Can the “Magical City” Really be Magical with Convict Leasing? A Qualitative Study
Keywords:
convict-leasing system, racial discrimination, inquiry-based teaching, C3 Framework, Birmingham historyAbstract
In this article, I discuss a six day project on the convict-leasing system done in a sixth grade U.S. history classroom in the Birmingham metropolitan area. First, a brief overview of the convict-leasing system is given. Then, a brief literature review of racial literacy is provided. Next, I describe how the principles of inquiry-based teaching outlined in the C3 Framework helped frame this project along with giving the steps of this intervention. Then, the findings from student work are examined, and a discussion section is provided to unpack the meaning of these findings. The steps and resources needed to implement this research project are provided.
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