His thoughts also will appear in the next issue of the NCSS Bulletin. In the article, Garcia and co-author Edward Buendia, a graduate student at Illinois, look at the job the NCSS has done the past 50 years in treating minorities and dealing with the subject of cultural diversity. The entire issue, in fact, is a retrospective on NCSS, an organization whose stated mission is to engage and support educators in strengthening and advocating social studies. He suggests that the NCSS collaborate with other organizations to begin programs that investigate the quality of social studies in rural and urban areas, including the dearth of minority teachers. He also challenges the NCSS to recruit more people of diverse backgrounds.
Diversity is an intellectual concept found in quality social studies programs.
It is providing forums where issues, problems and personalities in U.S. and world history can be examined from multiple viewpoints, including the perspectives of minorities. Quality social studies programs should not just be found in the suburbs . . .