Vol. 1 No. 1 Articles

Realities and Possibilities: Critical Global Education in Wisconsin Elementary Social Studies Standards


Gerardo Joel Aponte-Safe, Department of Educational Studies, University of Wisconsin – La Crosse

Hanadi Shatara, Department of History, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2926-5806


Keywords: social studies standards, critical global education, global education

Abstract

This study critically examines the Wisconsin Standards for Social Studies for elementary grades with the goal of understanding what global content is present and how teachers can engage these standards through a critical global perspective. We conducted a textual analysis of the standards using Subedi’s decolonizing frameworks and Andreotti’s critical global citizenship education. We found few explicit references to global topics in the early grades, and identified additional possibilities. We provide multiple examples to implement critical global perspectives in elementary social studies classrooms.

Becoming critical: Exploring the confluence of justice, belonging, and love with 6th grade youth


Ryan Oto, University of Minnesota

Ngan Nguyen, Racial Justice Community School

Megan Custe, Racial Justice Community School

Peder Ericson, Racial Justice Community School

Nick Liebelt, Racial Justice Community School


Keywords: community, anti-oppression, critical love, belonging

Abstract

This paper recounts stories of a sixth-grade teaching team’s efforts to help each other in the becoming of critical social educators. Struggling against the conditions of oppression in schools and the toxicity of what we call “copy room conversations” requires a kind of support and solidarity we created through our small collective that was grounded in vulnerability with and commitment to one another. This piece tells our stories in the hope that others who share our values might come together in their own school communities to form collectives like ours. We hope to provide a model for building solidarity with those who also aim to become critical educators and to reject the white supremacist politics of schooling.

“Who was scared?”: Entering into Reflection Toward Change as Critical Social Educators


Mary Adu-Gyamfi, Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum at University of Missouri-Columbia

Angie Zapata, Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum at University of Missouri - Columbia

Sarah Reid, Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum at University of Missouri - Columbia


Keywords: diverse picturebooks, critical literacy, social education, antiracist pedagogy, early childhood

Abstract

This article discusses how an elementary teacher facilitated critical conversations about race and racial injustice with her first-grade students. Our collaborative teacher-researcher team closely examined the whole-class read-aloud events with two picturebooks focused on race and racial injustice. We point to the need for reflection toward change among critical social educators to enhance critical literature discussion among young children. In this article, we highlight how we encountered successes and missteps in our efforts to engage young children in critical literature discussion and how that process is deeply ingrained in the work of decentering whiteness. Whether experienced or novice, entering into a stance of reflection toward change is a powerful classroom practice for any critical social educator interested in moving toward an antiracist pedagogy.

Reading Beyond the Book: Examining a Critical Social Educator’s Race & Equity Read Aloud in an Early Childhood Classroom 


Cassie J Brownell, Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at University of Toronto

Anam Rashid, Critical Development Studies at University of Toronto Scarborough


Keywords: early childhood education, social studies, elementary education, critical literacy, qualitative research

Abstract

In this paper, the authors specifically consider what it means to engage as a critical white social educator of young, racially diverse children. They document how one third-grade teacher–Ms. Honey, a thirty-something white woman–used diverse books as a springboard to cultivate a more critical curriculum. The authors demonstrate how, as the focal teacher centered on pressing and historical social issues–including systemic racism –in her curriculum, classroom, and community, she also re-learned (hi)stories herself. In the findings, the authors demonstrate how Ms. Honey carefully led children through a read-aloud within an integrated social studies and literacy unit. The authors frame Ms. Honey’s actions as a critical social educator and, in doing so, they highlight the messy, seemingly imperfect work required to engage as a critical social educator.

“I’d Say I Have a Bit of Work to Do”: Exploring Elementary Social Studies Pre-Service Teacher Criticality through PhotoVoice


Christine Rogers Stanton, Montana State University

Hailey Hancock, Montana State University


Keywords: pre-service teachers, self-authorship, teacher identity

Abstract

Elementary pre-service teacher education offers important insights in terms of how teachers understand and develop criticality surrounding self-reflexivity, interaction with social studies content, and pedagogy. This study applied critical self-authorship frameworks, Freire's theory of conscientisation, and PhotoVoice methodology to explore pre-service teachers' self-awareness of their developing professional identities as situated within an elementary social studies methods course. Broadly, the study explored the question, "How does critical examination of our identities shape our understandings of elementary social studies education?" Results demonstrate an emerging awareness of the influence of personal history and experience, place, and multiple perspectives on learning and teaching social studies, but a need for more comprehensive and sustained attention to criticality throughout entire teacher preparation programs is needed to achieve self-transformation and antiracist/anticolonial pedagogy. These results offer theoretical and practical guidance for thinking about critical social studies elementary teaching and teacher education.