Chapter 7: Multiple Perspectives and Place-Based Education as a Catalyst forSocial Change

A single story is dangerous and limits critical understandings of people and their lives (Adichie, 2016). Unfortunately, a single story, a dominant narrative, typically takes the front seat in social studies standards and textbooks. This single story is especially present in the narrative surrounding slavery, civil rights, and mass incarceration in the United States. Although slavery was officially abolished in the United States more than 150 years ago, its history remains unresolved and shapes our current times (Sharpe, 2016). Educators are faced with the challenge of engaging in work that disrupts and challenges Whiteness (a social identity that superiorizes those racialized as White) and hate (Love, 2019). In this study, I share details of how place-based education (PBE) offers an opportunity for teachers to respond to this challenge by constructing experiences that enable students to interpret racism present in their world.