Including Students' Geographies in Geography Education: Spatial Narratives, Citizen Mapping, and Social Justice

• Published in: Theory and research in social education Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 603 - 641
• Main Authors: Schlemper, M. Beth, Stewart, Victoria C., Shetty, Sujata, Czajkowski, Kevin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 02.10.2018
• Subjects: Case Studies; citizen mapping; Citizen Participation; civic identity; Civics; critical geography; experiential learning; Geographic Information Systems; Geography Instruction; High School Students; Neighborhoods; Social Justice; Spatial Ability; spatial narratives; Teaching Methods; Thinking Skills; Urban Areas; Ohio (Toledo)
• ISSN: 0093-3104; 2163-1654
• DOI: 10.1080/00933104.2018.1427164

Preparing students to become active, participatory citizens is more than promoting personal responsibility. It requires actively engaging with others in order to improve one's community. Using a critical geography approach, this article describes research with students living in urban areas that engaged them in fieldwork and citizen mapping of the neighborhood around their high school. We were interested in how they interacted with this environment and their perceptions of social justice issues in the community. Student groups worked together to identify and investigate topics of their choosing in order to produce and present their findings and recommendations to community stakeholders. We collected data from these students through case studies, sketch maps, and interviews, which revealed an increase in understanding of their neighborhood and an appreciation for the use of spatial thinking and technologies in addressing issues that they care about as citizens.