Place-Based Education in Detroit: A Critical History of The James & Grace Lee Boggs School

Abstract

This essay is a critical history of the Boggs School in Detroit.  In the context of education activism, the significance of the Boggs School is that it centralizes activist schooling as a complement to teacher activism.  More specifically, the school adds to our understanding of activist schooling traditions, the work of African American radicals in creating transformative education, and critical notions of schooling that operate both within and outside the public schooling tradition.  This essay will describe the Boggs School’s activist history, focusing on the following three areas: the events leading to the formation of the Boggs School; the radical education history informing the school’s theory and practice; and the school’s social, political, and educational interventions in Detroit and the way in which this activism is influencing national conversations.