Published: September 10, 2009 08:07 am      

ECU workshop to deal with handling controversial topics in classrooms

ADA — A workshop for area teachers and East Central University students on “Dealing with Atrocity and Controversy in the Public School Classroom” will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. Friday, in the Regents Room in ECU’s Memorial Student Union.

The workshop is part of a grant from the U.S. Department of Education titled “Teaching American History: Beyond Textbooks, Beyond Lectures, Beyond Expectations.”

Nineteen area schools participate in the project which also serves pre-service teachers twice annually by providing content and pedagogy sessions to help them become effective teachers.

Facilitators will discuss how to handle four topics in the classroom: Native American stereotypes, presented by Dr. Tom Cowger at 2:15 p.m.; religion and politics by Kevin Lynch at 3:15 p.m.; war and terrorism by Richard Cooper at 4:10; and slavery and civil rights by Scott Morgan at 5:05 p.m. 

Twenty-nine junior high and high school American history teachers participate in the Teaching American History project.

The goal of the project, said Mitchelle Barton, project director, is to extend and nurture a dynamic learning and teaching community in the eastern half of Oklahoma that will become an important part of the local, regional and state resources necessary to dramatically and effectively improve the quality of American history instruction. 

All teachers in the state are welcome to use the Center of Advancement for American History which is housed on the ECU campus and contains more than 1,500 elementary, middle school and high school teaching resources, she said.

In addition to Barton, the CAAH staff includes content specialists Dr. Tom Cowger, Dr. Linda Reese and Dr. Brad Clampitt and master teachers Richard Cooper and Kevin Lynch.

Part of the professional development provided to the 19 area schools included a trip in May to the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. Besides enjoying the museum, the teachers learned about history trunks that teachers can check out for their classrooms at no charge.

The trunks contain artifacts that make history exciting for students. Some of the trunk topics include the Civil War, The Long Cattle Drive and Pioneer Tools. 

Teachers also toured the research area of the center and learned how to access information from the center for their classrooms, which will encourage student research.Grant participants include Wes Moreland, Stonewall (lead school in the grant); Kenny Deaton and Zach Sullivan, Allen; Lucas Cane, Byars; Becky McEwin and Lynne White, Byng; Darrell Wilhite, Cottonwood; Lary Curry, Davis; Jerad Winningham, Holdenville; Don Gallagher, Konawa; Steve Stevens and Brenda Truett, Latta; and Kami Beller, Lexington.

Others are Michelle Bray and Charlotte Mapp, Madill; Lisa Mitchell, Moss; Chad Chronister, Kevin Foster and Paul Robert McKay, Pauls Valley; Scott Morgan and Scott Roe, Roff; Pam Hamman and Kelly Parsons, Shawnee; Brandon Haigood and Darron Henson, Sulphur; Carolyn Holloran, Tecumseh; Mike Hall and Dennis Lorance, Vanoss; and Steven Vines, Whitebead.