DISRUPTING EUROCENTRISM IN THE FIFTH-GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM

Abstract

Persistent concerns regarding equity in social studies education remain evident across national, state, and local contexts. Although policy frameworks increasingly call for inclusive representation and culturally responsive pedagogy, required curriculum materials often reproduce Eurocentric narratives that marginalize or superficially include historically underrepresented groups. This capstone examines how history is represented, framed, and enacted within Grade 5 Social Studies Unit 2: Our Changing Nation in the Howard County Public School System. Guided by HCPSS Policy 1080: Educational Equity, this qualitative multi-phase study included (a) systematic document analysis of eight district-developed lessons using a deductive–inductive coding framework and (b) semi-structured interviews with five fifth-grade educators teaching the unit. Cross-phase triangulation informed development of an educator-facing Curriculum Equity Framework. Phase 1 findings document uneven and episodic representation of historically underrepresented groups. African American perspectives appear most frequently in abolition and Civil War lessons rather than across the unit’s full narrative arc. Indigenous, Asian American, Hispanic/Latine, and women’s perspectives appear infrequently or indirectly. Narrative framing frequently centers institutional figures as the primary drivers of change, while marginalized agency appears exceptional. Equity analysis is often optional or supplemental rather than structurally embedded. Phase 2 findings indicate educators recognize representation gaps and frequently supplement instruction; however, equity enactment depends largely on individual initiative and perceived institutional constraints. Analysis of coded interview segments identified recurring cross-interview patterns that, through cross-case comparison, were elevated into four analytic categories: Afterthought Integration of Marginalized Perspectives, Equity Work as Curricular Supplementation, Culturally Responsive Inquiry as Teacher-Dependent, and Systemic and Institutional Constraints. Together, these findings reveal a design-to-enactment gap in which policy commitments to educational equity are not consistently embedded within required curriculum structures, leaving equity-centered instruction dependent on teacher mediation rather than systematic curricular design. The resulting Curriculum Equity Framework translates these findings into a structured tool that supports equity-centered curriculum review and instructional mediation, aligned with Policy 1080. While not claiming causal student outcomes, the study offers a replicable, policy-anchored model for disrupting Eurocentric narrative dominance in elementary social studies.