Fadairo 1 Final Exam At Sewells Point Elementary school located in Norfolk, Virginia, students of Jessica Boyles fourth grade

class were taught a lesson on slave auctioning. Wanting to bring a history lesson to life for her class, Boyle conducted an experiment where the African American and mixed race students were divided from the Caucasian students, and the Caucasian students took turns buying the others. With the location of the school being in such a historical area related to the Civil War, Boyle presumably felt that this experiment was necessary to show the effects of slavery and would give the students greater appreciation for their history lesson. The article leads one to believe that Boyles actions were not racially motivated in a negative way, as to make the students uncomfortable purposely. It seems as though she merely wanted to demonstrate how slave auctioning was done during the times of the Civil War. Having the students actually exhibit a mock slave auctioning helps to drive the importance of her history lesson into the students minds for optimal learning possibilities and retention. The parents of the fourth grade students felt that a history lesson of this type was tactless and touchy, especially for children of that age. Some of the parents possibly had personal feelings about slavery due to ancestors being slaves, or owning slaves, and did not want their own children to have to live something like this, even if only for a class period. Physically engaging students in acts of segregation and slavery could actually be doing more than just teaching a history lesson. It could possibly be damaging by making the black children feel inferior to whites, or leave the white children feeling superior to other races, therefore erasing years of positive strides toward racial equality. Both Boyle and the parents believed they were rightly entitled to their feelings and stood behind their decisions. Boyle wanted to engage her students in a history assignment to make the

Fadairo 2 purpose of the lesson more memorable. The parents did not want their children to be involved in teachings of this sort because of the delicateness of the subject. To solve this problem, Boyle can make sure that possible sensitive teachings are discussed beforehand with both the principal of the Sewells Point, as well as the parents of the students. If anyone objects she can then tweak her lesson plan to fit the guidelines set, before subjecting the students to a possibly harmful experiment. The parents can also be proactive in knowing what their children are learning by checking in with the teacher to see what she will be teaching. Speaking to the teacher is the only way to know what is going on in the classroom and any questions or concerns may be discussed at that time. Both ways will prevent an issue of this sort from happening in the future.