Date of Award

5-1-2024

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Education Theory and Practice

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Brett L Levy

Committee Members

Carol Rodgers, Sarah Brooks

Keywords

African American History, Field Trip, Historical Empathy, Museum-based Learning, Place-based Education, Slavery

Subject Categories

Education

Abstract

This case study examined how we ask students to engage in learning the difficult history of slavery by experiencing a field trip to a historic site where that history occurred, how that experience informs student development of historical empathy for the enslaved people who lived and labored there, the role it may play in supporting a more complex understanding of African American history, and how students engage civically upon that knowledge. This study found that place-based education to a site of difficult history immerses students in site-specific visual, textual, narrative, and physical resources that provide a frame to contextualize and support complex historical learning. Guided exposure to architectural elements and objects combined with primary texts first examined in the classroom and then re-examined in site-specific rooms along with other newly examined site-specific texts extended student learning beyond what classroom instruction achieved. Findings from this study indicate that relevant historical narratives presented in a purposeful tour path in conjunction with spatial interactions supported student cognitive understanding and emotional connection with the personal dilemmas, positionality, and agency of enslaved historical figures. Data further indicate participating students’ knowledge about contemporary legacies of slavery was informed by historical empathy fostered by place-based education at a historic site of enslavement. The results of this investigation provide evidence of limitations to the desired outcome that historical empathy and place-based education will conclude with student preparation to take action in the present based on their new understanding of the past in informed, active civic engagement.

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