Foundations of Education 2nd Edition - Ch4 Lesson Plan 1
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This lesson plan is also available as a Word file here.

Chapter 4 Lesson 1: Race, Ethnicity and Education - Historical Perspectives 

Course Level: Undergraduate and Graduate Education Studies
Estimated Time: 2-3 hours

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

  1. Analyze how the social construction of race emerged to justify slavery and colonization
  2. Compare and contrast different philosophical approaches to Black education (Washington vs. Du Bois)
  3. Evaluate the educational experiences and struggles of African Americans, American Indians, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans from historical perspectives
  4. Assess the impact of landmark legal cases and policies on educational access for students of color
  5. Critically examine how educational movements (ethnic studies, multicultural education, Afrocentric education, CRT) emerged to address racial inequities

Pre-Class Assignment

Students should:

  • Complete the chapter reading (historical sections)
  • Write a 1-page reflection on one of the opening questions
  • Identify 2-3 questions or discussion points from the reading

Lesson Outline

I. Introduction and Context Setting (20 minutes)

Opening Activity (10 minutes):

  • Think-Pair-Share: "What comes to mind when you hear the phrase 'separate but equal'? How does this phrase relate to education today?"
  • Students write individually for 2 minutes, discuss with partner for 3 minutes, share with class for 5 minutes

Framing the Lesson (10 minutes):

  • Review learning objectives
  • Present key question: "How have historical constructions of race shaped educational access and opportunity in the United States?"
  • Brief lecture: The social construction of race
    • Race as a tool of European colonization
    • No biological basis for racial categories
    • Race matters because inequities persist
  • Introduce concept of ethnic-racial socialization

II. Education and African Americans: From Slavery to Jim Crow (35 minutes)

Mini-Lecture with Discussion (20 minutes):

  • Education during slavery (1619-1865)
    • Contradictory views: democracy requires education vs. education threatens social order
    • Laws criminalizing literacy
    • Examples: John Chavis and the value enslaved people placed on education
  • Reconstruction Era (1865-1877)
    • Constitutional amendments (13th, 14th, 15th)
    • Role of Freedmen's Bureau
    • Establishment of public school systems
    • Post-Reconstruction backlash: underfunding, sharecropping, double taxation
  • Jim Crow Era
    • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and "separate but equal"
    • Reality: never equal in funding or resources

Critical Analysis Activity (15 minutes):

  • Students work in pairs using the chapter sections on Washington and Du Bois to analyze:
    • Key philosophical differences
    • Historical context for each position
    • Strengths and limitations of each approach
    • Relevance to contemporary debates
  • Pair shares with another pair to form groups of 4
  • Instructor facilitates brief whole-class discussion on question: "Who 'won' the debate? Why?"

III. School Desegregation and Brown v. Board (20 minutes)

Interactive Lecture (15 minutes):

  • Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
    • Linda Brown's story
    • Unanimous Supreme Court decision
    • Brown II (1955) and "all deliberate speed"
    • Massive resistance
    • 10 years later: only 2% of Black students in South attended majority-White schools
  • Unintended consequences of Brown
    • Loss of 31,000 Black teaching jobs
    • Loss of community trust and connection
    • White flight and the new dual system

Think-Critically Moment (5 minutes):

  • Pose question: "Given these unintended consequences, was Brown v. Board still a victory? What does this tell us about the complexity of educational reform?"
  • Students respond via written reflection (to be collected)

BREAK (10 minutes)

IV. Education and Other Ethnic-Racial Groups (40 minutes)

Jigsaw Activity (35 minutes):

Setup (5 minutes):

  • Divide class into 4 "home groups" (4-5 students each)
  • Assign each student in the home group a number 1-4
  • Each number corresponds to a topic:
    1. American Indian Education
    2. Mexican American Education
    3. Asian American Education
    4. Historical Educational Reform Movements (Ethnic Studies, Multicultural Ed, Afrocentric Ed)

Expert Groups (15 minutes):

  • Students regroup by number to form "expert groups"
  • Each expert group receives guiding questions:

American Indian Education:

  • What was the purpose of the Carlisle Indian School?
  • How did the Cherokee education system differ from federal assimilation policies?
  • What was the significance of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975?
  • What are the lasting impacts of boarding school policies?

