New York City Students To Be Introduced To Black Studies This Fall

The curriculum’s focus, according to Thomas Bailey, the president of Teachers College at Columbia University, is to help build a more equitable society

Thanks to New York City’s Education Equity Action Plan, students in the city will be introduced to the field of Black studies.

According to The Gazette, a collaboration between New York’s Department of Education, City Council, and the Education Action Plan in conjunction with the Columbia Teachers College Black Education Research Center led to the development of “Black Studies as the Study of the World: A PK-12 Black Studies Curriculum for New York City Public Schools.”

According to Thomas Bailey, president of Teachers College at Columbia University, the curriculum’s focus is to help build a more equitable society.

“Building a more equitable society begins with education,” Bailey told Staten Island Advance. “The launch of the new Black Studies curriculum, developed by TC’s Black Education Research Center, is a crucial step in this effort. This initiative builds on Teachers College’s long history of adapting teaching methods and curricula to meet the needs of all students in inclusive and supportive educational environments.”

City Schools Chancellor David C. Banks told The Gazette that he believes every student needs to see themselves and their culture reflected in the curricula they study.

“Every student should see their identity and history in their education. I am delighted to witness the culmination of this significant initiative in our schools,” Banks said. “The Black Studies Curriculum’s comprehensive and integrated approach will deepen our students’ awareness of themselves and their communities. By incorporating pivotal narratives and voices into our arts, English, and history classes, we will enrich their educational experience and understanding of the world around them.”

In New York City, long described as a cultural melting pot, various Black cultures exist simultaneously. As Linda Tillman, the chairman of the advisory board of the Black Education Research Center, told Education Week, it was important that those cultural touchstones be included in the curriculum to “combat misconceptions about the history of African Americans and Black people throughout the global diaspora.”

As Education Week reported in April, M.C. Brown, the executive director of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, described the curriculum designed for New York’s schools as “a nationally historic moment” at the American Educational Research Association’s annual conference.

Brown continued, saying that the curriculum “acknowledges the history and contributions of Black Americans predating slavery, which is where much of American social studies begins, and provides a paradigm for professional learning that can support effective implementation, not just in New York City but around the world.”

As Joyce King, the chair for Urban Teaching, Learning, and Leadership and an education policy professor at Georgia State University, described Black studies at the conference, “Black studies started out with a pedagogical mission, not just content…That includes inspiring people to learn deeply and critically about the African diaspora histories and contemporary social formation, to recognize and affirm our peoplehood—that we are a people across many different cultures.”