“The Government Made That Happen”: Linked Texts and Critical Conversations That Interrogate Redlining

• In Event: Harrowing Histories: Teaching and Learning for an Engaged Citizenry

Abstract

This analysis comes from a larger single-case instrumental qualitative study that sought to understand the pedagogical moves and rationale involved in facilitating critical conversations in one middle school classroom. In this proposal, we examine how the teacher in this study, Author 2, used linked text sets as entry points for critical conversations to interrogate redlining with his students. Author 2 thoughtfully used linked texts with the aim of helping students understand the complexity of the issue of redlining and its legacy, both nationally and locally. Through these readings and critical conversations, students came to understand the complexity of redlining and engage in systems thinking that pointed at policies as unjustly harming some while benefitting others.

Authors

• Amanda R. Diaz, California State University - Fullerton

• William Loyess Peek, University of Illinois at Chicago