Understanding the dominant discourse of colonialism: A qualitative, single case study of an eighth-grade U.S. History classroom

The purpose of this qualitative, single case study is to investigate how teacher-created curricula addresses key Native American events in early U.S. history and to determine if such curricula provided students with accurate representations of Native American content. To do this, we used discourse a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social studies (Philadelphia, Pa : 1934) Pa : 1934), 2019-05, Vol.110 (3), p.146-154
Main Authors: Masta, Stephanie, Rosa, Tori J. K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
American Indians
Case Studies
Course Content
Culturally Relevant Education
Discourse Analysis
Grade 8
History Instruction
Land Settlement
Native Americans
Power Structure
Social Studies
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Developed Materials
teacher-created curricula
U.S. history curricula
United States History
Whites
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Summary:The purpose of this qualitative, single case study is to investigate how teacher-created curricula addresses key Native American events in early U.S. history and to determine if such curricula provided students with accurate representations of Native American content. To do this, we used discourse analysis to consider the meanings of words and phrases, as well as the underlying assumptions and intentions of the teacher-created curricula and the experiences it claims to represent. Given the presence and use of dominant narratives to preserve power systems, curricula that deconstructs the colonizing narrative and historical representation of Native Americans can encourage the active destruction of such narratives. By analyzing four teacher-created narratives, we found is that even when a teacher creates content with the intent to be more historically accurate, the curricula still reflects a dominant narrative that privileges White settlers over Native Americans. We then provide suggestions for teachers who wish to design more culturally relevant and appropriate curricula on Native American content.
ISSN:0037-7996
2152-405X
DOI:10.1080/00377996.2019.1585317