Blog Post #5

    After reading Christine E. Sleeter, Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies A Research Review, I couldn’t help but connecting her points to my own experiences as a student and as someone who is learning how education shapes identity.

Quote #1: “Whites continue to receive the most attention and appear in the widest variety of roles, dominating story lines and lists of accomplishments. African Americans, the next most represented racial group, appear in a more limited range of roles and usually receive only a sketchy account historically, being featured mainly in relationship to slavery.”

In the first quote, it states how textbooks and school lessons often spotlight white figures, leaving others in the background. I saw this growing up in school—most of what we learned was about the same “great men” of history, but rarely did we dive deep into Latin American stories, or even stories from Central America where my own family roots are. That absence makes me realize how much representation matters, because when you don’t see yourself, it’s easy to feel like your history doesn’t count.

Quote #2: “Ethnic studies scholarship by and about racial minority groups presents a different narrative that is shaped partially by histories of oppression in the U.S. as well as by the intellectual and cultural resources and traditions of those communities.”

In the second quote, Sleeter explains how ethnic studies gives students access to a different narrative—one that tells fuller, richer stories. I think about how much I’ve learned outside the classroom, through family stories or even researching on my own about Guatemala and Latin America. That knowledge feels empowering because it fills in the gaps left by school. Ethnic studies would make that empowerment available to everyone, not just those who go looking for it on their own.

Quote #3: “By the time they reach high school, students of color are not only aware of a Euro-American bias in curriculum, but they can describe it in some detail, and view it as contributing to their disengagement.”

In the third quote, Sleeter shows how students eventually notice the bias and how it turns them off from school. I’ve felt that frustration too, where it’s hard to stay interested in lessons that don’t reflect anything about my culture or experiences. That disengagement is real, and I see why so many students of color start to feel like school isn’t built for them.

Overall, this reading made me reflect on how important it is to bring diverse voices into the classroom. If I want to become the kind of teacher I imagine, I need to make sure my students see themselves in the stories we study. It’s not just about filling in history—it’s about giving students pride, connection, and a reason to engage.