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The PHX Project
2023
Public
History
Xploration
ABOUT US
The PHX Project: Public History Xploration is a project-based unit in which students collaborate to research, write, design, and deliver a new learning experience that connects the local history of Phoenix to broader themes of U.S. or World history. We seek to represent the rich diversity of historical narratives in our community, while making those stories accessible to teachers, students, and the general public. This year, we have created a Reading Packet and Document-Based Group Assignment for middle school students called Phoenix Indian School Experiences in the Age of Assimilation.
The PHX Project | 2023
Our Team
Research Assistants
Griffin
Varun
Vishvas
Utsav
Caden
Christian
Yohannes
Maleeha
Aidin
Hendrix
Kieran
Meghana
Diya
Anshika
Isaac (not pictured)
​
Director
Dr. Goodwin
​
Our Project | Phoenix Indian School Experiences in the Age of Assimilation
Before starting the research for the Phoenix Indian School curriculum project, we spent weeks exploring a vast array of primary and secondary sources on Indigenous history. We consulted pedagogical and ethical standards for social studies teachers and public historians, then visited the Heard Museum's Away from Home exhibit as an exemplary model for public history on the topic of American Indian boarding schools. Combining archival documents with published scholarship in the field, we created a Reading Packet that tells the important history of the boarding schools during an aggressive era of assimilation in the United States. At the same time, we crafted the lesson in a way that highlights specific stories and memories from Native people in our own community at the Phoenix Indian School. Finally, we designed the Document-Based Group Assignment to encourage students to work through an Inquiry Arc process of learning:
1) Develop Compelling Questions
2) Construct Supporting Questions
3) Gather and Evaluate Sources
4) Develop Claims
5) Communicate Conclusions
6) Take Informed Action
Reading Packet
Document-Based
Group Assignment:
A B C
Archival photos come from The Arizona Memory Project.
For more information on this site or the overall project, contact the PHX Project Director, Dr. John A. Goodwin. jgoodwinhistory@gmail.com
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