Critical Classrooms Matter: Baltimore Teachers’ Pedagogical Response After the Death of Freddie Gray

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to discuss the possibilities of public education. We argue that public schools, despite their flaws, still provide necessary spaces of civic engagement. When major social and/or political events happen, young people have few outlets to discuss, process, and understand implications. In this article, we share the experiences of Baltimore’s teachers after the death of Freddie Gray, an unarmed Black man, who lived in Baltimore and died in police custody. Following his death, the city exploded in protest, both violent and peaceful. We interviewed eight teachers and collected curriculum samples to make sense of how they used the public school classroom as a space of critical care, social justice, cultural relevance, and anti-racism to contextualize current events in their city. There are implications here for school district professional development and teacher education.