When Hoosier middle schoolers are taught state standards in U.S. and Indiana history, one focus, out of many, is the effect of slavery and consequences of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
In the eighth grade, pupils study social reform movements and the Civil War with state standards calling on students to describe “causes and lasting effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction as well as the political controversies surrounding this time such as Andrew Johnson’s impeachment, the Black Codes, and the Compromise of 1877.”
If you don’t remember those historical events, Google them so you can keep up with your eighth grader.
With the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol behind us, perhaps it’s time to discuss how the event will be taught in the future.
Granted, the chronology of events as well as the instigators are still being researched. We may not have the insight of a Civil War historian at this point about Jan. 6.
Maybe that’s why Hoosiers should get an eye on legislation in the Indiana General Assembly intended to bar public schools and teacher preparation programs at colleges from teaching concepts that divide and stereotype people into groups based on sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin or political affiliation.
One of the bill’s authors, Sen. Scott Baldwin, R-Noblesville, said prohibited concepts include those that place responsibility for actions committed in the past by members of a group.
Less than two weeks ago, Baldwin was roundly denounced for, and had to walk back, comments he made at a Senate committee hearing in which he said teachers should remain neutral when teaching lessons about Marxism, fascism and Nazism.
As Baldwin has seen, being impartial when discussing violent and historic tragedies can send the wrong and even anti-Semitic message.
Does that mean students can’t decide, or classrooms discuss, whether the Jan. 6 rioters were in the wrong? We hope not.
Last January, within a day of the riot, the Indiana Department of Education issued guidelines to help teachers lead discussions. “IDOE supports educators as they intentionally respond to events in the news,” the Twitter announcement read. “IDOE recognizes the ever-changing needs of classroom instruction and student well-being that arise from current events.”
The document has been pulled from the IDOE website, leaving individual school districts to figure out the best approach.
So educators and parents can begin to refine discussions. It may take tiny steps to get into deeper issues.
We might turn to the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based iCivics website that works toward civic engagement as an element of a thriving democracy. It suggests:
— Asking students what they know our what questions they have about Jan. 6, a discussion that can lead into a conversation about constitutional democracy.
— Helping students trace the effect of significant events in our nation’s history to today. Why was Shays referred to as a rebellion, and why is the Boston Tea Party referred to as a tea party or John Brown’s Raid as a raid? That can easily bring up whether Jan. 6 was a riot, insurrection or rebellion.
— Instilling the importance of building civic knowledge and skills with youth. See how an understanding of Jan. 6 can resolve future civic issues.
Maybe our youth will be supportive, appalled, disappointed, even unmoved by the events of Jan. 6, 2021. But it is important that they understand that day fully to develop their own perspectives on the world into which they’ll become adults. Instruction can occur at home but should also be allowed to continue in schools.
