Teaching to Change LA: An online journal of IDEA, UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, & Access: Equal Terms in LA: The Struggle for Educational Justice, 1954: Vol.4, No. 1-5, 2003-2004
Los Angeles History

Teaching the Legacy of Brown in Los Angeles
SCHEDULE OF TEACHER SEMINARS

Saturdays, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

January 10
Examining Narratives of Brown

February 7
Creating Oral History

March 6
Doing Archival Research

April 17
Analyzing Demographic Data

June 5
Celebrating Final Products and Debriefing Project
This year, marks the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education. To commemorate this anniversary, UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA) will partner with teachers and students to tell the story of the last 50 years of struggle for educational justice across greater Los Angeles. IDEA’s on-line journal, Teaching to Change LA, will host a public dialogue on the meaning of “education on equal terms” and present student-created histories of Brown’s legacy in L.A.

IDEA seeks 15 Teacher Fellows who will guide their students in developing histories of education and social change in their communities. These teachers will: a) Participate in monthly seminars about the Equal Terms Public History Project; b) Engage their students in historical studies; c) Present the work of their students on Teaching to Change LA and at public forums. IDEA will provide teachers with video cameras and tape recorders for conducting oral histories, reading materials, parking and food at the seminars, and UCLA extension credit. Teachers will also receive a $500 stipend for their participation in the project.

The teacher seminars will be held at UCLA and at the Southern California Library for Social Research in South Los Angeles. Seminars will feature speakers who played leading roles in Los Angeles educational and civil rights history. IDEA’s John Rogers will lead the seminars with Inglewood teacher Cicely Bingener and historians from the Southern California Library for Social Research.

Applications

We encourage applications from both elementary and secondary teachers. We hope to select teachers from different geographic areas around greater Los Angeles—South, East, West, etc.

To apply, send an email expressing your interest to John Rogers (rogers@gseis.ucla.edu) by December 12. Be sure to include: Name, school, assignment (grade or subject). Please share a brief response to ONE of the following prompts:

  • I am interested in inviting my students to study the history of struggle for education on equal terms in LA because ____________________.
  • The first idea that comes to mind for engaging my students in this history is to have them ____________________.