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When Noreen Naseem Rodr铆guez was 32, she stumbled on a few sentences in a book that changed the course of her work as an educational researcher: In 1587, she read, Filipino sailors aboard the merchant ship Nuestra Se帽ora de Buena Esperanza 鈥攎ore than 30 years before Pilgrims on the Mayflower landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts.听

Rodr铆guez, now 41, grew up in Texas to parents from Pakistan and the Philippines. But when she was in school, she rarely got to learn about the lives of Asian Americans like her.听

If one of my history teachers had told me about that ship, I would have cared a whole lot more about social studies in school,鈥� Rodr铆guez said. 鈥淭o know that we had been there before the founding of the nation would have made me feel like I belonged in a different kind of way.鈥�

She鈥檚 dedicated her career to making sure young people today have better experiences in the classroom than she did. Rodr铆guez taught bilingual education in elementary schools in Texas for nine years and earned her doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Texas at Austin. She鈥檚 now an assistant professor in the School of Education at 麻豆免费版下载Boulder. Rodr铆guez believes classrooms become more vibrant, interesting and just places when children can learn about a wide range of American stories鈥攏ot just those of the white men that show up in most history textbooks.

She laid out those ideas in a book published in 2022 called .

鈥淭eaching social studies the same way we did 20 or 30 years ago is not OK,鈥� Rodr铆guez said.

It's a stance that touches on an increasingly contentious debate among some parents and politicians. Across the country, dozens of states have passed or are considering laws that limit how teachers can talk about issues like race and racism, gender and sexuality in the classroom. This year, the Colorado State Board of Education is slated to for K-12 students. Board members, legislators, parents, educators and more have sparred over how often the standards should mention marginalized groups like people of color and the LGBTQ community.

Rodr铆guez, however, urges educators not to shrink away from having 鈥渄ifficult conversations鈥� with their students.

鈥淚f kids are asking questions about racism or gender at school, it's because they want to know, and they see their teacher as someone who can help them understand,鈥� Rodr铆guez said. 鈥淪o if kids are bringing these conversations to you, I tell my student-teachers not to shut that down.鈥�

Texas鈥� cattle queen

She鈥檚 seen firsthand the value of learning history outside of traditional textbooks.

In 2011 and 2012, Rodr铆guez and her fourth-grade students in Austin, Texas, got the opportunity to take part in the 鈥攁n effort that sought to recognize the contributions of Mexican Americans in the Lone Star State. Together, they learned about , a woman who owned 55,000 acres of land in the 1700s and is sometimes called 鈥渢he first cattle queen of Texas.鈥� They also learned about , a Coloradan whose family was from Texas and helped to found a civil rights movement called the Crusade for Justice in Denver.听

Rodr铆guez felt that she and her students were exploring a hidden world together.听

鈥淢y white students, Mexican American students, my Black students鈥攖hey were all really into learning about these histories,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e went through the index of our textbooks, and none of this stuff was in there.鈥�

She also worries these kinds of experiences are growing more and more rare in the U.S.听

The educator explained that teachers around the country face stiff pressure to teach the subjects that will appear on standardized tests: usually just reading, writing and math. Social studies鈥攁 field that includes history, economics and civics鈥攈as begun to disappear from elementary school curricula almost entirely.听

鈥淒uring the election in 2020, a lot of schools told their teachers not to talk about it,鈥� Rodr铆guez said. 鈥淪omething as important as how the country selects its president wasn鈥檛 being taught because people thought it was too controversial.鈥�

Radical hope

To keep social studies alive, Rodr铆guez has embraced what may be the most controversial three words in education today: critical race theory.听

The concept emerged from law schools in the 1970s and 1980s and is in its most basic sense 鈥渁 way to understand the ways in which race and racism have been deeply embedded into the laws of this country,鈥� Rodr铆guez said.听

In recent years, however, politicians such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have cast it in a different light, referring to critical race theory as 鈥渟tate-sponsored racism.鈥�

Rodr铆guez believes many people in the U.S. misunderstand what critical race theory is actually about鈥攊t isn鈥檛 about teaching kids to hate each other, she said, but exploring the lasting legacy of racist laws in the country and ending 鈥渁ll forms of oppression.鈥� No K-12 schools in the U.S. currently teach the concept. But in an edited book that will appear later this year called , she and her colleagues ask the question: What if schools did teach students about听how policies such as redlining kept generations of Black people from owning property; how the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was critical for expanding the right to vote to all people in the country; and how, until the 1960s, decades of laws effectively banned people from Asia like Rodr铆guez鈥� family from emigrating to the U.S.听

She argues racism is woven into the lives of young people of color, whether politicians want to acknowledge it or not. If teachers can recognize this reality, they may be able to help their students build empathy for each other. 听

鈥淚f kids could learn about these issues, they would have a better understanding of the history of race and racism in this country,鈥� Rodr铆guez said. 鈥淏ecause that matters. That history is part of why we continue to see injustice today.鈥�

Despite the current environment for K-12 educators, Rodr铆guez said she鈥檚 never given up what she calls 鈥渞adical hope.鈥� Like the title of her earlier book suggests, she believes a few dedicated teachers and more expansive social studies curricula can make a better world.听

鈥淚 have two kids who are in public schools, and I believe in public schools,鈥� Rodr铆guez said. 鈥淚 have to hope that education has a purpose, and that by working with teachers and future teachers, my kids will have a better experience than I did.鈥