2002 AEC Annual Report

2002 Annual Report of the
Anthropology and Education Commission

TO: Executive Board, American Anthropological Association
FROM: Rosemary Henze, Chair, Anthropology Education Commission (AEC)
DATE: Dec. 12, 2002
RE: AEC Annual Report, 2002

AEC Objective:
The AEC was established in November 1999 by AAA President Jane Hill. AEC's objective is to "help achieve significant progress towards the integration of anthropological concepts, methods, and issues into pre-K through community college and adult education as a means of increasing public understanding of anthropology." (Long Range Plan, 2000).

Our tasks for the Year 2002 were to:

Project 1: Encourage new initiatives by members and others to contribute anthropological knowledge to preK through college and adult education.

2002 tasks:

A. Continue development of the Educational Outreach website to highlight programs that integrate anthropology in schools and resources for educators.

B. Continue the "Integrating Anthropology in Schools" seed grant program.

C. Organize anthropology in education session at the 2002 AAA annual meeting.

D. Consider development of an AAA statement of educational outreach as a professional responsibility, for dissemination to universities and departments to assist in promotion and tenure evaluation.

E. Evaluate the potential utility of pamphlets or fliers on the value of anthropology education to be disseminated at educational practitioner conferences.

F. Identify national, state, and /or local agencies charged with or consulted in setting and revising curriculum standards. Begin planning lobbying initiative for inclusion of anthropology in K-12 curriculum.

G. Continue collaboration with external organizations and internal initiatives to incorporate anthropology education objectives.

Project 2: Develop an externally fundable initiative to establish a permanent Educational Outreach Center within the AAA.

A. Complete conceptualization of an outreach center, including a resource anthropologists in schools program; website maintenance; seed grant continuation; and a study of how the AAA can effectively lobby for inclusion of anthropology in K-12 teacher preparation and in K-12 curriculum.

B. Develop project description, budget, and other relevant materials.

C. Identify potential external funding sources.

D. Submit proposals as appropriate.

Project 3: Develop recommendations to Executive Board on establishing institutional mechanisms to assure continuation of Objective III after AEC sunsets.

Tasks completed in 2002

All of the above tasks, with the exception of 2C and 2D were completed. In particular, we would like to highlight the following accomplishments:

1A. The Educational Outreach webpage now includes a large number of resources for educators, as well as descriptions of model programs that show how anthropology can be integrated in pre-K through community college settings in a variety of ways. (www.aaanet.org/committees/commissions/aec)

1B. The AEC selected the second recipient of the Seed Grant for integrating anthropology in schools. The grant went to Eric Luke Lassiter and Dustin Cantrell for their "Placing Anthropology in Schools" (PALS) program in which Ball State University anthropology students work with teachers in local high school classrooms to offer anthropological knowledge that helps advance classroom instruction.

1C. Margy McClain organized an AEC session at the annual AAA meeting called "Schooling that Works: Anthropologists Partnering with Immigrant and Indigenous Students."

1G. The AEC collaborated with internal organizations (GAD, CAE, CMA, and SACC, as well as the AAA Race Initiative) to share information. We also collaborated with the Pinnacle Project -- a program to identify high school students with exceptional talent in the social sciences and to develop their talents through events that connect them with scholars in the social sciences. AEC member Ruth Selig represents anthropology in this project.

2A and 2B. The AEC developed a proposal to seek external funding for an Educational Outreach Center that would eventually become a permanent part of AAA. The proposal was approved by the Executive Board in April 2002.

Additional tasks that were not originally part of the plan

In addition to the above tasks, we also completed two additional tasks which contribute to the AAA effort to increase anthropology's visibility in K-12 schools:

1. In November 2002, with the help of Lorie Van Olst, we established a listserve for K-12 educators who are teaching anthropology to communicate with each other. The listserve is reached from the AEC webpage, and has been promoted to date to around 40 anthropology educators, who are very enthusiastic about participating in this new network.

2. Paul Erickson wrote an article in AN to update the AAA membership about AEC's recent activities. ("The AEC's Accomplishments and Future Plans" AN 43[7]:8.)

