An Ethnic Studies Guide and Resource Manual for the Carolinas

• Main Author: Bonney, Rachel
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 27.10.1979
• Subjects: American Indian Culture; American Indian Education; American Indian History; American Indian Studies; American Indians; Cultural Awareness; Cultural Background; Cultural Pluralism; Cultural Preservation; Curriculum Design; Curriculum Development; Curriculum Guides; Ethnic Studies; Intermediate Grades; Multicultural Education; North Carolina; Program Evaluation; Resource Materials; Rural American Indians; Self Concept; Social Studies; South Carolina; Tribes; Units of Study; Urban American Indians; North Carolina; South Carolina

An ethnic heritage studies program project was federally funded for the year 1977-78 for the purpose of developing a model curriculum unit (based on the Native Americans of the Carolinas) aimed at the intermediate grades. For purposes of this project, an ethnic group was defined as a social group whose membership may be based on race, religion, national origin, or a combination thereof. A curriculum model on the Indians of the Carolinas was developed because Indians experience discrimination and have problems of adjustment to an urban setting leading to identity crises and a loss of pride in their heritage. The curriculum materials were developed around basic social science concepts of culture, cultural relativism, ethnicity, and ethnic persistence. The result was an integrated study unit that would enable teachers to present Indian Studies materials in connection with all the subjects required by the state curriculum for the particular grade level and would provide teachers with actual teaching materials which could be utilized without extensive research. The unit also provided materials for ono-ethnic or multi-ethnic study of a group other than the Indians of the Carolinas. Most of the materials relating cultural-historical experiences were written by members of the relevant ethnic group and approved by target groups. (AN)