The Riverview High School seniors in James Minor’s International Baccalaureate English Language and Literature class broke into groups to fill out concept maps. They addressed questions rooted in the concept of existentialism—a topic they had been studying over the last few days.
Students connected themes in Samuel Beckett’s play “Waiting for Godot” and Albert Camus’s book The Myth of Sisyphus to other works covered in class. These other materials included the poetry of Margaret Atwood, which explores gender and identity, Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, a critique of European colonialism, the Marvel movie “Black Panther,” which addresses neocolonialism (a situation where powerful countries indirectly control or influence the economies of less powerful countries even when those countries are officially independent and sovereign), and comedian Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime which explores his childhood in South Africa’s era of apartheid.
Many of these works, or other works by these authors, have generated passionate debate about whether they should be taught in schools, included in reading lists, or made available in libraries—part of the larger discourse on how to teach about topics of race and gender in public schools. At least 18 states, including Florida, have enacted legislation restricting instruction on these topics.Florida’s Sarasota County school district, including Riverview High School, drew national attention recently due to school board member Bridget Ziegler, a co-founder of the conservative parents’ rights group Moms for Liberty, who vocally supports such legislation. Ziegler left the group sometime in 2021 and is no longer affiliated, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (As of February 29, Ziegler faces calls for resignation from the school board due to a sexual assault investigation into her husband.The new restrictions in Florida have impacted schools offering certain advanced courses—particularly the College Board’s Advanced Placement program—that cover topics of race and gender. But in the IB classrooms of Riverview High, students continue to engage in lively evidence-based discussions and presentations on complex philosophical concepts, all while abiding by state law, according to school officials. Part of why Riverview High educators are continuing their approach to teaching is because they are following the IB framework.
“There is a lot of noise externally,” Minor said. “I’m not foolish enough to think that education is not political outside these walls. I know it is. But I’m not a politician. Whatever’s happening in that realm is what it is. The day-to-day? We keep doing what we’ve always done, which is educating kids.”The International Baccalaureate organization offers four different program models for schools in the United States and abroad. There’s the primary years program for ages 3-12 and the middle years program for ages 11-16. The most widely known programs at the high school level are the diploma program, typically completed between junior and senior year, and the career-related program,typically completed between junior and senior year, and the career-related program, which offers students additional career-related studies to shape their post-graduation plans, said Amy Osborne, a national spokesperson for the IB organization.
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