Today's political environment continues to become more polarized as Americans find themselves taking sides on controversial issues. While this is certainly not new to the American democratic experience, the way we as a country are combating it is. With the nation engulfed in a political maelstrom, people are forgetting how to have a civilized…

Highlighting a hero is a common response to including the history of marginalized people in the curriculum. Harvey Milk is becoming that hero as social studies curriculum responds to calls for including LGBTQ people. By studying Milk, what might young people learn about LGBTQ people, issues, and movements? What opportunities and limitations exist…

The authors encourage teachers to make use of existing, standard social studies curriculum to uncover and to make visible the normative assumptions that underlie American cultural beliefs about gender and sexuality. The article provides an overview of how some cultures within the various Native American nations conceptualize gender and sexuality…

The author argues that in order to create space for authentic multicultural engagement in the face of Eurocentric norms, teachers should form discussion groups that follow five basic guidelines: engage, don't enrage; be comfortable with negative emotion; watch for and change unproductive language; talk about everything; and engage in classroom…

This article details my racialized awakenings as a White kindergarten teacher after being called a racist by a parent of one of my students. I chronicle critical reflections of myself and my school in terms of latent institutional racism and actions. I share the actions that I have begun in my efforts to counter racism and move toward teaching for…

Given the current national debate over immigration reform and the plethora of anti-immigrant policies, practices, and laws, school curriculums should include materials that will allow students to learn about, and reflect on, the impact this debate has on the lived realities of those most impacted. Specifically, teachers and their students will…

Multicultural children's literature is a passport to foreign cultures. Because we live in a global and multicultural society, it is important to help children understand cultures different from their own. Many educators use picture storybooks to introduce the social life and customs of other societies. This article highlights four realistic…