Beyond the single story of Brown

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which an intervention lesson could help with elementary pre-service teachers’ critical racial knowledge around school segregation.

Design/methodology/approach

The author, an Elementary Social Studies Methods Instructor, developed and modeled lessons of “doing race” in social studies as one of the ways to assist elementary pre-service teachers with critical racial knowledge and commitment to do race in their future classrooms. This paper focuses on one of the modeled lessons, which centered on the topic of school segregation.

Findings

Based on the analysis of class discussion and student work, the author documented the ways in which the modeled lesson engaged pre-service teachers in disrupting the dominant discourses and teaching practices on the topic of school segregation and developing the critical understandings needed to successfully teach about race and racism in elementary classrooms.

Originality/value

The paper details actions meant to demonstrate to elementary pre-service teachers the benefits of an elementary social studies topic viewed and taught through a critical race lens. In doing so, it calls attention to the possibilities and limitations of a single lesson that targets antiracist practices.

Citation

An, S. (2018), "Beyond the single story of Brown", Social Studies Research and Practice, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 199-223. https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-08-2017-0044