Florida Social Studies Leaders\u27 Perceptions Regarding an Afrocentric Curriculum

The purpose of this research study was to gain insight into the perceptions Florida\u27s leaders have regarding the inclusion of an Afrocentric curriculum. The leaders chosen for this study were the Florida Council for the Social Studies Board and the Association of Social Studies Supervisors. These leaders were sent a questionnaire that contained 57 statements about social studies curriculum content in a Likert scale format. The results of the survey were reported by using mean scores and frequency distributions. The Likert survey statements examined respondents\u27 viewpoints with regard to diversity, Afrocentrism, and Eurocentrism. The results of the survey were used to infer the respondents\u27 perceptions regarding the five research questions. 1. What was the perceived importance of considering the diverse nature of an ethnicity in respect to the development of curriculum and instruction? 2. What was the perceived level of interest regarding the incorporation of an Afrocentric perspective into the Social Studies Curriculum? 3. How did the respondents perceive the incorporation of an alternate curriculum maintaining diverse perspectives? 4. Did the respondents believe the social studies curriculum should be altered to cater to the learning styles of ethnic and cultural groups? 5. Was there a perceived need for diverse assessment techniques to gauge the academic success of students from various cultural and ethnic groups? The mean scores assigned to each research question indicated that the leaders in the social studies agreed that diverse cultures should be included within the mainstream curriculum and that alternative assessment techniques should be used to measure those ideas. However, there was little interest in permitting the ethnicity of the school\u27s population guide curriculum and instruction decision. Furthermore, the leaders seemed more interested in a multicultural curriculum than a curriculum incorporating only an Afrocentric perspective