Teaching the Truth

Miriam Tager is associate professor of Early Childhood Education at Westfield State University in Massachusetts.

• IntroductionChapter 1: The Whitewashing of HistoryChapter 2: Not Too Young for the TruthChapter 3: Slavery and the EnslavedChapter 4: Reconstruction, Ready or NotChapter 5: Jim Crow EraChapter 6: The Not So Great MigrationChapter 7: Segregation and Schools Chapter 8: Civil Rights and Voting RightsChapter 9: Police Brutality and The Black PanthersChapter 10: #Black Lives Still MatterConclusionAppendix AAppendix BReferencesAbout the Author

Tager presents a strong argument for teaching about racism in the early grades. Drawing on her qualitative research with elementary school faculty, she highlights the obstacles these faculty face in implementing anti-racist pedagogy and curricula. She documents recent efforts by conservative ideologues and state legislatures to sanitize US history, contending that many preservice and veteran elementary educators have not been taught the history of Black Americans, hampering their capacity to integrate it into their daily teaching. According to Tager, recent efforts to censor history will only exacerbate an already bad situation. The first two chapters provide the theoretical grounding for chapters 3–10, which discuss specific topics on Black history for inclusion in early-grade curricula. These chapters also include recommended classroom activities for use with young children. The book concludes with appendixes of recommended books and resources and a reference list. The author could have drawn on more nationwide studies of US history curriculum and instruction to buttress her qualitative research evidence, but that is a minor criticism. Recommended for teacher education faculty and preservice and veteran classroom teachers. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates, faculty, and professionals.