Grassroots Dedication and Opportunism

The Pre-university Anthropology Education Movement in the United States

in Anthropology in Action
Author:
Colleen PopsonSmithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History

Search for other papers by Colleen Popson in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
and
Guven WitteveenIndependent scholar anthroview@gmail.com

Search for other papers by Guven Witteveen in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
View More View Less
Restricted access

To anyone who has taught anthropology to middle and high-school students in the United States, the discipline's value to intellectual and social development is undeniable. These educators are the engine of a small, long-lived movement to make anthropology a core part of the curriculum that students are exposed to during middle and high school, before they enter college or university. Despite valiant efforts and because of some very difficult challenges - (public misperception of the field, lack of institutional support, and the nature of the U.S. public education system) - the movement has not caught the momentum it needs to induce major changes. Nonetheless, new opportunities and some limited pockets of success offer good reasons to be cautiously optimistic. Rather than trying to compel entire school districts or education departments to adopt anthropology courses and standards, advocates are now focused on leveraging such opportunities to introduce as many educators and students as possible to anthropology.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

Anthropology in Action

Journal for Applied Anthropology in Policy and Practice

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 72 72 3
Full Text Views 185 39 0
PDF Downloads 131 11 0