3. Rosemary Henze co-authored with Carol Mukhopadhyay (member of the AAA Race Initiative) an article called "How Real Is Race? Using Anthropology to Understand Human Diversity." The article is intended to reach educational practitioners. It has been accepted for publication in Spring or Summer 2003 in the Phi Delta Kappan, which has a circulation of around 100,000 educators.

Tasks that were not completed

2C. This task was only partially completed. We have been working with Larry Rzepka at the AAA Office, and he identified one potential funding source -- the Kellogg Foundation. However, after the AEC reviewed their funding priorities, we thought the Foundation was not a good fit with the existing proposal.

2D. Since no decision has yet been reached about where to submit the proposal, this task has not been completed. This step is now complicated by the fact that AEC is sunsetting in February, and unless the Executive Board decides otherwise, there will be no group to shepherd this proposal through its next steps.

Tasks for 2003:

At this time, the future of the AEC is uncertain. On November 26, 2002, AEC Chair Rosemary Henze sent a memo to Donald Brenneis explaining that the AEC had not realized it needed to submit its recommendations to the Executive Board before the November 2002 meeting. Therefore, the Board met without considering any AEC recommendations. In Henze's memo (partially included below), she outlined three possible scenarios for the AEC -- no AEC extension, a one-year extension, and a two-year extension. Scenarios 2 and 3 would involve different tasks for 2003. We are still awaiting the response to this memo.

We are asking the Board to consider our request for an extension despite
the miscommunication over the due date for this request. In light of the Long Range Plan, Objective III, it is important that the AAA maintain continuity and visibility in its efforts to reach out to K-12 schools. Allowing the AEC to end as scheduled, in Feb.2002, would mean that several new initiatives would either end completely, or not be fully realized. In order to assist the Board in making its decision, we have outlined below three possible scenarios and the consequences of each.

Scenario 1: No more funding for AEC, and no extension of AEC as an
official entity in AAA

Consequences:
• End of seed grant program, after 2 years of successful operation
• No grant proposal
• No follow through on Long Range Plan, Objective III
• AEC webpage could continue, but no further development
• AEC listserve could continue, but no monitoring
• No AEC visibility on AAA program 2003

Scenario 2: Extend AEC for 1 year so that we can administer the seed
grant 1 more year and move it to GAD or CAE for subsequent years. AEC
would also create framework for establishment of a permanent K-12
Education Committee, should AAA decide to follow through and create such
a committee.

Consequences:
• 2500 for seed grant annually
• Enables seed grant to continue
• No grant proposal (because AEC would need to meet and that would cost
additional $)
• AEC webpage could continue, but no further development
• AEC listserve could continue, but no monitoring
• Limited follow through on Long Range Plan, Objective III
• Establishment of framework for a permanent K-12 Education Committee
• Open forum at AAA meeting 2003 on issue of K-12 outreach

Scenario 3: Extend AEC for 2 years so that we could ensure funding of grant proposal

Consequences:

• 2500 for seed grant annually (Minimum)
• Enables seed grant to continue and expand (through grant)
• $7000 for 2 years to enable AEC to meet each Spring
• Grant proposal for Education Outreach Center* funded (see below)
• AEC webpage could continue, with maintenance and development
• AEC listserve could continue, with monitoring
• Full follow through on Long Range Plan, Objective III
• Establishment of framework for a permanent K-12 Education Committee
• Open forum at AAA meeting 2003 on issue of K-12 outreach

*The proposal for the Educational Outreach Center includes fourcomponents plus funding for a coordinator at AAA for 4 years. Components include:

-- A "resource anthropologists in schools" program
-- Maintenance and development of the AEC website
-- Expansion of the seed grant program
-- A policy study to investigate how anthropology can be included in teacher credentialiing and in high school curriculum.

AEC Members, 2002
Rosemary Henze, Chair (San José State U.); Ruth Selig (Smithsonian Institute); Paul Erickson (St. Mary's University, Nova Scotia); Meg Conkey (UC Berkeley); MariLyn Salvador (U. of New Mexico); Margy McClain (U. of Oklahoma); (National Louis U.); Dorothy Krass; Ann Kaupp, alternate (Smithsonian Institute); Norma González, alternate (University of Utah).

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