Up for Debate: Thinking about the Supreme Court and Civil Rights with NYC Public School Teachers

I am working as an intern at Brooklyn Historical Society this summer as part of my Masters Program in Museum Studies at NYU.  Last week I attended a four-day summer institute for New York City Public School Middle and High School teachers. Brooklyn Historical Society is one of the partner cultural institutions for Leadership in American History (professional development sponsored by a federal Teaching American History Grant [TAHG]). I was there representing BHS with our head of school programs, Todd Florio.

The theme of this year’s summer institute was the Supreme Court. The cohort of teachers attending the institute enriched their understanding of the topic through daily scholar lectures, group discussion, and workshop activities facilitated by the cultural institutions. Todd and I teamed up with Mia and Adrienne at the New-York Historical Society to facilitate a workshop about staging a classroom debate, using the themes of the Supreme Court and Civil Rights. Helping plan for this day was a major part of my internship.

"PD." "In service." "P-Credit." Prior to working on this project I was only faintly aware of these terms. Growing up in California we called it a day-off, while our teachers came to school to take part in “teacher in-service days.” Here in New York, there are a variety of ways teachers can continue to develop and grow as professionals, and collaborate with colleagues.

Most of the teachers who applied for this particular professional development have been part of a cohort for over two years. Although they come from different schools and districts, they share a motivation to teach social studies to adolescents—not an easy task! In addition to the continuing education component for themselves, this summer institute was designed to promote teacher leaders who will pass on or "turnkey" the wisdom to their colleagues around the city.

The Brooklyn and New-York Historical Societies presented our workshop on Wednesday, following a lively lecture by Yohuru Williams, historian and educator, entitled, “The Strange Career of the 14^th Amendment.” We brought the broader Civil Rights content of his lecture into our debate activity by focusing on two local Brooklyn controversies that arose following the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. One controversy dealt with a recent court ruling that Mark Twain Middle School should no longer demand higher test scores from students of color than from white students. This ruling, in 2007, overturned a 1960s-era court-imposed quota system designed to desegregate the school and bring in more white students. The second controversy told the story of the Bibuld family, which fought the Board of Education for the right to transfer their children out of a school they considered inferior and racially segregated.

The teachers read primary sources that we had compiled—articles from the archives of the local newspapers and photographs from the BHS archives—about one of the controversies. In groups they decided upon a motion to debate and then were randomly assigned a side—pro or con—to argue. There were some tense moments as the teachers worked under time pressure to wrap their heads around the heart of each controversy and then come up with a fair motion and prepare for the debate. But it all paid off when we staged the two debates and the teachers put on a wonderful performance and made impassioned, well-reasoned arguments.

Professional Developments such as this one are a unique opportunity for institutions like BHS to make their collections accessible to new audiences. The photographs I found through the BHS database about the Bibuld family immediately grabbed me and made me want to know more about their story. I was excited to share them with the teachers at the Summer Institute.