Dr. Alan Singer, Dr. Pablo Muriel, and Gates Millennium Scholar Dennis Belen-Morales, three generations of teachers, describe how they center student activism in their project-based social studies and history classes while giving students the tools to pass the NYS Regents exams. Dr. Singer was Dr. Muriel’s college professor, and Dr. Muriel was Mr. Belen-Morales’ high school teacher. Now all three are at Hofstra University. Part 1 of a two-part series that contains lots of specific strategies for teachers and passion for civics education.
References
- Click here to listen to the second part of this interview
- Alan Singer has regularly contributed to HuffPost and Daily Kos
- It’s possible to pre-order the book “Supporting Civics Education with Student Activism: Citizens for a Democratic Society”, by Alan Singer and Pablo Muriel, on Amazon
- The Ethics of the “N-Word” in the Classroom by Dr. Alan Singer
Overview
00:00-01:03 Intros
01:03-07:49 Why teach civic education?
07:49-23:26 Essential elements of “Supporting civics education with student activism”
23:26-32:08 Should social studies/history teachers be open with their students about their political perspectives?
32:08-35:38 How do you handle action projects that you find offensive or unethical?
35:38-43:47 Encountering racism among students; relationships among national/racial groups
43:47-45:00 Outro
Transcript
Click here to see the full transcription of this episode.
Credits
Photo hofstra.edu
Soundtrack by Podington Bear