State standards in Georgia mandate lessons about slavery in elementary schools, but teachers have some discretion in how to teach this harrowing chapter of American history. But their choices can be controversial as a young Cobb County teacher discovered when she used an interactive simulation in her fifth grade class last week.
Hope Largent’s fifth graders at Cheatham Hill Elementary School seemed to enjoy rolling the dice and moving to stations in her classroom that simulated the Underground Railroad. Largent used the same 25-minute exercise last year and said her students gained a deeper understanding of the risks slaves in the south faced as they sought freedom in the north.
However, the grandmother of a 10-year-old girl in the class felt the simulation trivialized the tragedy of slavery and upset her granddaughter.
Unhappy with the teacher’s and school’s response, the grandmother turned to the media where the story exploded online and produced a barrage of criticism of the school and the teacher. Some of the criticisms were based on erroneous information the girl was the only black student in the class and that somehow she was singled out to remain on the plantation rather than forge her way to freedom.
None of that was true, said Largent in her first interview since the story went viral. Moreover, many parents in the class are leaping to the teacher’s defense, as are other teachers in the Cobb school. Teachers argue interactive activities better connect students today to lessons and help them understand and retain information.
The AJC looked at the simulation, which was straightforward and showed kids the challenges slaves faced in escaping to freedom. But are simulations hard to pull off in lower grades and should slavery be taught in what some critics decry as entertainment? Are we still on shaky ground trying to teach about slavery in our classrooms?
To read what the teacher and parents had to say, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog.
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