that having such a workshop for teachers across the Commonwealth would be beneficial, says Dr. Eric Jackson, Professor of History, Director of Black Studies Program, Northern Kentucky University (NKU).
Jackson says they saw a need, that the standards, curriculum, and resources for teachers for African American/black history in Kentucky do not align. “Particularly after the death of George Floyd, people need to understand the dichotomy and the history of African Americans in the state of Kentucky, and the culture,” says Jackson.
There are a couple of reasons for the lack of curriculum and resources regarding African American history for K-12 teachers, Jackson says. One is the universities have not focused on integrating this into the K-12 teaching curriculum. Also, the state did revisit the standards, but the resources and curriculum are not aligned with the standards. “There’s never been a focus on it for whatever reason, not having the expertise, not having the resources, nobody particularly thinks it is important per se,” he says.
The all-day workshop, to be held on Monday, January 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The over 300 participants already registered will attend the sessions moderated by Alonzo Jones. Jones has spent his career in higher education creating and managing programs that support the academic, personal, and cultural growth of students. Jones will give the Keynote, “Race, Rationalization, and Humanness: A look into the life of Dr. Martin Luther King.”
Sessions will be presented from across the state, Jackson says. Some of the sessions include five students discuss their experiences in studying Black history and culture; classroom resources looked at from the Newport Museum @ the Southgate Street School; Dr. Jackson will discuss his forthcoming college textbook on Black history and culture; and from Berea College a discussion about building an anti-racist, inquiry bases curriculum.
Overall, the workshop wants to give educators a better understanding of African American history in Kentucky, its importance, and provide resources to teachers and their classrooms Jackson says.
During the workshop, a website will be introduced. It will be a teacher’s resource that will be regularly updated. Teachers also will be able to post ideas and resources to share with others. For example, as a fifth-grade science teacher, how do you talk about Kentucky African Americans in science, Jackson asks. Resources like books, documents, movies, and more will be available on the new website.
Integrating black history and culture into every grade and class is important. Most only consider this a history lesson but it is so much more. History is intertwined with all fields, from reading to math to science.
“For science, especially for high school or middle school, [teachers] could do something as simple as showing a clip from the film Hidden Figures. You have African American women scientists and NASA,” says Jackson. He suggests showing a 10–15-minute clip then have a class discussion. He recommends talking about what they were going through, their perceptions, how others respond to them, and their impact on NASA, he says.
Bringing change to the education system is another goal of this and other workshops like it. Without change, Jackson says, it would be a waste of time. Change will come over time, not next year or even three years from now. “That’s going to have to be generational,” Jackson says. It will have to be the next generation of teachers, students, parents, and community leaders, he says. Where we are today did not happen overnight, says Jackson. He says if there is not a start to make a change, it will never happen.
Planning to make this an annual event, the free workshop is geared toward K-12 teachers but is open to anyone. Click here to register anytime up until the workshop begins. Teachers can use these sessions for Professional Development hours.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrates the life of the late Civil Rights Leader. NKU Scripps Howard Center is doing so by educating about the history of African Americans in our Commonwealth.