GEOSCIENCE TO ADVANCE JUSTICE: A PEDAGOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Poor and vulnerable communities are disproportionately exposed to environmental toxicants. This pattern is documented historically by: the legal contest of the siting of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated soil in the predominantly African American community of Warren County, North Carolina (CRJ, 1987); the correlation of hazardous waste sites in the southeastern US in areas that were predominantly African American and poor (GAO, 1983, Appendix 1); and the results of discriminant analysis, difference of means test, and matched-pairs, showing a strong statistically significant relationship between “minority status” and the presence of a commercial hazardous waste facility with race being a stronger predictor than household income (CRJ, 1987). This historic pattern persists. Geospatial data and statistical analyses confirm a correlation between race and exposure to poor air, soil, and water quality (Balazs & Ray, 2014; Crowder & Downey, 2014; Heaney et al., 2013; Cushing et al., 2015). Consequently, the geosciences can leverage real-life contexts to teach both disciplinary science content and scientific practices. Further, geoscience can be used to advance justice.

This research examines the pedagogy of contextualizing geoscience content in the on-going water quality crises of Flint, Michigan. Using this issue of environmental injustice as a case study, the following questions are examined: what are the pedagogical components of geoscience justice curriculum? how can you leverage the context to teach disciplinary geoscience content and scientific practices, particularly related to water quality? what is the efficacy of a justice approach to teaching geoscience with respect to student learning outcomes?