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Beginning this summer, professors at Florida\u2019s 28 public colleges must use a state curriculum framework to teach their introduction to sociology courses. Aligned with the state-sanctioned sociology textbook, the framework requires that the courses do not \u201cinclude a curriculum that teaches identity politics\u201d or one that \u201cis based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jose Arevalo, executive vice chancellor for the Florida State College System, shared information about the framework with representatives from 26 Florida colleges during a call on Jan. 20, according to an email summary of the call provided to Inside Higher Ed<\/em>. The Florida Department of Education distributed teaching materials, including an instructor\u2019s manual and textbook, and requested that institutions submit their current introduction to sociology syllabi, \u201cincluding detailed assignment schedules, topic calendars, or modules to show course coverage.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThe framework serves as a baseline\u2014institutions can add to it but should avoid subtracting key elements or adding content that risks violating state statutes,\u201d Arevalo wrote in the email. \u201cMuch of the framework language can be copied directly into syllabi, with supporting exercises and textbook chapters provided.\u201d <\/p>\n All state colleges received the written guidance this week, according to Robert Cassanello, an associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida and president of the United Faculty of Florida union.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople in the union are really upset,\u201d he said. \u201cThey see this as a threat to academic freedom. They see the revised textbook through the Board of Governors\u2019 approval as a censored text.\u201d<\/p>\n Sociology professors at the state\u2019s public universities have received similar instructions through a game of telephone, with instructions passed verbally from the Board of Governors to provosts, deans, chairs and then to faculty, several Florida faculty members reported.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re doing their best to avoid creating standing for a lawsuit,\u201d Cassanello said. \u201cThis is why everything is verbal with the Board of Governors.\u201d <\/p>\n The seven-page written framework applies only to general education sociology courses taught at state colleges\u2014not electives. The document bans nine discussion points from course content, including discussions that \u201cstate an intent of institutions today to oppress persons of color,\u201d \u201cthat argue most variations between men and women are learned traits and behaviors,\u201d and \u201cthat describe when, how, or why individuals determine their sexual orientation and\/or gender identity.\u201d <\/p>\n From a Dec. 8 copy of the \u201cSYG 1000 Framework\u201d draft.<\/em><\/p>\n The end of the document includes a \u201crecommended course design,\u201d written like a syllabus, that lays out seven units, suggested reading assignments and lecture topics. The guide to teaching \u201csociological phenomena\u201d includes several contested theories about race and gender. For example, the framework states that while biological sex chromosomes determine different sex characteristics in men and women, they also determine \u201chow females and males behave. This behavior is also influenced by the social relevance of these traits,\u201d the framework says. <\/p>\n \u201cSo, in teaching this, one might point out that women and men with the same credentials enter different jobs such that certain jobs are occupied primarily by women (i.e., female-dominant) some are occupied primarily by men (i.e., male-dominant) and some have roughly the same number of workers who are female and male (i.e., non-gendersegregated),\u201d the framework says. <\/p>\n The document also discusses limitations to personal freedoms as a historical phenomenon, not a present one. \u201cStudents will study scientific facts, including the demographic characteristics of individuals who lived during previous generations when specific freedoms were restricted\u201d and \u201chow things changed as those restrictions were removed over time,\u201d the framework says. <\/p>\n The state education department will likely roll out similar curriculum guidance for other areas of study in the future. In his email, Arevalo said the department is working with history professors on a general education curriculum for American history courses that \u201csatisfy civic literacy requirements.\u201d Results of this work could be disclosed as soon as April, he said. <\/p>\n The curriculum thinly veils the social politics of state education officials, said Katie Rainwater, a visiting scholar of global and sociocultural studies at Florida International University who has taught introductory sociology courses. Many top education decision-makers in Florida come from right-wing think tanks and colleges, including Hillsdale College, where Arevalo earned his Ph.D.; the Claremont Institute; and the Heritage Foundation. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re very intentionally staffing the Department of Education office with these ultraconservative ideologues,\u201d Rainwater said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is\u00a0\u2026 people affiliated with this national conservative movement taking away the ideas that they don\u2019t want students to be exposed to.\u201d <\/p>\n The framework was developed by a \u201cwork group of sociologists,\u201d Arevalo said in his email. It\u2019s unclear whether it was the same sociology professors that created the state-approved textbook late last year. That group convened with four Board of Governors members and four faculty members, but Phillip Wisely, a sociology professor at Florida SouthWestern State College, was kicked out of the group by state education commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas for allegedly \u201cadvocating for gender ideology\u201d in his sociology class. Wisely remains suspended from his teaching position, Cassanello said. <\/p>\n Florida Department of Education spokespeople did not respond to Inside Higher Ed<\/em>\u2019s request for comment Friday. <\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how faculty members who don\u2019t follow the written or verbal guidelines will be disciplined, but faculty say they\u2019re certain there would be some kind of blowback for ignoring the rules. <\/p>\n Zachary Levenson, a sociology professor at Florida International University, said his department requested clarification from the provost on the rules and received no information. <\/p>\n \u201cWe wrote to the provost\u00a0\u2026 and said, \u2018Please tell us what we cannot teach, what we must teach, and what the sanction would be for violating this,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cShe wouldn\u2019t specify. She said\u00a0\u2026 \u2018There is no individual sanction that I can name\u2019\u201d and referred them to the guidelines in Florida state statute 1007.25, which outlines rules for general education and degree requirements. <\/p>\n He speculates that the punishment could be sanctions against the institution via the accreditor, or individual discipline. Levenson moved to Florida to teach only two and a half years ago, but he said he wants to stay in the state so that he can fight back. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is happening everywhere, but it\u2019s first happening here,\u201d Levenson said. \u201cIt was happening when I was teaching in Texas, in North Carolina, but not like this. So if we don\u2019t nip it in the bud\u00a0\u2026 it\u2019s going to keep spreading around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Beginning this summer, professors at Florida\u2019s 28 public colleges must use a state curriculum framework to teach their introduction to sociology courses. Aligned with the state-sanctioned sociology textbook, the framework requires that the courses do not \u201cinclude a curriculum that teaches identity politics\u201d or one that \u201cis based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[4673,700,3649,3940,22635,199],"class_list":{"0":"post-44957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-colleges","9":"tag-curriculum","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-hands","12":"tag-sociology","13":"tag-state"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Prohibited Content in Florida\u2019s Introduction to Sociology Courses<\/h4>\n
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Unclear Enforcement<\/h2>\n