Highlander folk school and the South Carolina Sea Island citizenship schools: Implications for the social studies (civil rights) [microform]
- Bib ID:
- 3282811
- Format:
- Book and Microform
- Author:
- Oldendorf, Sandra Brenneman
- Description:
- 163 p.
- Summary:
-
This dissertation is an historical case study of the South Carolina Sea Island Citizenship Schools sponsored by Highlander Folk School from 1957-1961 and the implications of these schools for social studies education. Although the initial goal of the schools was to help blacks meet the literacy requirements for voter registration in South Carolina, the main goal was citizenship education for empowerment. In this study empowerment is defined as: believing that people can and should address injustice and oppression in their lives, asking questions about the differences between the ideals and the realities of democratic society, and acting to change society based on universal principles of benefit to all.
The rationale for this study is two-fold: first, the Citizenship Schools offer a new perspective and new vocabulary for discussing citizenship education in the social studies, and second, there are parallels between the reflective inquiry tradition in the social studies and the history of Highlander Folk School. The story of the Citizenship Schools is told through three dimensions: the place (the South Carolina Sea Islands), the times (the 1950s), and the personalities of Myles Horton (Highlander's director), Esau Jenkins (island leader), Septima Clark (Highlander's education director), and Bernice Robinson (Citizenship School teacher). Two implications of the schools for social studies education are explored.
First, the pedagogy of the Citizenship Schools contributes to a body of knowledge about good teaching in the social studies. These characteristics include: good teachers are confident, flexible and inspired people who have something to teach; a good curriculum reflects the needs and backgrounds of the students and addresses real human problems; and in good classrooms students and teachers learn from each other. The second conclusion of this study is that empowerment should become one of the essentials of the social studies and social studies teacher education. These essentials (stated by the National Council for the Social Studies) are knowledge, democratic beliefs, thinking skills, and participation. Based on the example of Highlander's Citizenship Schools, empowerment as a goal for the social studies and social studies teacher education strengthens the reflective inquiry tradition in the social studies by emphasizing visions and actions that make democracy work.
- Notes:
-
- (UnM)AAI8715945
- Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-04, Section: A, page: 0894.
- Thesis (Educat.D.)--University of Kentucky, 1987.
- Reproduction:
- Microfiche. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International.
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- University of Kentucky
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1987
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