Program Overview
The K-12 Ethnic Studies Teaching certificate program at SDSU is an interdisciplinary program integrating coursework from across campus to prepare educators who aspire to teach Ethnic Studies at the K-12 level. Through coursework that attends to (a) the nature of Ethnic Studies as a discipline, (b) content knowledge within Ethnic Studies history and/or literature, and (c) humanizing approaches to pedagogy, students completing the certificate can expect to be well prepared to teach Ethnic Studies courses at the K-12 level, and equipped with a unique skillset that will make them professionally competitive, and enhance their teaching effectiveness in all contexts.
The certificate complements majors and graduate programs that serve pre-service and in-service teachers, including but not limited to majors in Chicana/Chicano Studies, Africana Studies, American Indian Studies, Social Science, and Liberal Studies, Teacher Credential programs, and graduate degrees in Critical Literacy and Social Justice, Teacher Leadership, Reading Education, Women’s Studies, and MALAS.
At the undergraduate level, this certificate offers pre-service and prospective teachers an exciting opportunity to add a unique specialty to their skillset, that will position them to meet the needs of schools and students as K-12 Ethnic Studies courses expand into more and more districts, contexts, and states, as well as ample flexibility in the program of study to meet the needs of the many pre-service teaching majors.
At the graduate level, this certificate offers a compelling professional development opportunity for educators interested in the teaching of Ethnic Studies at the K-12 level. Graduate students should expect a more rigorous experience in certificate courses, as well as more flexibility in the program of study to meet their individual professional development needs. Moreover, they should also anticipate additional meetings and interactions with certificate faculty to evaluate and develop their program of study in relation to their particular work context, professional growth, and community needs.
The mission of the Ethnic Studies Teaching and Learning program at SDSU is rooted in the desire to ensure that K-12 educators who aspire to teach Ethnic Studies are prepared to do so with fidelity and appreciation for the positive, decolonial, anti-racist vision the field grows from and is committed to. We hope to cultivate educators marked by their ideological clarity and critical commitments; educators who are prepared to account honestly and purposefully with the realities of race, ethnicity, and coloniality in schools and in their own lives; educators whose pedagogies are liberatory, culturally responsive, sustaining, and revitalizing; educators engaged in the design of curricula that are inclusive, rigorous, transdisciplinary, and grounded in critical examinations of the world; and educators who are dynamic, reflective, and humble partners of the communities in which they teach. Simply, our mission is to ensure that as every student in California (and beyond) encounters Ethnic Studies in their K-12 schooling, the educators who will lead them in these journeys will be well-prepared, effective, and well-versed in the commitments, vision, and promise of Ethnic Studies.
Our goals are for students to develop and demonstrate their professional and academic expertise in Ethnic Studies at the K-12 level by engaging in learning and coursework around three main themes:
- Understanding Ethnic Studies as a Unique Discipline. While discourses of diversity are popular and plentiful in society generally, and education particularly, Ethnic Studies is a unique, distinct discipline, not a ‘diverse’ variation of others. Students will acquire a clear understanding of Ethnic Studies, and how this approach to curricula, pedagogy, and learning differs from generalized, mainstream, and shallow discourses of equity in education, including but not limited to: multiculturalism, inclusivity, diversity, humanism/human rights education, cultural competence, neoliberal conceptions of ‘social justice’, etc.
- Expanding Content-area Knowledge to Include Historically-Marginalized Counternarratives. Modern K-12 curriculum, though more attentive to issues of diversity than in years past, remains reflective of a singular ‘American’ narrative, that positions historically marginalized communities at the margins, and histories of their origins and contributions as secondary at best. It is these very narratives that the discipline of Ethnic Studies runs counter to. Through a community and content area specialization, Certificate Students will be positioned with the background knowledge necessary to construct curriculum in keeping with the intentions of Ethnic Studies, i.e. reflective of the perspectives, histories, and contributions of historically marginalized communities.
- Cultivating Humanizing and Decolonial Pedagogical Skills. Cultivating truly excellent Ethnic Studies educators for the future requires an awareness that content knowledge alone does not lead to liberatory outcomes for youth, and further, that Ethnic Studies requires a new kind of pedagogical expertise, and relationality. Students will consider the relational aspects and responsivity to communities required for teaching Ethnic Studies content and developing Ethnic Studies curricula, and develop a strong pedagogical skillset and repertoire of practices with which to implement curriculum in K-12 settings.
By completing the certificate in K-12 Ethnic Studies Teaching, students will be prepared to operate as highly effective, uniquely skilled Ethnic Studies educators in K-12 contexts, respecting and honoring the perspectives of historically marginalized communities, advancing the discipline of Ethnic Studies at the K-12 level, and serving the developmental needs of youth in schools as they approach discussions of race, ethnicity, and diversity.
As a praxis-focused certificate aimed at preparing Ethnic Studies educators for the K-12 classroom, our certificate is guided by ambition knowledge and skill objectives. Students who successfully complete the certificate should be able to KNOW and DO the following:
Knowledge Objectives:
- Define the field of Ethnic Studies, with respect to its historical, socio-cultural, political, and ideological origin and context, as well as to one’s own subject-area interest, and intersectional social identity;
- Identify and describe how the changing demographics in the United States/world, major historical events, court decisions, policy initiatives, and related socio-cultural and socio-political dynamics impact communities, schools, and learning for historically marginalized youth and communities;
- Evaluate the significance of race and ethnicity (as well as other varying social, cultural, historical, and physiological influences—including but not limited to gender, sexuality, physical development, language, and class) on the identity development, learning, social and cultural practices, and schooling experiences of individuals in racially diverse settings;
- Differentiate among key theoretical perspectives and analytical lenses used in the field of Ethnic studies—including decolonial theory, critical theory, critical race theory, and sociocultural theory—to examine schooling, pedagogy, and educational inequality around historically marginalized populations;
- Assess one’s own social-identity and epistemic/ideological position with respect to histories of hegemony and power, race and ethnicity, linguistic capital, dominant portrayals of schools, curriculum, and communities of color, and local community cultural wealth.
Skill Objectives:
- Demonstrate critical and decolonial approaches to K-12 pedagogy which advance the core commitments of the field of Ethnic Studies and promote liberatory outcomes and humanizing reflection among students;
- Critique, compose, and modify new and existing curricula to reflect the commitments of the field of Ethnic Studies, trans/interdisciplinary framing, as well as the local needs of a particular racialized/historically marginalized community;
- Devise and defend an ideological position reflective of the commitments of Ethnic Studies in relation to your pedagogy, curriculum development, engagement with youth and communities, and personal positionality;
- Argue for the inclusion of Ethnic Studies perspectives in pedagogical, curricular, and school-community efforts, with respect to common and anticipated counter-arguments and Eurocentric/Monocultural perspectives;
- Analyze and reframe deficit oriented educational discourse (e.g. “achievement gaps”, “school failure”, “being unbiased/nonpartisan/colorblind”, “saving youth/ communities”, “that’s just theory”) in professional conversation by leveraging theoretical perspectives and analytical lenses used in the field of Ethnic studies—including decolonial theory, critical theory, critical race theory, and sociocultural theory
