The Social Studies Curriculum in Atlanta Public Schools During the Desegregation Era

This historical investigation explores how teachers, students, and education officials viewed the social studies curriculum in the local context of Atlanta, and the broader state of Georgia, during the post-Civil Rights era, when integration was a court-ordered reality in the public schools. During the desegregation era, Atlanta schools were led by Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Superintendent, Dr. Alonzo Crim. Brought to Atlanta as part of a desegregation compromise, Dr. Crim became APS\u27s first African American superintendent. In particular, the authors investigate how national social studies movements, such as Man: A Course of Study (MACOS), inquiry-based learning, co-curriculum activities, and standards movements, adapted to fit this Southeastern locale, at a time when schools were struggling to desegregate. Local curriculum documents written in the 1970s reveal a traditional social studies curriculum. By the 1980s, APS\u27s social studies curriculum guides broadened to include a stronger focus on an enacted community—inside the classroom and around the world. In oral history interviews, however, former teachers, students, and school officials presented contrasting perspectives of how the social studies curriculum played out in the reality of Atlanta\u27s public schools during the desegregation era

Re-imagining human rights photography: Ariella Azoulays intervention

Gormley and Allan focus on several pertinent theoretical contributions made by Ariella Azoulay that invite a radical rethinking of familiar assumptions regarding human rights photography. Having established a conceptual basis, they proceed to analyse several examples of photojournalists attempting to ‘activate’ viewers by inviting them to co-create photographic narratives via methods of hypertext and online archival interaction, and of International Non Governmental Organisations (INGOs) working to create projects which ‘speak’ to viewers by involving the children they seek to represent in the production of photography. It is argued that in taking up Azoulay’s call to rethink public relationships to human rights imagery, these projects represent progressive steps towards addressing the multifarious inequalities at stake. At the same time, however, realising this potential depends on making good the promise of rendering visible the normative ideals of human rights

Addressing the Achievement Gap and Disproportionality Through the Use of Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices

Culturally responsive practices in schools and classrooms have been shown to be an effective means of addressing the achievement gap as well as the disproportionate representation of racially, culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students in programs serving students with special needs. While there has been much research discussing these issues, teachers and school staff lack clear examples and tools for best practices toward addressing these issues effectively. This research provides a practical tool to encourage teachers and school staff to engage in reflective, culturally responsive practice as well as highlighting the need to include a range of stakeholders in the process of developing, implementing, and evaluating tools for educational practice. © The Author(s) 2012