Illustration by Kate Greenblatt
Berkeley High School (BHS) first implemented ethnic studies courses in 1991, and was one of the first high schools in the country to do so. Ethnic Studies is a class taken by all freshmen at Berkeley High School that teaches students about social issues that have taken place in history, as well as current events throughout the world. Almost all of these topics are sensitive and painful for some students to hear, which raises the question of who should teach these classes. Should these teachers be held to a different standard when being selected for the job?
A regular history teacher cannot be allowed to teach these types of materials when they themselves have no knowledge of the issues. The teacher must be up to date on the recent problems throughout the world, as well as knowing the history and background behind them. These topics and events cannot simply be read out of a book, but they have to be thoroughly discussed, with in-depth contributions from both the teacher and the students. Without the equal contributions from everyone in the classroom, discussions won’t provide the required attention. These are current events that still need to be addressed, they’re not things that happened one hundred years ago. Students will eventually have control over how these events are handled. How can we be expected to effectively handle police brutality, political issues, and the other critical issues in the world if they aren’t presented in depth? The ongoing issues that arise in this class are meant to be solved and prevented.
Not just anyone can teach students about racial and gender problems, because not all teachers are truly qualified to teach them in my eyes. How can a white teacher talk about the African American experience? They haven’t walked in the shoes of people who are constantly the target of police brutality, and they don’t know what it’s like to be profiled and discriminated against by others. How can a man talk to women about gender inequalities? They have not faced what it is like to be silenced or cheated of their earned rights. Although having teachers of a specific ethnicity for each class would be the ideal situation in the classroom, I believe that it is an unrealistic standard to hold teachers to. It would be almost impossible to find a teacher for every single class.
I believe that these teachers should be held to a much higher standard when being selected for ethnic studies courses. Being taught and having deep conversations with someone who has directly experienced the problems, or experienced similar situations that are being addressed in the class would be an ideal learning situation. Students would be able to relate and connect with the teachers in a more personal way. Until selecting specific teachers for each class becomes a more reachable goal, I feel that holding teachers to a higher standard is an acceptable compromise, and is a step in the right direction.