Place-Based Social Studies Education

This book uses the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, as a touchstone for the importance and value of including place-based education in the social studies curriculum. Whitlock scrutinizes this local environmental issue to not only drive critical inquiry in the classroom, but also to show how the curriculum can propel valuable social change in the community. Each part of this book highlights critical place inquiry and place-based education with an overall inquiry question: How can schools respond to a community’s needs? How can schooling be reimagined to center “place”? How can teacher preparation be place-based? What did we learn from the Flint crisis and where do we go from here? Individual chapters investigate the inquiry question by examining Flint and the Flint water crisis more specifically, as well as the lessons we can learn from Flint educators. Social studies teachers (pre-K–16) can use these experiences to inform their own approach to understanding their own places.

Book Features:

• Employs narrative inquiry, including interviews with school officials, teachers, parents, and teacher educators.
• Offers key “takeaways” in every chapter to assist educators in applying place-based education principles to their classrooms.
• Written in an accessible journalistic style that is both scholarly and personal.
• Includes photographs taken by the author of real people and places in Flint that illustrate the story.

Annie McMahon Whitlock is an associate professor of history and social studies at Grand Valley State University, and a former middle school social studies teacher. She previously worked as an education professor at the University of Michigan-Flint.

“Using Flint as a fruitful case, Whitlock shows how place-based education is a powerful tool for teaching and learning with the youngest of students in early childhood education as well as post-graduate pre-service teachers.”

—Teachers College Record

“Place-Based Social Studies Education: Learning From Flint, Michigan is a practical and accessible, yet complexly insightful read. Whether you are a social studies teacher, teacher educator, place-based/community-based instructor, history buff, social justice champion, or Flintstone, this book is for you.”
—From the Foreword by Mona Munroe-Younis, executive director, Environmental Transformation Movement of Flint

“In her love letter to Flint’s people, communities, and history, Dr. Whitlock shares the complexities and possibilities of reimagining schooling through place-based education. She provides an approachable roadmap for social studies educators aiming to design and implement place-based learning experiences alongside all educational stakeholders.”
—Kaitlin E. Popielarz, community-based educator, scholar, and organizer

“In a first-of-its-kind reader for place-based education, Dr. Whitlock leads readers through a different, powerful approach to social studies and teacher education. Teacher educators will find the text a solid resource for social studies methods, with explanations and applications that compel us to reimagine what classroom instruction can look like with a justice-focused, place-based framework.”
—Lisa Brown Buchanan, associate professor of education, Elon University

“Annie Whitlock weaves together the story of Flint, Michigan, its schools, and her own lived experiences to highlight the power of place-based education. Through stories of classrooms, teachers, programs, and students, she explores the opportunities and challenges that come with trying to educate students for and in the realities of the messy, complicated, challenging, and beautiful world, in Flint and beyond. This is essential reading for anyone who cares about meaningful, justice-based education and learning, from policymakers to teachers to teacher educators.”
—Elizabeth Kenyon, associate professor of social studies education, Kent State University

Contents

Foreword  xiii

Preface  xv

Introduction: How Did We Get Here?  1
When Did the Water Crisis Start?  3
Piecing It Together  5
When Everyone Learned About Flint  7
Dealing With It  9
Social Studies and Critical Place-Based Education  10
Are We Finished Yet?  11

Part I: How Can Schools Respond to a Community’s Needs?

1.  A History of Innovative Education in Flint  15
Manley and Mott: The Brains and the Bank  16
Flint as the Leader in Community Schools  16
Schools and Society  18
Looking Back to Look Ahead  19
Learning From Flint: Critical Place Historical Inquiry in the Classroom  20

2.  Why Flint? Teaching Conditions Amidst the Water Crisis  23
The “Preloaded Distributional Injustices” of Flint  24
Built With the Community in Mind  26
Beyond “Normal”: Teaching at Freeman  27
Learning From Flint: Critical Place Inquiry in Geography  30

3.  An Uncertain Future for Education in Flint  33
Community Schools Today  34
Integrated Student Supports  35
Extended Learning Time and Opportunities  38
Family and Community Engagement  39
Collaborative Leadership and Practices  41
Learning From Flint: Place-Based School Improvement  43

Part II: How Can Schooling be Reimagined to Center “Place”?

4.  Designing Early Childhood Education in Flint  47
Early Childhood Education and Lead Poisoning  48
Childcare in Formal Settings  52
Using Human-Centered Design to Respond to Early Childhood Needs  54
Learning From Flint: Designing Place-Based Education  57

5.  Reggio-Inspired Education in Flint  59
Reggio Emilia as Place-Based Education  60
Building Place-Consciousness in a Reggio Toddler Classroom  62
Preschoolers’ Narratives of Flint  67
Understanding Reggio as Social Studies Inquiry  71
Learning From Flint: A Call to Research and Practice  73

6.  Montessori for Flint  77
Montessori’s Connections to Place-Based Education  78
The Benefits of a Public Montessori Education  79
Challenges for Public Montessori  81
Montessori for Flint  83
Learning From Flint: Incorporating Montessori Elements  86

7.  Flint’s Place-Based Charter School  89
School of Choice in Flint  91
Flint Cultural Center: A Longtime Gem  92
Flint Cultural Center Academy  93
A Day at the Flint Cultural Center Academy  95
Learning From Flint: Schoolwide Place-Based Education  98

Part III: How Can Teacher Preparation Be Place-Based?

8.  Place-Based Teacher Education in Flint  103
Place-Based Teacher Education  105
Uniquely Flint  107
Co-Teaching  110
School Culture Shock  112
Partnering With Beecher Community Schools  114
PBTE and Water Crisis Connections  116
Learning From Flint: Literally  118

9.  Place-Based Social Studies Methods in Flint  121
Place-Based Social Studies Methods  122
Elementary Social Studies Methods in Flint  124
Field Trips  127
Right Under Our Noses  130
Teaching Critical Geography  133
Learning From Flint: Transforming Into Place-Based Teachers  134

Part IV: Where Do We Go From Here?

10.  What I Learned From Flint  139
What I Learned About Flint  140
What I Learned From Flint About Place-Based Education in Social Studies  142
What I Learned From Flint About Myself  143
Conclusion  144

References  145

Index  157

About the Author  167