Title: Mexican American History as an Elective High School Subject: Promoting Ethnic Literacy and Citizenship among DNISD Students.
Abstract: At Del Norte Independent School District (DNISD) (El Paso, Texas), Mexican American students are the majority ethnic group, but their history and culture have not been incorporated into the high school curriculum. Hence a goal of citizenship education, to increase student understanding of their own ethnic heritage and its part in U.S. history, is not being met. This paper proposes that Mexican American history be offered as a high school elective course, thereby exposing students to an alternative perspective in constructing the past and increasing Mexican American students' sense of ethnic identity. The first part of the paper briefly examines some academic challenges faced by Mexican Americans in the public school system generally and in DNISD. Latinos and Mexican Americans have low school achievement and graduation rates across the nation, in Texas, and in DNISD. The second section discusses ethnic literacy, ethnic identity, student selfesteem, and the role that teaching Mexican American history could serve in citizenship education. The third part examines deficiencies in the way that Mexican American history is currently taught in DNISD and the lack of good textbooks and instructional materials. The fourth section outlines strategies for teaching Mexican American history in two semesters through an inquirybased method. (Contains 20 references.) (SV) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. RUNNING HEAD: TEACHING MEXICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY Mexican American-History as an elective high school subject: Promoting ethnic literacy and citizenship among DNISD students Steve Sianez University of Texas at El Paso 2002 Spring Semester U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and improvement EDUC TIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) his document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. 0 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
Publication Year: 2002
Publication Date: 2002-01-05
Language: en
Type: article
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