This article explores how an environmental justice-centered summer program in Wayne County, Michigan, one of the areas most impacted by environmental harm in the United States, uses storytelling, critical place-based education practices, teen advocacy frameworks and local curriculum development to push back on current “back-to-basics” education mandates, including scripted curriculum, skills-dominant instruction, and decontextualized learning. Using the MAISA GELN Disciplinary Literacy Essentials: Grades 6-12 as a guide, we attempt to redefine what ought to be seen as “basic” in schools to ensure that students can be a meaningful part of building a more just, equitable, and sustainable future for our region.
Author Bio
Jeffrey Austin has been a middle school and high school classroom teacher, instructional coach, buildingand district-level department chair, secondary school writing center director, countywide literacy consultant, and professional learning leader for teachers locally and nationally for 20 years. His writing, advocacy, coaching, and teaching practice focus on building humanized, student-centered spaces through culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy, fair and equitable grading practices, hospitable writing assessment, and equity-based disciplinary literacies through project, problem, and place-based learning.
Dr. Rosalyn Shahid is a Literacy Consultant, adjunct instructor, and Diversity, Inclusion, Justice, and Equity (DIJE) Co-chair for the Michigan Council of Teachers of English, as well as a lover of books and a literacy advocate. Her primary aim in research and practice is to build teacher capacity and, by extension, empower students through adolescent literacy instruction. Her work examines the interconnectedness of adolescent literacy instruction, equity pedagogy, and disciplinary literacy. Dr. Shahid has over 25 years of experience in education, curriculum development, and instructional coaching. As a literacy consultant, she serves 33 school districts, including Detroit Public Schools Community District. Dr. Shahid holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan, a Master of Education in Reading and Reading Specialist Endorsement (K-12) from Marygrove College, and a Ph.D. in Reading and Language Arts from Oakland University.
Recommended Citation
Austin, Jeffrey and Shahid, Rosalyn D.
(2026)
"Redefining “Back to Basics:” Critical Place-Based Education as Essential Practice,"
Michigan Reading Journal: Vol. 59:
Iss.
1, Article 11.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mrj/vol59/iss1/11
