This article examines the history of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools to illustrate how integrating the Civil Rights Movement into the social studies curriculum refocuses the aims of American education on participatory democracy. Teaching the Civil Rights Movement and employing the teaching strategies used in the Freedom Schools leads to the conclusion that a freedombased pedagogical intervention can be used to re-conceptualize the overarching goals of American education and better meet the needs of all students. This paper examines the historical development of the Freedom Schools during a movement for social, political and economic equality and analyzes the pedagogical implications of incorporating this into the social studies curriculum. This history illustrates, connects to, and bridges the gap between the contemporary social studies curriculum and looking at education as a civil rights issue in order to address educational disparities in terms of underfunded schools, the achievement gap, and inequitable educational opportunity.
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