College of Education Dives into Memphis 13 Curriculum with MSCS Teachers
November 3, 2024&苍产蝉辫;鈥� 榴莲直播 College of Education (COE), in collaboration with the Memphis
13 Foundation, hosted a professional development (PD) session for social studies teachers
in the Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) district. The focus of the session was
on effectively teaching the newly implemented Memphis 13 curriculum, which was integrated
into the MSCS social studies curriculum in May 2023.
鈥淚 did not learn about the Memphis 13 when I was in school,鈥� said Chunmeka Wayne, a lifelong Memphian, who now serves as MSCS鈥檚 social studies advisor for grades K-5 and 9-12. 鈥淎llowing us the opportunity to better share that information with students, I think it鈥檚 great, and as a mother, I鈥檓 so grateful that my daughter will know more about them.鈥�
Nearly 30 social studies teachers attended the PD session to learn how they can more effectively teach this segment on the localized Civil Rights Movement story. Over the last several weeks, virtual PDs have been held, as well, with as many as 60 participants at a time. One of the Memphis 13, Dwania Kyles, who attended the PD session and helped shape the curriculum through listening sessions with the remaining members of the Memphis 13, said this idea coming to fruition is a great thing for Memphis.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very important how we are teaching this,鈥� said Kyles. 鈥淲e are teaching this from a place of love. We were traumatized; our city was traumatized. We never really dealt with that trauma. We鈥檙e teaching this to really bring more unity because it is extremely healing for the city and for the Memphis 13 to tell their story.鈥�
In October of 1961, 13 African American children made local history by enrolling across
four different Memphis elementary schools that, up until that point, were all-white.
The second and fifth grade social studies curriculum that helps tell that story began
development in 2021, led by COE鈥檚 Dr. Gina Tillis and Dr. Anna Falkner. They鈥檝e since
brought their colleague Dr. Crystal Cook onboard to implement an English Language
Arts (ELA) aspect to the curriculum.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much research about the benefits of when we (implement ELA into social studies) and how it can benefit students,鈥� Cook said. 鈥淪ocial studies is the perfect avenue to (teach ELA) because the content is so rich. It鈥檚 not isolated in the ELA block. (The curriculum) helps with building vocabulary and background knowledge.鈥�
Tillis and Falkner say they plan to have more PD sessions in the future.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e trying to do is inspire more teachers to be part of this collective movement around engaging conversations about our lived and learned school experiences,鈥� said Tillis. It doesn鈥檛 matter what grade you teach, but we specifically are looking for second and fifth and grade teachers.鈥�
鈥淚 love just how eager the teachers are as they engage and ask all these questions to try and learn about the history of their community,鈥� Falkner added. 鈥淭eachers taking these ideas and really thinking about what it looks like in their classroom for students, it鈥檚 gorgeous.鈥�
Teachers who attended were paid for their participation, thanks to a grant the group acquired in August from Humanities Tennessee.
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