Limits are being imposed on social studies textbooks in Florida. What Must Go Is As Follows

 Limits are being imposed on social studies textbooks in Florida. What Must Go Is As Follows

Do socio-emotional learning and culturally sensitive teaching have a place in social studies instruction? Florida's message to textbook publishers is that it does not.

Florida goes through a state-level textbook adoption procedure, which means that reviewers look at the instructional materials' quality and how well they adhere to the state criteria for specific topics. The state attracted national attention earlier this year when it rejected multiple math textbooks for allegedly including concepts from critical race theory, the Common Core State Standards, or principles of social-emotional development.

The standards for publishers are the same as those given out for math, and the evaluation process for social studies materials starts in September.

The study coincides with Florida's investment in its civics education programme, which includes professional development courses and new civics standards that place an emphasis on patriotism and American exceptionalism. A state regulation that restricts the way subjects like race can be discussed in the classroom has already come into force.

Some national education groups are concerned about how these actions fit into the greater national trend of limiting social studies instruction. They are particularly concerned about what they want publishers to avoid in the social studies textbook standards.

The law cautions publishers to stay away from theories that "may lead to pupil brainwashing" in the standards. It states that they cannot integrate social emotional learning, culturally sensitive teaching, or critical race theory.

According to Lawrence Paska, executive director of the National Council for the Social Studies, the general worry that educators may be indoctrinating children is baseless.

"Educators are qualified, certified professionals whose goal it is to assist students in meeting requirements so that they are prepared for graduation and life beyond school. They carry out that every day, according to Paska. Limitations and restrictions on that have the exact opposite impact. They don't assist educators in reaching their full potential as professionals. Additionally, they don't assist students in achieving success or the capacity to graduate with the necessary skills and knowledge, as has previously been established elsewhere.

According to the state, publishers may contest either the Florida textbook adoption list or the adoption procedure. The state has in the past permitted publishers to modify their contents, and a corporation has 21 days to request a hearing.

Districts are required to spend half of the state monies given to them for curricular purchases of state-adopted materials; the other half may be spent off-list.

A concept in academia called "critical race theory" looks at how racism can be ingrained in laws and other systems. It is described by the state as, among other things, endorsing the notion that "members of one race, colour, sex, or national origin are morally superior to members of another race, colour, sex, or national origin" and that "an individual, by virtue of his or her race, colour, sex, or national origin, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether conscious or unconscious."

The use of students' customs, traits, life experiences, and perspectives as teaching aids is known as culturally responsive teaching, broadly speaking. However, according to the state, this method of education deviates from the mandate that "in the selection of instructional materials... the propriety of the content shall include the consideration of the broad racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural variety of the pupils of this state."

In addition, the standards define social justice as being "aligned" with critical race theory and including elements like "trying to eradicate unjustified disadvantages for selected groups."

Competencies like self awareness, social awareness, self management, relational skills, and responsible decision-making are all part of socio-emotional learning. The state of Florida describes SEL as the teaching of identity and identification concepts, controlling emotion, creating relationships, and social awareness. It is referred to as "extraneous, uninvited tactics" for social studies.

In order to support SEL in schools, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL, collaborates with researchers, policymakers, and districts. Melissa Schlinger, vice president of practise at CASEL, sees this perspective as incompatible with high-quality social studies instruction.

According to Schlinger, social and emotional learning are necessary for students to interact with the subject matter in more profound and meaningful ways during social studies training. You're eliminating a component that we know from research makes instruction more effective by simply suggesting that social-emotional learning shouldn't be included in academic instruction.

For instance, a student taking a civics course might utilise them to practise becoming civically active. Schlinger provided the example of a student organising people in his town to push for measures like constructing ramps after realising how difficult it is to get around for his sister, who uses a wheelchair, in many areas. The student gains social awareness by recognising his sister's needs and those of others, self awareness by understanding why this is important to him, interpersonal skills by collaborating with others, and self-management and responsible decision-making abilities throughout the process.

According to Schlinger, the specifications even conflict with one another. Publishers must incorporate important learning elements like "strategies known to be successful for teaching the learning outcomes targeted in the curriculum standards," for example.

Teaching critical thinking is one of them, according to the state's definition of it, which includes methods to "explain and provide practise in recognising factors or biases that may influence choice and interpretations such as culture, experience, preferences, desires, interests, and passions, as well as systematic thinking."

That, in Schlinger's opinion, is social awareness, perspective-taking, and an appreciation of how opinions are influenced by unique cultural identities and experiences. They demand social and emotional learning and request that it be removed from the curriculum.

She continued, "When I think about the core of this, we're talking about politicising education. "When we do that, kids lose."