Thayer Academy's Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Middle School history department has been working hard over the past few years to be more inclusive of the unheard voices in history, specifically people of color. We have previously included in our curriculum a variety of lessons using organizations that seek to do exactly that, including Facing History and Ourselves, The Zinn Education Project, as well as The Choices Program out of Brown University. Further, we have integrated supplementary content and readings from books such as: A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takagi, A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, as well as Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen. These sources have been particularly useful when we teach about slavery in the United States. This year, we also plan to add material from the book Stamped: Racism, AntiRacism, And You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi throughout the year. That being said, there is still work to be done, and the following are the specific changes/updates for this year at each grade level. We will continue to work to make our history courses more inclusive and add additional lessons and content throughout the year.

Fifth Grade

We have switched our existing fifth grade history curriculum from the study of Rome to the study of the Ancient World. This change will allow students to have a more complete narrative of history that is also more inclusive of cultures and civilizations around the world.

Sixth Grade

In the sixth grade, students will take time at the beginning of the year to review the historical context of the Black Lives Matter movement, giving background to the protests that occurred throughout the summer. They will then look at how they can apply antiracism into their reading of their summer book The Cay. 

Seventh and Eighth Grades

In both seventh and eighth grades, students will take part in two multi-day lessons that provide background on how the Black Lives Matter movement came to be and learn about the specific goals of the movement. In the first lesson, students will learn how the Trayvon Martin ruling gave rise to the term "Black Lives Matter" and will then analyze a variety of graphs, charts, and other infographics which illustrate the racial inequalities the movement is looking to change. Next, the students will take part in a lesson from The Choices Program titled "BLM, the Killing of George Floyd, and the Long Fight for Racial Justice" where they will review a timeline of Black activism in the United States from the 1950s to today, identify core themes of the civil rights, racial justice, and Black Lives Matter movement, recognize patterns within and across different decades of activism, and collaborate to consider accomplishments of civil rights activists and the enduring obstacles to racial equality in the United States.

Seventh Grade

The seventh grade world history course will continue to be less Eurocentric. To that end, we will be dropping content, lessons, and projects on the Vikings in order to spend even more time on West African civilizations, Imperial China, and the rise and spread of Islam later in the year.

Students will take part in a lesson about Christopher Columbus using content from A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. Students will read primary source letters by the Spanish priest Las Casas that illustrate the Spanish treatment of the Arawak Native Americans and how that impacts their view on Columbus.

We will continue to add a more diverse list of options for our year-end Modern Explorers research paper to include more women and people of color. We will do so for all projects throughout the year as well.

Specific to this course, we will integrate content from the book A People's History of the World by Chris Harman throughout the year.

Eighth Grade

We have changed the name of the course from "American History and Civics" to "US History and Civics" to be more explicit about the content we cover.

Students will read excerpts from David Walker's An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World as a response to The Declaration of Independence. Students will then take part in a series of discussions comparing the writings in both documents and will contemplate, among other points, whether or not our government today protects the idea that "all men are created equal." 

The students will analyze a variety of sources, both modern and primary, on Nat Turner and his rebellion. Through their analysis, students will learn about how Nat Turner has been depicted differently throughout time. The students will be asked to discuss why that is, and also which depiction should be trusted. Additionally, the students will learn that Nat Turner's rebellion was only one example of a multitude of uprisings that those held in slavery took part in over the course of early US history.

As we approach Black History Month and Women's History Month, we will add additional lessons providing context for each in an effort to include a more diverse list of voices in US history. We will work to make the integrations of these lessons more fluid with the existing curriculum, as opposed to standalone lessons.

Upper School History Unit: Systemic Racism & Black Lives Matter

As part of our history curriculum, all Upper School history students will begin the 2020-21 school year focused on systemic racism and the Black Lives Matter movement. In this unit, students will investigate the question: Why did protests for racial justice sweep the nation -- and the globe -- in the summer of 2020? By exploring a wide variety of sources -- images, articles, documentary clips, economic data, and art -- students will uncover the root causes of these protests and piece together a more thorough understanding of their historical context. Topics will include: policing and mass incarceration; housing discrimination and the wealth gap; health disparities and Coronavirus; segregation in education; and political disenfranchisement. As a culminating activity, students will host a family discussion on this topic based on questions they write themselves. Our hope is that students come to better understand systemic racism and the long history of resistance to that racism, and that their family discussions spark further intergenerational dialogue about these important issues. Click here to learn more about this unit.

Antiracism and Social Justice Course

Thayer Academy’s Antiracism and Social Justice course, required for all Upper School students, furthers the diversity, equity, and inclusion curricular work and experiences. The course has four main goals/outcomes: 

1. Deeper understanding of the historical roots of racism (knowledge foundation)
2. Deeper understanding of the current racial landscape (current events)
3. Development of an antiracist mindset
4. Application of practical antiracist skills

Through a careful exploration of the complex historical processes that engendered the concepts of “race”, “racism”, and “antiracism”, students will be better equipped to see the connections between the past and the present, as well as appreciate the changing landscape of racial discourse locally and globally. Topics covered include: the history of “race”; identity; science of race; economics; and arts and literature. Using a project-based learning educational framework, students will also have the opportunity to engage in a project to help build their antiracism skills, further promoting the “common good”.