Connecting Place and Progress: The Role of Critical Place-Based Learning, Public History and Culturally Sustainable Pedagogical Practices

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Remembering and Reimagining Black Communities and the Role of Black Education in the Pursuit of Educational Justice and Renewal

Abstract

Chimamanda Adichie warns that single narratives limit our understanding of history (TED, 2009). Social studies can address race and oppression by connecting communal histories (Chandler & Branscombe, 2015), yet curriculum often reflects white-centered, hegemonic views (King, 2014; King & Woodson, 2017; Lewis & Tirado, 2025; Woodson, 2016). Recent legislation reinforces this through colorblind, neoliberal approaches that emphasize local southern histories shaped by racism (Duncan, 2021; Reich, 2020). This paper explores how Critical Place-Based Learning and local history impact Black student achievement in Greenville, South Carolina. It asks: How can we build inclusive curricula using local histories? What does Greenville’s historiography reveal about the need for place-based education?

Author

• Brandon J. Beck, Univeristy of Maryland Baltimore County