It’s difficult to know where to begin. First, I hope this message finds you, your family, and those you care for safe and healthy as COVID-19 continues to devastate us and alter our landscape for school, work, recreation, and civic life. Each of our current challenges alone could be a major turning point in a “normal year.” Taken together, however, our challenges can seem downright overwhelming. In just five short months, 2020 has proven to be the year when the social studies – and education – are more urgently needed than ever before. This could be the best time to fulfill our National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) goal: “to raise the voices of all social studies professionals in an organization whose culture is inclusive and where all voices are encouraged, supported and celebrated.”

To begin, I wish to honor this TSSP edition’s theme by reminding you of my recent announcement that NCSS joined over 40 organizations led by the National Coalition Against Censorship in a letter that condemns attacks on LGBTQ books. I concluded in my last blog that this statement powerfully notes “the rights to freedom of expression and information of all community members, [are] protected under the First Amendment." It is urgent that we know, understand, and practice our First Amendment freedoms; censorship in any form is a serious violation of those freedoms. As a partner in the National Coalition Against Censorship, NCSS recently supported another joint statement, “The Free Press in a Time of Crisis.” This statement illustrates the powerful intersection between our freedom of the press, speech, and protest: “A free press is essential at a moment like this. Americans need to see what is happening in their streets. They want to know why people are protesting. Journalists must be free to report so the rest of us can feel the pain and anger of people who are tired of injustice.”

Our work in advocating for a free press and condemning censorship is also rooted in, and related to, our long-standing value placed on the importance of media literacy in education. As we support a free press and the ability of students and educators to access, analyze, and draw conclusions from multiple media, we unite with other organizations to support an active and engaging media literacy education. This month, NCSS became a proud founding member of the National Media Literacy Education Alliance, a coalition of a dozen organizations led by the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). The Alliance’s press release noted that, “At a time when misinformation threatens civil discourse and the very nature of our democracy, the Alliance will work to ensure that students across our nation have the critical thinking skills necessary to navigate our ever-expanding modern media landscape.” We will keep you informed of our progress as an Alliance in ensuring together that students and educators have access to vital instructional resources to critically analyze, evaluate, and take informed action based on the re/presentation of information in all forms of media.

NCSS also joined voices with the American Historical Association (AHA) in co-signing (along with over 90 other organizations) its recent “AHA Statement on the History of Racist Violence in the United States (June 2020).” This statement is a testament to the significant role of history in shaping our participation in civic life. In its concluding paragraph, the AHA reminds us that “As a nation, we’ve shown a reluctance not only to learn our own history but to learn from it, which helps to explain why we continue to witness—and set aside as exceptional—egregious forms of human-rights abuses in case after case….history must inform our actions as we work to create a more just society.” We feel so strongly about this statement and its call to national action and historical understanding that we recently partnered with the AHA to discuss how this statement can be used for high school learning. I invite you to view our recent webinar, “Teaching the History of Racist Violence in the High School Classroom," featuring NCSS President Tina L. Heafner and AHA Council Member Reginald K. Ellis in a panel moderated by AHA President-Elect Jacqueline Jones.

We continue to raise voices to address teaching and learning during the current pandemic, and we are mindful that with so many unanswered questions about the structure and scope of the new school year, the ability to have virtual/remote/online/distance learning more accessible and robust for social studies teaching and learning is key. I invite you to view the first in a new series of webinars we are launching called Virtually Connected. All members are invited to join us for “How Pandemics Make the Case for Social Studies Education,” facilitated by panelists from our NCSS Government and Public Relations Committee. We plan to add other shared discussions and member engagement online about critical topics important to you as we address American education online and learn how to transition our social studies education programs online during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Our most significant test of raising and celebrating the voices of social studies educators nationwide is happening in December: our first-ever NCSS Virtual Conference. We are working with a virtual learning provider and multiple partners to prepare everything you need to register later this summer and participate this fall. Please look for details and registration information in July. 

NCSS seeks to achieve “A world in which all students are educated and inspired for lifelong inquiry and informed civic action.” We can achieve this world together. Thank you, as always, for your membership – and for your voice in social studies education.