Having a history background, being socioculturally aware is an important task.

Bringing those
ideas into my classroom and creating lessons for students to gain knowledge on those topics is even
more important. Using a specific example, and one that is current relevant to students is using the
incident in Ferguson, MO to show the use of civil and non-civil disobedience. This would be used during
a unit on the civil rights movement, having Ferguson be compared and contrasted to how both the
communities and the government responded in the 1960s. While using this topic might be a
threatening thought to some teachers, explaining this in the correct format so that students can
understand both situations now and then would be an extremely valuable asset.
Specifically speaking, taking a look at such topics as the Bus Boycotts, Sit-ins, Voter-registration
tactics, and the million man march through videos, writings, documents, etc. and comparing those to
the idea of civil disobedience today. The reason for this is because students perceptions of
disobedience in todays world is much different than the ideas of previous generations. Even taking a
look at more recent boycotts, like the 1%ers in New York, can give the students ideas of what the idea of
civil disobedience really means. Then, through sub-conscious learning strategies, the students will
experience new sociocultural ideas, from different backgrounds and ways differing ideas are plausible.
Using different forms of media (videos, newspaper writings, documents on the times, etc.) we as
a class can identify what the term civil disobedience meant in the 1960s. This gives the students a
background as to what being socioculturally conscious meant then. Continuing with the lesson and
being able to compare those acts with ones like Ferguson, it ties the students sociocultural ideas and
bridges the gap. Students can see that the feelings they have now about different issues, like the
Ferguson riots, are not new feelings. Students can realize that they are not alone in the feelings they
have, that those feelings are important, and that they are essentially a part of history. In this setting
however the students can productively discuss and argue their feelings on historical topics with each
other, while giving a release to their emotions with current events as well.
While teaching a lesson of this nature I have to be very aware to not push the discussion in one
way or the other. Being socioculturally aware is not just for students but for me as the instructor as
well. I have to be accepting of all students opinions, as long as they are respectful in presenting them,
while also striving for them to think deeply. Having structured discussions, like a Socratic Seminar,
would be an example of how I would go about doing this. During those types of seminars only a few
students are allowed to speak at a time while others have to listen. This is a change from what students
are normally doing in their everyday lives when discussing topics, but the structure is essential. Topics
like this can get out of hand if not controlled, and the students need to realize that all opinions matter.
Having a diverse classroom would allow for each student, from all backgrounds, to say their opinions on
a topic that has swept the nation, understand others ideas, all while having a historical teaching
standard construct.
A lesson of this nature would explicitly help students achieve both high academic standards and
have a higher cultural consciousness. The academic standards are raised, in every classroom, when the
teacher expects more of the students. Asking them to think this critically about two different topics,
one of history and one of their lives, makes a connection to both. Students will be able to take the idea
of civil disobedience, bridge it to the discussions where it connected to their lives, and express higher
order thinking skills beyond the questions they would need to answer on an exam.

This lesson also makes the students more culturally conscious. Students coming from different
backgrounds have obvious differing opinions on topics. Some students might come from a background
where issues like Ferguson and civil disobedience are discussed. The instruction given, and the structure
of the discussion, will allow for all students to raise their cultural knowledge regardless of these differing
backgrounds. Students from all walks of life will gain an understanding from their fellow classmates on
serious issues that have effected history as well as their lives today.