Mexican American Education:

  • How did the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo affect Mexican Americans' educational rights?
  • What role did culturally biased testing and tracking play in segregating Mexican American students?
  • What were the key legal victories? How were they circumvented?
  • What was the significance of the East L.A. Walkouts?

Asian American Education:

  • What is the model minority myth and why is it harmful?
  • Describe the Tape v. Hurley case and its aftermath
  • What was the significance of Korematsu v. U.S. and its eventual reversal?
  • How have Asian Americans fought for educational justice?

Educational Reform Movements:

  • How did ethnic studies emerge? (Carter G. Woodson's role)
  • What distinguished the intercultural education movement from ethnic studies?
  • What are the key principles of Afrocentric education?
  • What are common criticisms and responses?
  • Expert groups discuss and prepare to teach their home groups
  • Each expert prepares a 3-minute presentation

Return to Home Groups (15 minutes):

  • Each expert presents their topic to home group (3-4 minutes each)
  • Home group members ask clarifying questions

Whole Class Synthesis (5 minutes):

  • Instructor asks: "What common themes emerge across these different groups' educational experiences?"
  • Collect responses on board:
    • Forced assimilation/Americanization
    • Legal battles for access
    • Cultural deficit ideologies
    • Segregation (both legal and de facto)
    • Community resistance and activism

V. Critical Race Theory and Its Application to Education (15 minutes)

Interactive Lecture (10 minutes):

  • Origins in critical legal studies (1970s-80s)
  • Key tenets:
    • Racism is institutionalized and endemic
    • U.S. society based on property rights, not human rights
    • Challenges dominant ideologies (meritocracy, race neutrality, objectivity)
    • Advocates for storytelling and counternarratives
  • Application to education (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995)
    • Need for more radical approach than incremental reform
  • Related frameworks: LatCrit, TribalCrit, AsianCrit, Critical Whiteness Studies

Discussion (5 minutes):

  • Pose reflection question: "How does understanding CRT's actual definition differ from how the term is used in popular discourse today?"
  • Brief class discussion

VI. Synthesis and Looking Forward (10 minutes)

Closing Activity:

  • Gallery Walk Setup: Post chart paper around room with these prompts:
    1. Most surprising thing I learned today
    2. A question I still have
    3. A connection to contemporary educational issues
    4. Something that challenged my previous understanding
  • Students circulate and write responses on each chart (5 minutes)
  • Instructor briefly reads themes aloud and connects to next lesson on contemporary conditions (5 minutes)

Assessment Options

  1. Comparative Analysis Essay (3-4 pages): Compare the educational experiences and struggles of two different ethnic-racial groups discussed in class. Analyze both similarities and differences in the barriers they faced, legal strategies employed, and outcomes achieved. What does this comparison reveal about the nature of systemic racism in education?

2.              Historical Figures Dialogue (3-4 pages): Write an imagined dialogue between two historical figures from this lesson (e.g., Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois; Carter G. Woodson and a multicultural education leader; Sequoyah and Richard Henry Pratt). Ground their dialogue in their actual philosophies and historical contexts, but have them discuss a contemporary educational issue.

3.              Critical Timeline with Analysis: Create an annotated timeline of 10-12 key events/court cases from the lesson. For each entry, include: date, brief description, significance, and connection to at least one other event on your timeline. Conclude with a 2-page analysis of the overall trajectory: What patterns emerge? What is the relationship between legal victories and actual educational change?

 

Resources for Further Exploration

Key Readings:

  • Anderson, J. D. (1988). The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935
  • Woodson, C. G. (1933). The Mis-Education of the Negro
  • Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education
  • Deloria, V., Jr. (1969). Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto

Primary Sources:

  • Excerpts from Washington's Up from Slavery
  • Excerpts from Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk
  • Supreme Court decisions: Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board

Video Resources:

  • Eyes on the Prize documentary series (PBS)
  • Walkout (2006 HBO film about East L.A. Blowouts)