History and Social Sciences at Castilleja
In 2014, the History department at Castilleja was renamed to become the History and Social Sciences department. This change more accurately reflected how the content and pedagogy in our courses had evolved over time. Many of our most popular electives, such as Psychology, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Macroeconomics are within the Social Sciences, and we are always trying to be responsive to our students’ voice and choice as our program evolves over time.
In 2021, the California State Board of Education adopted an ethnic studies curriculum for all California public schools that primarily focuses on the untold “histories, cultures, struggles, and contributions” of Black, Latino, Native American and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. And while, as an independent school, we are not beholden to state graduation requirements which are designed for public school students who may or may not go to college, at Castilleja, we are innovators and early adopters. Along with many of our peer independent schools, including Marlborough, Urban, Chadwick, Lick Wilmerding, and Archer, we are redesigning our History Social Science scope and sequence to include key components of ethnic studies. This evolution supports our long-term strategic planning and goals.
At the same time, in the moment, we are aware of the themes and questions that our 9th and 10th graders naturally gravitate toward, and we are remaining faithful to those concepts—such as the role that the individual plays within society and what it means to be an engaged citizen in America.
This theme of engaged citizenship runs through the history curriculum. In the 8th grade course, Themes in U.S. History, students explore the structure of federal and state governments and examine core events in American History. As students move into Upper School, our intentional scope and sequence through 9th and 10th grade asks students to acquire knowledge and skills that will advance their conceptual understanding of the past and the present, nationally and globally. This foundation prepares them to fully engage in our transformative AT American History course as well as our rich selection of electives.
Scope and Sequence
The new scope and sequence for History and Social Sciences continues to expand on our commitment to the social sciences, which includes increasing our ethnic studies programming and developing social science research skills. The typical sequence of courses will be:
• 9th grade: Introduction to Social Sciences: Connecting History to Community
• 10th grade: Global Identities and Institutions, History of the Modern World
• 11th grade: AT American History
• 12th grade: Senior Electives: U.S. Government; Modern World Religions; Population, Migration, and Conflict; International Relations; and AT Research and Writing
Interdisciplinary Ethnic Studies and Academic Performance
New Course
Connecting History and Community: Introduction to the Social Sciences
This year-long course will provide students with foundational tools, language, and concepts of the social sciences. These concepts will be explored within the context of thoughtful and engaged citizenship in America. By definition, this will require a meaningful study of the mechanisms and systems of power, including local and national government and social movements, which will challenge students to better understand their roles in society. This course also explores the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, and class to explore history and community through the lens of Ethnic Studies. Students will acquire social science research skills that are foundational to further studies at Castilleja and beyond through their engagement in a studentdesigned Youth Participatory Research Action project. This project will build skill development in inquiry, gathering and analyzing data, as well as presentation.
Process
Because we are aware that interdisciplinary Ethnic Studies courses increase students’ engagement and overall academic performance, Castilleja’s course catalog has offered classes that fall under the umbrella of ethnic studies for many years now. This includes senior electives such as AT African American Women Writers and AT Asian American Studies. It is important to note that these classes are consistently oversubscribed; that is to say that more students sign up for them than we can accommodate. In addition, our Gender and Sexuality Studies and AT World Language classes align with the objectives of Ethnic Studies courses with extensive exploration of culture and identity built into the curriculum. Adding a graduation requirement in Ethnic Studies guarantees that all Castilleja students will have access to these themes rather than a select few.
www.castilleja.org/social-sciences
The process of developing our History and Social Sciences scope and sequence from 6th to 12th grade has been iterative and collaborative. It included conducting research, forming feedback groups, and evaluating models from peer schools in the state of California and around the nation. We also consulted academic standards from the state of California, University of California admissions requirements, and the National Council for Social Studies, and collaborated with outside consultants and the Stanford History of Education Group. As always, we worked to remain responsive to our students’ developmental and academic trajectories.
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“An established body of research affirms what educators have long known intuitively: interdisciplinary ethnic studies, or the study of the social, political, economic, and historical perspectives of our nation’s diverse racial and ethnic groups, help foster cross-cultural understanding…These studies also confirm that students who participate in ethnic studies are more academically engaged, develop a stronger sense of selfefficacy and personal empowerment, perform better academically.”
—National Education Association
Frequently Asked Questions:
As we roll out the results of our work, we have parents and guardians who have been waiting patiently for these updates and others who have questions about our next steps. We hope that the context provided here will be helpful, but ultimately we welcome further face-to-face conversations. We want to continue to do our best for our students while they are at Castilleja and prepare them to thrive when they go out into the world. Here are some FAQs we have received thus far.
Q: How will this course provide the foundation for studying history and social sciences at Castilleja?
This course accomplishes key objectives that students will need throughout their Upper School experience because it:
• Introduces the social sciences and the value of that lens
• Elucidates the intersection of history and social sciences that will run throughout our Upper School course offerings
• Teaches research skills that will support student learning throughout their Upper School experience and beyond
• Provides foundational tools, language, and concepts for thoughtful community engagement and citizenship
• Aligns with our Teaching and Learning Antiracism
Competencies with a focus on our Leadership and Antiracism Competencies
Resources
Learning for Justice - The Value of Ethnic Studies for All Students
What the Research Says About Ethnic Studies
Why We Need the Social Sciences
Q: How does this shift serve our leadership development programming?
Utilizing elements of design thinking, the participatory action research project will provide students the opportunity to synthesize the knowledge and skills acquired to conduct systematic research with the expressed purpose of improving communities and institutions. This process will require students to employ, and reflect on, our learning and leading and antiracism competencies such as: curiosity, empathy, problem strategizing, valuing multiple perspectives, and sitting with dissonance.
Q: How are you implementing this change in the 2023–24 school year?
The Class of 2027 will be the first class to follow this new scope and sequence in order. Connecting History to Community is a new course, so the Class of 2026 will take it during their sophomore year because it provides foundational skills that will prepare them for further study as juniors and seniors in all disciplines and in experiential learning and leadership development at Castilleja— not just history and the social sciences.
Class of 2027
9th: Connecting History to Community
10th: Global Identities and Institutions
11th: AT American History
12th: Senior Electives, including new U.S. Government course
Class of 2026
9th: Global Identities and Institutions
10th: Connecting History to Community
11th: AT American History
12th: Senior Electives, including new U.S. Government course