Education Week - August 24, 2022 - 4

How the Overturning of 'Roe v. Wade'
Will Reverberate Through Classrooms
Some teachers are looking for ways
to address with students the
U.S. Supreme Court's decision
By Sarah Schwartz
The overturning of Roe v. Wade has
far-reaching implications for constitutional
interpretation, individual
rights, and health care-issues that
are at the core of social studies and
sex education classes.
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision
in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health
Organization, which ruled that the
U.S. Constitution does not protect a
right to abortion, will change the way
that teachers of government and civics
discuss legal precedent and the
right to privacy, and how U.S. history
teachers explain the effects of the
women's rights movement. And it
may lead students to raise questions
in health or sex education classes that
teachers in some states are prohibited
from answering.
" [The case] actually has a lot more
of a ricochet through the teaching
field than I think a lot of teachers
might realize before they teach
this topic, " said Kerry Sautner, the
chief learning officer at the National
Constitution Center, which provides
resources and lessons for teachers.
Teachers' response to the Dobbs
decision will play out against the
backdrop of increased scrutiny on
how schools are teaching about current
events and social issues. Since
January 2021, 17 states have imposed
restrictions on how teachers can discuss
race, sex, gender, or other issues
deemed controversial.
" History teachers in particular are
feeling a lot of pressure, and feel like
there's a magnifying glass on what
they're doing, " said Sheila Edwards,
a middle school history teacher in Covina,
Calif.
This summer, Edwards facilitated a
civil dialogue course for teachers with
the National Constitution Center, in
which participants talked about how
to approach Roe and Dobbs. " There
were some teachers who were in tears
saying, 'I know what I should do, but
I don't know if I can do it,' " Edwards
said.
Roe specifically, and abortion more
generally, are largely absent from
teaching standards-the documents
that spell out what students should
know and be able to do at each grade.
Only 15 states mention Roe v. Wade
in their social studies standards, according
to a 2017 analysis from the
National Women's History Museum.
Most states don't reference abortion
in sex education standards, though six
states prohibit discussion of the topic.
Still, some teachers feel like they
need to give students an opportunity
to discuss the current and future implications
of the Dobbs decision.
" Students are tired of the current
state of political discourse in this
country, " said Allison Cohen, an
AP government teacher at Langley
High School in McLean, Va. " They
want this space where they can have
these conversations that aren't just
people yelling talking points at each
other. "
Read on for suggestions from
teachers, teacher educators, and
other experts about where Roe and
Dobbs shows up in standards and curriculum-and
how teachers might approach
these conversations.
Government, law, and the
Constitution
Roe was a central precedent in constitutional
law, so the implications for
government and politics teachers are
broad, said Sautner.
Fifteen states mention Roe v. Wade
in their social studies standards, according
to a 2017 analysis from the
National Women's History Museum.
In the minority of states that do mention
Roe, it's discussed in relation to
the reach of the 14th Amendment and
the expansion of civil liberties.
Now that Roe has been overturned,
the takeaways for students will be different,
Sautner said. And there are
open questions of constitutional interpretation:
For instance, how does the
decision in Dobbs affect other cases
that convey a right to privacy?
Teachers can also talk about the
importance of state law, she said:
" There is a lot of this undecided and
gray area that is such a brilliant way
to teach federalism. Where are the
goal posts set by the decision? How
are they a little vague and a little
unclear, and how are states working
around that? "
These are all topics that fit naturally
into most high school government
courses. But Edwards, the
middle school history teacher, said
she might discuss Dobbs this coming
school year too if her students are curious
about the decision. " We have to
grab that interest where it lies. So if
it lies with Dobbs, I'm going to do it, "
she said.
In thinking about how she might
structure a lesson, Edwards is planning
to have students read both the
main decision and the dissent. That
way, the conversation is less about
students' personal positions, and
more focused on their analysis of the
strengths and weaknesses of different
arguments.
She hopes to convey that these
debates are playing out in real time,
4 | EDUCATION WEEK | August 24, 2022 | www.edweek.org
Thousands of people attend
a protest for abortion access
after the U.S. Supreme Court
overturned Roe v. Wade,
which guaranteed the right
to an abortion.
and that it's OK for students to feel
like they don't have all the answers.
" Saying that you don't know something
is a really wise thing to do, "
Edwards said.
The decision will also change the
Advanced Placement United States
Government and Politics course.
(See story, facing page.)
History and other social studies
courses
"
History teachers
in particular are
feeling a lot of
pressure, and
feel like there's
a magnifying glass
on what they're
doing.
SHEILA EDWARDS
Middle school history teacher
Covina, Calif.
While most states reference Roe in
relation to constitutional precedent,
there are a few states-Massachusetts,
New York, and Oklahoma-that situate
Roe as part of the women's rights
movement.
For example, Massachusetts' high
school standards ask students to
" analyze the causes and course of
the women's rights movement in
the 1960s and 1970s, " listing topics
including Roe, but also the birth
control pill, the National Organization
of Women, and the Equal Rights
Amendment.
And if Roe and abortion aren't specifically
mentioned in most state standards
about the women's movement,
teachers can still weave the topics into
discussion of that era, said Lauren
Colley, an assistant professor of integrated
social studies education at the
University of Cincinnati.
Abortion history goes back even
ONLINE: See how school
nurses are bracing for the
hard conversations they may need
to have with adolescent students
in the wake of the U.S. Supreme
Court's ruling in the Dobbs case.
> edweek.org
farther than that, though. States
started passing anti-abortion laws
in the early- and mid-1800s. By the
late 19th century, the procedure was
criminalized or restricted in every
state, with exceptions for abortions
performed by doctors to save
a woman's life, said Leslie Reagan,
a history professor at the University
of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and
the author of the book When Abortion
Was a Crime. Reagan spoke at a July
28th webinar hosted by the National
Council for the Social Studies.
But in the 18th and early 19th centuries,
abortion wasn't considered illegal
under common law if it was performed
before the " quickening " -the
first time that fetal movement could
be felt, Reagan said. It was regularly
practiced, and usually induced with
herbal remedies, she said.
Teaching about abortion, Roe, and
Dobbs is one way to talk about reproductive
rights and reproductive justice-key
themes in women's history,
Colley said. But it doesn't have to be
limited to Roe: There are opportunities
to examine other topics through
this lens, too. Throughout U.S. history,
Colley said, people have fought
to have control over their reproductive
health and for the right to raise their
children.
This thread of historical analysis
can be woven through many commonly
taught topics-for example, as
way to discuss sexual violence during
slavery. " Oftentimes teachers talk
about the coerced physical labor, but
we brush over the coerced reproductive
labor, " Colley said.
Taking this approach, though,
can be especially fraught right now.
Educators say that the growing
movement to restrict how they can
discuss race, sex, and gender in the
classroom has left them unsure what
historical events they're allowed to
talk about.
Sex-related topics can feel among
the most challenging. Some research
has shown that among all taboo topics,
teachers are most likely to avoid
discussing sex and sexual identity in
class, Colley said.
But classroom conversations about
abortion don't have to be debates
over morality or religion, Colley said.
Instead, she said, teachers can focus
lessons on inquiry, asking students
Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via AP
http://www.edweek.org http://www.edweek.org
Education Week - August 24, 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - August 24, 2022
