reviewed by Cheryl M. Bolick & Waverly Whisenant  – August 10, 2020


Title: Teaching Critically About Lewis and Clark
Author(s): Alison Schmitke, Leilani Sabzalian & Jeff Edmundson
Publisher: Teachers College Press, New York
ISBN:9780807763704, Pages: 216, Year: 2020

Employing expertise from their fields, authors Alison Schmitke, Leilanie Sabzalian (Alutiiq), and Jeff Edmundson offer tools and resources to question, challenge, and dismantle the dominant narratives surrounding the Doctrine of Discovery in K-12 curriculum in their text, Teaching Critically About Lewis and Clark. This is a timely, important resource for teachers and teacher educators in understanding and implementing antiracist pedagogy within the classroom. Specifically, the authors aim to challenge Eurocentrism that inherently dominates the modern social studies curriculum of Lewis and Clark. Moreover, the work effectively provides a framework, lesson plans, and teaching resources that challenge the current dominant narrative of Corps of Discovery. The text is divided into four distinct parts, where the authors begin by situating the work within the six orientations for anticolonial curriculum, Place, Presence, Perspectives, Political Nationhood, Power, and Partnerships (the six Ps), and the pedagogical goals of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework. Part One continues by deepening the reader’s understanding of the Doctrine of Discovery and by unpacking the Eurocentric nature of dominant Lewis and Clark curriculum. Parts Two and Three offer specific lesson plans to be used in elementary and secondary classrooms, respectively. In the final section, Part Four, the authors include teacher resources and a brief conclusion.

Read the full review at Teachers College Record