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As a student in New Jersey in 2017, Gurjap Kaur Kohli, now 17, was proud to be a resident of the first state to mandate the teaching of Sikhism in schools. He fast forwards six years and is happy to see more schools adopt the curriculum.
Now a total of 18 states and Washington, DC, have passed bills to teach K-12 Sikhism, with the district being the latest to join the growing list. New Jersey started the trend in 2009. Some of the reasons behind the education push include Sikhs are a growing population in the US paying.
For students like Kohli, the mandate made her feel seen and helped ease the burden of answering questions about her religion, the world’s fifth-largest.
“A lot of people started asking fewer questions because they felt more educated learning these things in class,” said Kohli, who lives in Monroe Township, a New Jersey suburb about 45 miles southeast of New York City.. “It’s really interesting to see that people understand Sikhism more now. It’s good that people ask less often, so I don’t have to explain again.”
What could the curriculum look like?
Scott Potusek, a social studies professor in upstate New York, plans a comparative world religions unit in his curriculum each year. When he first taught sixth grade about five years ago, he saw how excited a Sikh student was to learn about the monotheistic religion founded in India.
“It was great to have that experience that came from including religion in the standards and seeing the impact it had on students in the classroom and the direction we took our curriculum in,” Potusek said.
The Sikh population has grown steadily in the US since the late 19th century, contributing to industries such as agriculture, healthcare, and the arts, according the non-profit Kaur Foundation. Approximately 750,000 Sikhs live in the US and 30 million worldwide, according to the organization.
The 19 states that will include Sikhism in the classroom include three of the four most populous states: California, New York and Texas. Momentum has grown since 2019, with 11 states adopting the curriculum in the last four years.
Potusek, who was raised Catholic, said he reached out to the Sikh Coalition, a non-profit national advocacy group, to help understand the religion of their class unity.
Its curriculum includes the training and traditions of Sikhism, such as the five articles of faith: kesh (uncut hair), kara (steel bracelet), kanga (small wooden comb), kachera (underpants), and a kirpan. (resembling a knife or sword). ). Uncut hair allows Sikhs to live up to their God-given image, while the kara is a physical reminder of their connection to God.
Potusek ISD expanded its social studies curriculum in 2020 to adhere to the New York State Standards, which covers an expansive religious unit that includes Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
A response to the culture wars
As battles over school curricula continue in classrooms and libraries, Harman Singh, director of education for the Sikh Coalition, believes education focused on religion and culture is essential as the political landscape and new legislation make it difficult the teaching of history.
He talks about the importance of historic moments like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which were a catalyst for discrimination, particularly for turbaned Sikhs, and the 2012 shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, where a white nationalist killed six people. inside a gurdwara, a sikh. House of worship. Four people were injured, one of whom died years later from injuries sustained in the shooting.
Singh also pointed to less remembered events: the 1907 Bellingham riots in which white labor leaders accused South Asian workers of taking jobs from white workers in Bellingham, Washington. Demands for white labor sparked riots that ended with the expulsion of South Asian workers from the city.
“A lot of this legislation is intentionally vague and talks about teaching divisive concepts. What is often seen as divisive is talking about racial equity,” he said. “When we talk about including Sikhism in the modern American context, it’s hard to teach about what happened in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, without talking about white supremacy. It’s hard to talk about the Bellingham riots without talking about things like race.”
He said that in recent years, the goal has been to include Sikhism beyond early world history.
“Just in a historical context, we want to make sure that students also learn about the experiences of the Sikh community here in the United States,” he said. “There is a story of the modern Sikh experience in the world today that is important to tell.”
It is not enough for a student to learn historically about the Sikh community when they are in grade 11, because until then, they have had no contact with the community.
harman singh education director at sikh coalition
While the Sikh Coalition has advocated for including Sikhism in classroom education for years, Singh stressed that the history of Asian Pacific Islander Americans is also important.
So far, 20 states have mandated the teaching of AAPI history, according to the asian american foundation. Efforts have been made to implement a national mandate for AAPI history, with Representative Grace MengDN.Y., introducing legislation in 2021.
How states choose to teach the curriculum varies, and it is unclear if Sikhism would be included in the unit or continue to be taught with other world religions.
Prevent bullying through education
The Sikh Coalition found that Sikh students experience bullying at twice the national average. Advocates like Singh believe that educating students about Sikhism from an early age is crucial to combating racism and xenophobia.
“One of the best ways to reduce bullying is through education. As the political dynamics around social studies standards in this country become increasingly divisive, we are finding increased interest and commitment from members of the Sikh community and coalition partners to fight for standards. of inclusive social studies,” he said.
Sikh students experienced bullying via social media, in-person altercations and violence, according to the Sikh Coalition. The experience is not uncommon for Sikhs who grew up in the diaspora.
A 2020 survey by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund found that 58 percent of Sikhs said they had been bullied or harassed because of their religious identity. Sixty-three percent of Sikhs also said they faced discrimination for wearing a turban.
community advocacy
As opportunities to revise the social studies curriculum state by state arose, nonprofit advocates worked with local communities to include the history of Sikhism and the influence Sikhs have had on the history of USA in the classroom. Singh said the Sikh Coalition is working with communities in Minnesota and Connecticut to adopt a Sikh curriculum. They are also working with school districts in Utah, Mississippi and Virginia to develop curricula after state approval.
While states like New Jersey and California have large Sikh populations, Singh said it’s just as important to include the issue in states with smaller Sikh populations like North Dakota. For some students, learning about Sikhism in the classroom means feeling represented for the first time.
“We think that states where there may not be as many Sikhs also need inclusion because it could mean that Sikh students in those schools or districts could be the only Sikh students there,” he said. “They may be particularly vulnerable to feeling that they are not being seen or represented and may not have a gurdwara or local community that they can turn to.”
Singh believes that as school districts better understand what education should look like, students should be exposed to these issues sooner.
“Ignorance breeds animosity, and one of the best ways to keep students safe is through inclusive education,” he said.
Each state has its standards for the curriculum, and like all subjects, the units are structured: with Sikhism, elementary school students are taught the basics of the religion in their social studies classes, which are then develop in middle and high school classes.
“It’s not enough for a student to learn historically about the Sikh community when they’re in grade 11, because until then, they’ve had no exposure to the community and there’s no point of reference,” Singh said.
