Susie Gerard of Spokane Public Schools introduces the American Perspectives course, designed to put the “us” in U.S. history.
About the development of the course
Powerpoint presented our meeting
Susie Gerard, a social studies teacher with 30 years of teaching experience, who now coordinates social studies instruction in seven Spokane Public Schools high schools, shared with our League how she developed a course and textbook for the new American History course, American Perspectives. When Susie Gerard looked for a textbook of American History, she sought one which would be written from a range of viewpoints and would cover significant, but sometimes overlooked, historical events. She learned that this kind of textbook did not exist; and so she created a new textbook. Going to primary sources, she researched narratives from Americans whose “voices” have not always been heard. Students provided input into the course; teachers met many times to develop it; and members of the community, representing a range of perspectives on multicultural education, provided feedback on its content.
