As students and teachers head back to the classroom, there are some big changes to how history is being taught when it comes to slavery.

Students will now learn how slaves developed skills that could be applied for their personal benefit. This is part of new guidelines that the Florida Department of Education has passed down.

These changes have been met with mixed feelings. The National Education Association calls it, “a blow to our students and nation.”

For history teachers like Brandt Robinson, it’s a change he will doesn’t agree with but won’t fight against. Instead, he says, he will let the students know about the changes and make it part of the discussion when teaching about slavery or race-related massacres.

“I want to put the standard up on the smart board and say right before we begin the school year, there was some revisions made to our standards and I want you guys to read it and I want you think about it,” Robinson said.

Robinson has been teaching for 27 years and says he never wants to include his personal feelings in his teachings and that he wants his kids to have an open dialogue and discuss all avenues of slavery.

However, he says its tough to have to incorporate these changes especially when discussing major events like the Rosewood Massacre of 1923.

“The new standard essentially says when you teach about Rosewood or Ocoee because they are here in Florida— and all U.S. history teachers will teach about those— that you teach them as quote an act where violence perpetrated against and by African Americans, meaning now you’re going to go out of your way to point out there were times African Americans also used violence,” Robinson said.

Despite these changes, Robinson says he will make his students aware of all sides of history.

“Engage my students in a pretty deep and emotional and pretty jarring examination of plantation slavery and then have them engage in a discussion.. what are some of the benefits when you weigh it against the history,” Robinson said.