Pedagogy Across State Lines: Critical Race Theory as a Response to Teachers Vs. The State

Abstract

James W. Loewen begins his book, Lies My History Teacher Told Me, with a dedication to all “American history teachers who teach against their textbooks,” challenging the standardized education system. Lauding teachers for going against the textbook procures a curious truth about the realities in the U.S. history classroom. From the mandated state guidelines and the textbooks being used to the teachers themselves, this study addresses the application of Critical Race Theory in the classroom at a time when CRT laws are being debated nationally. CRT was referenced on Fox News in 2021 sixteen times the amount it was referenced in 2020.

In this study, we look at three states’ – Mississippi (Republican), Iowa (Moderate), and California (Democratic) – political climate, U.S. History frameworks and textbooks, and ethnographic landscapes of U.S. history teachers. Speech communities of a state dictate the discourse in the U.S. history classroom. Most teachers abandon the textbook to teach a curriculum that is consistent with the state guidelines. Guidelines in the three states varied in their rigidness and the teacher’s predilections had more control over the content than they believed. Choice of people and events in the guidelines and teachers’ classrooms reinforced the concept of the Other and the awareness that students would have as civically engaged community members. Further impacts can percolate to neighboring communities through globalization and federal policies. Paolo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed and CRT are the lens with which to view equitable education and its application to American history.