SJSD Social Studies Cultural Curriculum

Introduction and User’s Guide

This Cultural Curriculum satisfies the final requirement of the Consent Agreement between the SJSD and Sinajini. The implementation of a cultural curriculum, across the elementary grades and the secondary Social Studies classes will bring the SJSD into full compliance with the agreement.

The intent of the Cultural Curriculum scope and sequence format, which is listed alongside the presently existing Social Studies State Core, is to add a menu of Navajo-Ute-Hispanic and Pioneer Cultural objectives for teachers’ ease of choice and to initiate topics for teachers to further develop their own ideas. The core coding of the state scope and sequence applies to the cultural curriculum scope and sequence.

The State of Utah has this SJSD document and will modify it for their purposes of developing a State Cultural Curriculum scope and sequence to include Goshute, Paiute and Shoshone topics.

Teachers are not expected or required to teach the cultural curriculum in addition to their regular curriculum. Instead, teachers are being asked to substitute some of the state core curriculum items with cultural curriculum items. Implementation of some amount of cultural curriculum is mandatory in order for the district to meet compliance with the Consent Agreement. As this is a new development, the amount of cultural curriculum to be taught, and the particular objectives are not fully specified, however a minimum is required.

To begin, one unit with lesson plans from the cultural curriculum scope and sequence has been developed for each elementary grade and for each secondary subject. Every teacher will receive the unit appropriate to their teaching duties and will be supported to implement the unit lessons. A schedule for support and observation with feedback will be forthcoming to your building administrator and you will have some choice regarding scheduling.

Support for teachers to develop other units and lessons of their choosing will also be provided. I understand that most teachers have already developed some cultural curricula which they have already been integrating into their programs. These units and lessons can be formatted for district-wide use and placed in a central social studies cultural curriculum collection. Contact me regarding curricula you have already developed.

This social studies cultural curriculum is a work in progress. Units, lessons and references will be added as teachers come forth to share their curricula. It is always better to not “reinvent the wheel” and it is hoped that over time the teachers of the SJSD will become the primary authors of the curriculum. And from their expertise, will support and implement each other’s carefully constructed social studies Navajo-Ute-Hispanic and Pioneer cultural unit and lesson plans.

A bibliography and references for the Cultural Curriculum scope and sequence are provided in a reference sheet. Many materials are available through the SJSD Media Center and can be ordered or checked out from Kathy Hurst. SJSD Media Center catalogues will be disseminated throughout the district as soon as the next version is printed.

Some of the references in the cultural curriculum name the harsh actions which have occurred in Navajo-Ute-Hispanic and Pioneer history. Had educators before us taken on the difficult task of adding the Navajo-Ute-Hispanic and Pioneer cultural points of view to Social Studies we would be more at ease in discussing these historical phenomena and less daunted by the historical subject matter of coercion.

Coercion is a means of controlling the conduct of others through threats to harm. Coercive relationships exist everywhere in every society: in families, in the marketplace, and characteristically, in political institutions. Civilization tolerates, even makes possible, many uses of coercion. Most notably, it delegates to its public officials the license to threaten drastic harm to others. Some societies, particularly free countries, assure private subjects the right to exercise significant threats within a framework of law. This legal license to coerce is frequently referred to as authority, to distinguish it from the unauthorized and prohibited practices variously called tyranny, blackmail, and criminal extortion. The practice of coercion, whether in its lawful or in its unlawful aspect involves a complex application and has troublesome consequences (Kerr Muir, 1977, p. 37).

The history of civilization is a history of war with victors and victims of differing cultures across time and place. This cultural curriculum addresses the people of the place we call Four Corners, and the time period since 1539 (when Fray Marcos de Niza first arrived from New Spain), to the present.

Many teachers are, understandably, apprehensive to speak of the “troublesome” consequences for American Indians in the creation of the United States. Many teachers are worried that American Indian students will rebel. My experience is that American Indian students, as well, go through a period of discomfort and adjustment to discussing difficult topics related to their history. Blame and guilt are not useful in the classroom.

Compassion and understanding are essential.

The scope and sequence of the cultural curriculum includes many different topics, with varying degree of difficulty, to choose from. I will be available to support teachers at the level of their comfort in taking on this task of adding the cultural point of view to the curriculum.

Best Wishes,

Clara A. Martinez, Ph.D.

Kerr Muir, Jr. William. 1977. Police: Streetcorner Politicians. University of Chicago Press.

Kessel, John L. 2002. Spain in the Southwest. University of Oklahoma Press.