The California mission project is an assignment done in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

elementary schools, most often in the

fourth grade Fourth grade (also 4th Grade or Grade 4) is the fourth year of formal or compulsory education. It is the fourth year of primary school. Children in fourth grade are usually 9–10 years old. Argentina's equivalent In Argentina, the minimum age ...

, where students build

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...

s of one of the 21

Spanish missions in California The Spanish missions in California () formed a List of Spanish missions in California, series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. The missions were established by ...

. While not being included in the California

Common Core The Common Core State Standards Initiative, also known as simply Common Core, was an American, multi-state educational initiative begun in 2010 with the goal of increasing consistency across state standards, or what K–12 students throughout th ...

educational standards, the project was vastly popular and done throughout the state. The popularity of the project has declined due to scrutiny on what the assignment teaches students about the treatment of

indigenous Californians Indigenous peoples of California, commonly known as Indigenous Californians or Native Californians, are a diverse group of nations and peoples that are indigenous to the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and afte ...

in the California Spanish missions.

Description

The mission project is commonly assigned to California elementary school students in the fourth grade when they are first learning about their state's Spanish missions. Students are assigned one of the 21 Spanish missions in California and have to build a diorama out of common household objects such as popsicle sticks, sugar cubes,

papier-mâché file:JacmelMardiGras.jpg, upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti Papier-mâché ( , , - the French term "mâché" here means "crushed and ground") is a versatile craft technique with roots in ancient China, in which waste paper is s ...

, and cardboard. The project is so commonly done that premade kits of specific missions can be found in craft stores and giftshops at the missions themselves. Alongside the mission project, some schools send their classes to local Missions to learn about its history and participate in child-friendly Mission-era activities such as leather tooling, churning butter, and making

tortilla A tortilla (, ) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread from Mesoamerica originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour. The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas ''tlaxcalli'' (). First made by the indi ...

s by hand.

History

Background

The 21 Spanish missions in present-day California were built between 1769 and 1833 largely by indigenous Californian slaves at the behest of Spanish Franciscan priests who sought to evangelize them. The natives were forced to stay in the missions and were kept in squalid conditions, forced to work, and were severely malnourished. The

mission Indians Mission Indians was a term used to refer to the Indigenous peoples of California who lived or grew up in the Spanish mission system in California. Today the term is used to refer to their descendants and to specific, contemporary tribal nations ...

also experienced beatings, torture, and brandings at the hands of the

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

s. Approximately 62,000 indigenous Californians died from a combination of disease and severe mistreatment by the time the missions ceased operation in 1833.

Missions in education

The fourth grade is the first, and potentially only, time that California students learn about the California missions. Many textbooks and educational resources throughout history glossed over the mistreatment of Indigenous Californians in the missions and glorified the actions of the Spanish due to being aimed towards children. According to a history journal, the Spanish colonists were depicted as heroic pioneers in the first lessons about California history in 1925. In the 1960s and 70s, certain Californian educators actively worked to promote the image of the Spanish priests who worked in missions. Models of California missions have been built in California schools since the 1960s. While never being included in California's educational curriculum, the assignment spread across the state.

Reforming mission education

The prevalence of the project has dropped substantially as of the mid-2010s. While indigenous and

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

educational activists have protested the disingenuous portrayal of the California missions since the 1960s, it was not until 2016 that the state of California took a stance against the project. The historical curriculum framework adopted by the

California Department of Education The California Department of Education is an agency within the government of California that oversees public education. The department oversees funding and testing, and holds local educational agencies accountable for student achievement. Its s ...

in 2016 and revealed to the public in 2017 specifically recommends against the mission project as a form of teaching students about the missions. Chapter 7 of this framework revolves around fourth grade education and instead recommends teachers to ask their students to consider what life was like for the several groups who were involved with the missions, such as "the native population, the Spanish military, the Spanish–Mexican settler population, and the missionaries". This is one of the many changes made by the

California History-Social Science Project California () is a state in the Western United States that lies on the Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the sout ...

(CHSSP), the creators of the framework, that seeks to teach the history of Indigenous Californians in a more historic and comprehensive way. According to the executive director of the CHSSP, "building a mission doesn't really teach tudentsanything" and "is offensive to many". Despite the new framework, the mission project continues to be done in certain elementary schools.

References

External links

Chapter 7: Grade Four – California: A Changing State – Teaching California
– 2016/2017 Updated framework officially recommending against the California mission project. {{Alta California Missions Culture of California Education in California Spanish missions in California Mission Indians Dioramas Educational materials 1960s establishments in California