ABSTRACT
Although the use of geographic information systems (GIS) technologies within education is increasing, maps are often viewed as static visual representations of quantitative data, a shortcoming that many critical geographers warn could lead to reinstating the dominant power hierarchies that our work seeks to dismantle. We argue that the construction and use of maps in educational scholarship, particularly in critical race scholarship, must treat the technique of map-making as both an epistemological and methodological approach that requires attention to issues of positionality, power, knowledge construction, multiple subjectivities, and the politicized nature of representation. By addressing these critiques and applications of GIS through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT), we offer an approach that utilizes maps critically to spatially analyze the role of race and racism in the historical and contemporary context of schools. We define this approach as critical race spatial analysis (CRSA) and provide two case studies to highlight its potential.
