Closing Our School: Children's Placemaking Literacies During an Elementary School Closure

• In Event: Book Censorship and Banning in the United States

Abstract

Within the school closure research, there are few studies focused on the experiences of those most impacted: students. In this postcritical ethnography, I leverage children’s placemaking literacies as forms of storytelling and counterstorying in the context of one elementary school closure. In this paper focused on the spring semester of the school’s final year, findings include: a) Placemaking invitations mediate different ways to share what matters about their school; b) Children orient to relationships and shared histories as meaningful parts of what makes a school matter; and c) Children experiencing school closure seek (and resist) explanations for policy decisions. This study shows that elementary-aged children are capable of sharing their perspectives on school closure policies in nuanced and complex ways.

Author

• Kristin Valle Geren, University of South Florida